I attended my local church today, after a couple of weeks of absence due to deaths in the family. And today when it was time for the preacher to...er...preach, he walked up to the pulpit and immediately began stepping on my toes! You know that expression, right? The preacher says something so apropos that it is almost painful. Over the years that let to the expression that "the preacher sure stepped on some toes this morning!" For me, it is usually, "ouch...the preacher sure stepped on my toes this morning!"
The first words out of the preacher's mouth, besides "good morning" were "do not surround yourself with those who complain, those who talk about how the United States is about to collapse, how the world is on a downward spiral and there is nothing we can do stop it!" Right about here my toes were really feeling so smushed, and it was right about here also that I noticed my lovely bride was staring pointedly at me and giving me her famous "stink eye" which I am pretty sure she learned from her late mother. So I immediately defended myself most vigorously and with strength!
"What?!!" I said to Sweetie.
By this time several nearby church goers were looking in my direction. There was no way they could miss the stink eye my wife was most delicately casting in my direction. And there I sat, trapped by that stink eye...but...guilty as charged. I have to confess, and I know this will be a big surprise to many, but I DO appreciate a good conspiracy theory, and even more, I tend to gravitate toward various politicos, journalists, authors, historians, and probably even some crack pots, who have done a lot more research than I have, and have concluded that the United States, as a free society, is headed for economic collapse and, even worse, the trampling of the United States Constitution and the slavery that will follow.
Before this point in my life, I would have gone on a long diatribe (some would call it a rant) about all my beliefs regarding the Constitution, the way our own government is leading the way in its destruction, and the fact that our nation is on a downward spiral and there is no way to stop it. I am fond of decrying the excessive and, most of the time, illegal use of military drones (and those owned by un-named agencies as well) to conduct air strikes in countries with whom we are not at war, to kill American citizens without arrest, indictment, and trial, and now to spy on Americans here on our own soil. All of these things are happening RIGHT NOW, and all are very serious...serious to the point that the continued existence of a free United States is in doubt....
But...
I have been re-centered, as it were, by a couple of tragic things in my life that have put things back in perspective for me. The events are known by many, and I will not recount them here, I will just say the loss of my mother-in-law and my grandmother have re-set my sights somewhat. My eyes have been turned from what is so bad in my life to what was so important in my life. Do I believe that there are a lot of things going wrong with the nation? Yes, I still do. Do believe the use of drones for illegal purpose is both wrong and getting out of hand? Yes, I still do. Do I believe the national debt and all the other things happening in the United States put the continued existence of the United States as we know into peril? Yes, I still do. Am I worried about it? Not so much anymore.
Will I do things that all Americans should do to try to keep our nation afloat? Yes...but in moderation, of course.
But, the things in life that are important cannot be taken away by the actions of men, although excessive WORRY and PARANOIA can certainly take something away. You see, for the past few years I have let worry and worldly matters have a huge foothold in my garden, so to speak, so that the green plants and the flowers were choked away by weeds and thorns, again so to speak. But with the events of the past weeks, I have seen what was really important, and it had little to do with politics, spying, drones, or the end of the world. Instead, it had to do with life and with love for the people in my life. I have come to see that only two things matter; one is that we love those in our lives, and, that we care for and support our loved ones when we lose those we love. The most important thing of all is that the Good Shepherd is watching over you and me. That is what really matters.
The United States may, no, WILL one day cease to exist. Scary? Maybe a little. But so many people have worried about the "fall" of America for so many years that you'd think all the worrying had already been done. Years ago, the greatest empire up to that time was in its best years. The Roman Empire had conquered the known world, including a small strip of desert known as Palestine. In Palestine there was a city called Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Jewish world at that time. Unfortunately for the Roman Empire (the Beast with ten horns?) a man called Jesus was born near Jerusalem. Jesus, the son of a mere carpenter, was born at Nazareth. After that, nothing was the same for Israel, the Jews, people everywhere.
Eventually, for various reasons, the Roman Empire began a spiral downward, just like the preacher today talked about. I am willing to bet that there were plenty of people predicting all kinds of terrible things about the end of the Roman Empire and all the terrible things that would happen. Well, by the time five hundred more years had passed, the Roman Empire had ceased to function as a government, and as far as history is concerned, the world was in chaos. But I bet something else...I bet that all those people, way back after Jesus was crucified and then raised from the dead, all those people who feared the worst and spent the rest of their days waiting for the collapse of the Roman Empire...I bet each and every one of those persons died of the common things that kill people. A few were killed by criminals or criminals in government, but the majority lived their lives and then died, of natural causes, just like most of us will do in these modern times.
Will the United States collapse soon? I don't know, but I know it will someday. Will there be a World War III? Who knows? Lots of people are screaming about the things happening in the Middle East, about how the fighting in one of those very small, seemingly insignificant little nations will spiral out of control, and eventually bring in the Big Three nations, into a great world war and the destruction caused by such a war. The only thing I know for sure is that life and death continue, and in between the day we are born and the day we die, we can either live in constant fear and worry about the things that MIGHT happen, or we can live our lives to the fullest each day and enjoy the good we have, the good things that happen to us. We can enjoy our loved ones while they are in this world with us, we can enjoy our blessings and the good things in this world, and we can live in comfort knowing that the Good Shepherd walks with us here, and keeps us safe when it is our time to leave this world and move on to our permanent home that awaits.
God bless all of you.
The first words out of the preacher's mouth, besides "good morning" were "do not surround yourself with those who complain, those who talk about how the United States is about to collapse, how the world is on a downward spiral and there is nothing we can do stop it!" Right about here my toes were really feeling so smushed, and it was right about here also that I noticed my lovely bride was staring pointedly at me and giving me her famous "stink eye" which I am pretty sure she learned from her late mother. So I immediately defended myself most vigorously and with strength!
"What?!!" I said to Sweetie.
By this time several nearby church goers were looking in my direction. There was no way they could miss the stink eye my wife was most delicately casting in my direction. And there I sat, trapped by that stink eye...but...guilty as charged. I have to confess, and I know this will be a big surprise to many, but I DO appreciate a good conspiracy theory, and even more, I tend to gravitate toward various politicos, journalists, authors, historians, and probably even some crack pots, who have done a lot more research than I have, and have concluded that the United States, as a free society, is headed for economic collapse and, even worse, the trampling of the United States Constitution and the slavery that will follow.
Before this point in my life, I would have gone on a long diatribe (some would call it a rant) about all my beliefs regarding the Constitution, the way our own government is leading the way in its destruction, and the fact that our nation is on a downward spiral and there is no way to stop it. I am fond of decrying the excessive and, most of the time, illegal use of military drones (and those owned by un-named agencies as well) to conduct air strikes in countries with whom we are not at war, to kill American citizens without arrest, indictment, and trial, and now to spy on Americans here on our own soil. All of these things are happening RIGHT NOW, and all are very serious...serious to the point that the continued existence of a free United States is in doubt....
But...
I have been re-centered, as it were, by a couple of tragic things in my life that have put things back in perspective for me. The events are known by many, and I will not recount them here, I will just say the loss of my mother-in-law and my grandmother have re-set my sights somewhat. My eyes have been turned from what is so bad in my life to what was so important in my life. Do I believe that there are a lot of things going wrong with the nation? Yes, I still do. Do believe the use of drones for illegal purpose is both wrong and getting out of hand? Yes, I still do. Do I believe the national debt and all the other things happening in the United States put the continued existence of the United States as we know into peril? Yes, I still do. Am I worried about it? Not so much anymore.
Will I do things that all Americans should do to try to keep our nation afloat? Yes...but in moderation, of course.
But, the things in life that are important cannot be taken away by the actions of men, although excessive WORRY and PARANOIA can certainly take something away. You see, for the past few years I have let worry and worldly matters have a huge foothold in my garden, so to speak, so that the green plants and the flowers were choked away by weeds and thorns, again so to speak. But with the events of the past weeks, I have seen what was really important, and it had little to do with politics, spying, drones, or the end of the world. Instead, it had to do with life and with love for the people in my life. I have come to see that only two things matter; one is that we love those in our lives, and, that we care for and support our loved ones when we lose those we love. The most important thing of all is that the Good Shepherd is watching over you and me. That is what really matters.
The United States may, no, WILL one day cease to exist. Scary? Maybe a little. But so many people have worried about the "fall" of America for so many years that you'd think all the worrying had already been done. Years ago, the greatest empire up to that time was in its best years. The Roman Empire had conquered the known world, including a small strip of desert known as Palestine. In Palestine there was a city called Jerusalem, the headquarters of the Jewish world at that time. Unfortunately for the Roman Empire (the Beast with ten horns?) a man called Jesus was born near Jerusalem. Jesus, the son of a mere carpenter, was born at Nazareth. After that, nothing was the same for Israel, the Jews, people everywhere.
Eventually, for various reasons, the Roman Empire began a spiral downward, just like the preacher today talked about. I am willing to bet that there were plenty of people predicting all kinds of terrible things about the end of the Roman Empire and all the terrible things that would happen. Well, by the time five hundred more years had passed, the Roman Empire had ceased to function as a government, and as far as history is concerned, the world was in chaos. But I bet something else...I bet that all those people, way back after Jesus was crucified and then raised from the dead, all those people who feared the worst and spent the rest of their days waiting for the collapse of the Roman Empire...I bet each and every one of those persons died of the common things that kill people. A few were killed by criminals or criminals in government, but the majority lived their lives and then died, of natural causes, just like most of us will do in these modern times.
Will the United States collapse soon? I don't know, but I know it will someday. Will there be a World War III? Who knows? Lots of people are screaming about the things happening in the Middle East, about how the fighting in one of those very small, seemingly insignificant little nations will spiral out of control, and eventually bring in the Big Three nations, into a great world war and the destruction caused by such a war. The only thing I know for sure is that life and death continue, and in between the day we are born and the day we die, we can either live in constant fear and worry about the things that MIGHT happen, or we can live our lives to the fullest each day and enjoy the good we have, the good things that happen to us. We can enjoy our loved ones while they are in this world with us, we can enjoy our blessings and the good things in this world, and we can live in comfort knowing that the Good Shepherd walks with us here, and keeps us safe when it is our time to leave this world and move on to our permanent home that awaits.
God bless all of you.
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