Taps

We had the honor of attending the memorial service for LCDR Ira Dozier Hozey, Jr. US Navy (Ret). Mr. Hozey was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He retired after 25 years of service from the United States navy, having served during both the Korean Conflict and the Vietnam War. He was a member of American Legion Post #120. He was a member of Waynesboro First United Methodist Church and the Home-Hargrove Sunday School Class. He is survived by his wife, eight children, eighteen grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Born in 1930, Ira enlisted in the Navy when he was just sixteen. His skills and aptitudes landed him in an elite submariner division. He served his country with integrity and after retiring lived the balance of his life in the same manner. Ira Hozey belonged to an era that is rapidly passing along with the men and women who defined patriotism and honor much differently from the modern point of view. 

Ira served his country and lived his life with the unwavering faith that God is in charge. 

Being somewhat numbed by the knowledge of what is now happening to this country, the loss of freedoms won with blood, the decimation of godliness and radical redefining of faith both inside and outside the Church, it takes something really profound to move me to tears. But as we walked from the back, rounding the church to the front, I was taken by surprise when I saw the honor guard standing stoically and suddenly I felt my eyes stinging. The group of aging vets, men and women, who volunteer to attend the last rites of those who valiantly served, stood at attention, each holding an American flag, in the hot Georgia summer sun as memorial attendees entered the church.

I knew that most of those elder vets were probably remnants of the survivors of the Vietnam War, the war that took so many young men and women, who would be my age now if they had not died so prematurely. This is what struck me and caused my eyes to blur with tears. This rag tag collection of my peers, all graying, some with pot bellies and  missing teeth, most standing straight even as arthritis sent pings of pain from old knees and hips, and still they stood, adamant that honor was due and therefore must be given.

At the conclusion of the service a Navy Honor Guard performed a flag ceremony and the sound of a lone bugle played Taps. A deep melancholy surrounded the audience and I was compelled to realize that if ever there was a time to weep for what was once a great notion, it was that moment, as those sad notes filled the sanctuary, echoing forward to now, mourning that which is gone and can never be restored without true faith, integrity and honor–as is defined by God, not man.

Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, from the hills, from the sky;
All is well, safely rest, God is nigh.

Fading light, dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky, gleaming bright.
From afar, drawing nigh, falls the night.

Thanks and praise, for our days,
'Neath the sun, 'neath the stars, neath the sky;
As we go, this we know, God is nigh.

Sun has set, shadows come,
Time has fled, Scouts must go to their beds
Always true to the promise that they made.

While the light fades from sight,
And the stars gleaming rays softly send,
To thy hands we our souls, Lord, commend.

For Christ,

Meema

(Colossians 1:12-18) giving thanks unto the Father, who made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;  (1:13) who delivered us out of the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love;  (1:14) in whom we have our redemption, the forgiveness of our sins:  (1:15) who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation;  (1:16) for in him were all things created, in the heavens and upon the earth, things visible and things invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers; all things have been created through him, and unto him;  (1:17) and he is before all things, and in him all things consist.  (1:18) And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.  

Advertising, News, and Other Lies

(John 8:43-45) Why do ye not understand my speech? [Even] because ye cannot hear my word.  (8:44) Ye are of [your] father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father thereof.  (8:45) But because I say the truth, ye believe me not.  

Lies, lying, and the love of lies has been with us since Satan promised Eve she ‘surely would not die’ if she took a bite of the forbidden fruit. You might be shocked to know that Adolf Hitler said, “All propaganda has to be popular and has to accommodate itself to the comprehension of the least intelligent of those whom it seeks to reach.” The problem, of course, is that the ‘least intelligent’ have no idea they are thusly disabled and therefore have no built-in defense against the barrage of lies that come at us all day, in all ways possible. 

A dumbed down populace is an easy target.

It occurred to me that, although this era is no different than any other in terms of lies used as weapons to subjugate and manipulate us, this era is unlike all others previous because of unlimited access to us. How many lies do you suppose you are told on any given day? Through interactions with individuals, but mostly through media, TV, radio, print advertising, news accessed via Internet on computers, large and small, smart phones and iPads. Human nature being largely unchangeable, we have learned to deflect, ignore and dismiss most of it. We DVR our favorite programs and then fast-forward through the commercials. We click the X to ‘skip ad’ so we can read an article. We toss, unopened, the envelope full of coupons for duct-cleaning and BOGO dinners. We ignore giant billboards and signs on moving vehicles. We flip past the full page ads in magazines. 

Those with average intelligence know that most of what is pushed at us is either out and out lies or truth stretched beyond recognition. But still there is an undeniable impact. We are so accustomed to being lied to, we have been conditioned to expect lies, and, what’s worse, we have adapted to the illusions swirling around us as though they are a new kind of truth. Expedient, useful, exaggerated, pretty, wouldn’t-it-be-nice-if-that-was-real, non-truth is actually embraced as something as good as the real thing now. 

This is the dangerous part. 

Once we have been reprogramed to expect we are being lied to, the next stage is that we just ‘go with it’, slowly forgetting how to tell the difference between lies and truth. Slowly adjusting to the ‘popular comfortable lie’ and ultimately rejecting the more painful, disappointing truth, until finally the liars with the self-serving dark agendas are able to lie with impunity and no one knows the difference. 

Here’s a painful truth, though, that the liars don’t understand–God knows. He knows the difference. 

For Christ,

Meema

(Revelation 22:14) Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have the right [to come] to the tree of life, and may enter in by the gates into the city.  (22:15) Without are the dogs, and the sorcerers, and the fornicators, and the murderers, and the idolaters, and every one that loveth and maketh a lie.  

This Moment

Confession: I’ve been thinking about packing it in–ending this blog. Every morning, reading the headlines confirms what I have quietly been resigning myself to, i.e., the Hand of protection has been lifted and the asylum has been turned over to the psychopaths. Worse, it cannot get better before it gets way worse and I can hardly bear to think about what that even means. In this blog I’ve tried to speak about this moment in time in simple language, using analogy and other creative tools of written communication, in order to stay away from making this just another ‘End of the World’ religious nut blog. 

Trying to be subtle, my goal was to warn without fear mongering, to encourage those with ears to hear and eyes to see that what is happening in real time, all over the world,  to warn that it will not unfold as we have been preached to for eons that it would. How many ways can it be said without actually saying that those who are clinging to the man-made doctrines are seeking comfort in the wrong hope? Do you know what happens when you believe in and place your hopes in illusion? You lose your faith when it dissolves and then leaves you vulnerable. Only those with simple abiding faith outside of doctrine can find hope in the worst of circumstances.

In the wee hours of this morning, I was semi-awake, just conscious enough to pray and ask for an answer, “What do You want me to do? Is there anything else I can say? What can I do for You? I’ve run out of my own words, Lord, and they aren’t paying attention anyway.”

I fell back into a fitful, tossing-turning sleep. And then the words came, fluid, fast. I even stopped to wonder if I would remember come daylight. Well, I did. These are the words that came. Pay attention, or don’t.

When one has lived a span of six and a half decades, there are many moments in the timeline that stand out, in the wisdom of hindsight, that can be pointed to as definitive markers of significant change. However, only rarely do we recognize, in the moment, that something has occurred that turns the tide, derails, or reroutes us. We aren’t astute enough, but mostly we just aren’t paying attention to the signs–His signs, not man’s  interpretations of His signs–when they are given.

I was born shortly after WW2, the war that should have ended all wars. But it didn’t, of course, because war and conflict is the natural state of humans who can never fix themselves, make themselves evolve to good and peaceful, loving, tolerant, non-violent, non-biased, non-racist, all embracing, self-evolved perfected beings. While the ideology is grand and noble, it leaves out the unfixable reality of self-centered human nature. More importantly it ignores the part that is absolutely required for real change–recognition of sin, repentance and surrender to the Creator. Ideologues have been seeking formulas for human improvement, without God, forever. It’s been tried over and over again, it fails and then goes dormant for a bit, returning under another name, with a new generation of eager, passionate followers. Most often it has come in the form of dictatorships, disguised as champions of benevolent, equitable hope and change. Then, when the truth comes out, as it always does, revolution puts a big bloody swipe in the timeline. 

It has also come in the form of convoluted and oppressive religion. When the shiny wears off and the truth is exposed, it retreats to lick its wounds, regroup and returns as reconfigured, amalgamated doctrine, that is more inclusive and hopefully more appealing to the greater masses. Apostate in every way possible. Sure looks good though, good enough to suck in many a foolish follower, who prefers shallow passion to genuine heart-wrenching conviction.

Again, if you are spiritually mature, you see the truth of what is under all this. It is the age-old struggle. Satan has a big bag of tricks. And God allows him to use them to test and refine the faithful. Some pass, some don’t. It usually comes down to self-will. Human nature allowed to triumph. Satan claims the win.

In this moment in the timeline we clearly have reached the ‘so what?’ stage. It doesn’t matter what lies are told with straight face, what egregious, unconscionable acts are perpetrated on the masses while using the most eloquent rhetoric, the arrogant response has suddenly changed from “I don’t know” to “So what, what are you going to do about it?” 

And the answer is, nothing. Because there is nothing we can do about it except surrender–to the only One who is worth surrendering to. The one thing that is fundamental to know about surrendering to Christ is that it is a solitary decision and walk, requiring less from the world, more of Him. But once you truly have, all your bad choices and misspent yesterdays matter so much less than the new day you are in and the possibilities of better, fruitful days going forward. When you arrive at that place you need very little else, and you will suddenly understand that true repentance instantly changes your focus from yourself, your predicaments, your needs, to Him and what He needs from you. This is the tell that defines true Christians apart from the pretenders, those wolves in sheep’s clothing–those who look good, and even sound good, but have hidden selfish intentions of promoting Good for Goodness sake ideologies/theologies that have nothing to do with true Godliness. I make no distinction between the politicians and the preachers.

Whether you recognize it or not, we have reached a pivotal moment when all of the tricks are now in play. As scary, intimidating, and overwhelming as it all seems, just know it’s really all one big delusion created to keep you from seeking the Confidence of Christ where you can be assured that God has this. Hide in Christ, beloved. If you are tested hard, just listen, trust and obey and you’ll pass with flying colors. 

If you don’t understand all this, know this one thing, the truly faithful don’t find solace in believing we’ll be spared hardship or knowing the outcome will be good, rather true faith allows that solace finds us in the middle of being tried and tested. 

For Christ,

Meema

My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9).