Everything old is new again

I recently found an April 5, 1943 issue of Life magazine among my mother's things. It was the year she married, the year my sister was born. Two ads jumped out at me.

The first was put in by American Locomotive

EVER FACE A FIRING SQUAD?

Take a good long look. This is what a condemned man...or woman... sees at twenty feet. No one has ever come back to describe that last moment before the scene is suddenly blacked out with a rattle of fire and a burst of lead.

    But even a brave man or a courageous woman facing such a scene must hope feverishly that this is all just a bad dream from which there will be an awakening...a  vision from a remembered movie in which someone will come, will come, in time. But no one comes.

    Thousands....hundreds of thousands...of human beings, like yourself, have had just such a last glimpse of life during the past few years. And they, too, have hoped it was a dream. But it wasn't.

     How far removed do you think you are from playing the star part in such a  performance as this? Two years, three years, maybe four years...if the Japs and Nazis win.

    And don't think that you can talk yourself out of it if the time comes. Don't think that you can turn coat; that begging for mercy on bended knees will spare you; that promising to be good, to cooperate, will help. Some patriot in your neighborhood will kill one of their officers in the night, and the next day you will be rounded up with nine or nineteen or ninety-nine others...to be shot.

    This is something for all of us to think of...to dream of while we can still awaken to the clean air of freedom.

    It is something to make all us of resolve that all our waking will be bent to the one job of winning the war...that whatever we know we can do, we will do...and that whatever else we can find to do, we will also do.

    For unless all of us put the winning of this war before everything else, a lot of eyes that now look on this page may face the same scene in reality,

    Not somebody else's eyes, yours...

There is a global Muslim group active in the US which would like very much like to completely destroy American freedom as we know it. Hizb ut-Tahrir rejects democracy as a western system and un-Islamic despite aspects of it such as elections existing in the Islamic political system. Hizb ut-Tahrir argues democracy as a system is

“the rule of people, for the people, by the people. The basis of the democratic system is that people possess the right of sovereignty, choice and implementation. ... it is a Kufr system because it is laid down by man and it is not from the Shari'ah Laws.”

If the current climate of revolution prevails, and the radical Muslims gain the upper hand because of their prior organizing, there is no doubt that they will indeed be killing people who will not agree to live under Shari'ah law. There are 2.6 million Muslims now but even without revolution, there are predicted to be 6.2 in 10 years. There are 2000 mosques already.

As Christians we are to be civilly responsible. We are not to be angry or fearful. We are to be as wise a serpents but as gentle as doves. We must however open our eyes and be aware of the work that is being done to remove America's freedom, a freedom that is unique in all the world. We have taken it for granted I'm afraid.

The Second Ad

The Magazine Publishers of America

If, they win

....only our dead are free

These are our enemies. They have only one idea—to kill, and kill, and kill, until they conquer the world. Then, by the whip, the sword and the gallows, they will rule. No longer will you be free to speak or write your thoughts, to worship God in your own way. Only our dead will be free. Only the host who will fall before the enemy will know peace. Civilization will be set back a thousand years. 

    Make no mistake about it—you cannot think of this as other wars. You cannot regard your foe this time simply as people with a wrong idea. This time you win—or die. This time you get no second chance. This time you free the world, or else you lose it. Surely that is work the best fight of your life—worth anything that you can give or do.

There are some words of truth for this age in these words. The fight we are in now is not yet fought with guns and bullets but the enemy would take away your freedom just as surely. The socialists, communists and anarchists, together with the radical, jihad Muslims are waging a war against America, against our way of life, against our freedom. Things are not perfect by a long shot but we are as yet a free people. Open your eyes and slumber no longer. Be responsible for yourself, your family, your neighbor. Give what you can, do what you can. But please, don't just ignore the battle which is beginning to rage about you.

Nothing has changed

A friend sent me these words from Jedediah Morse (who was the father of Samuel Morse, the inventor of Morse Code) and I immediately thought: these words are as true today as they were back in 1799. There is no freedom of any kind without God.


"To the kindly influence of Christianity we owe that degree of civil freedom, and political and social happiness which mankind now enjoys. In proportion as the genuine effects of Christianity are diminished in any nation, either through unbelief, or the corruption of it's doctrines, or the neglect of it's institutions; in the same proportion will the people of that nation recede from the blessings of genuine freedom, and approximate the miseries of complete despotism. All efforts to destroy the foundations of our holy religion, ultimately tend to the subversion also of our political freedom and happiness. Whenever the pillars of Christianity shall be overthrown, our present republican forms of govenment, and all the blessings which flow from them, must fall with them."

Jedediah Morse, 1799

Restoring Courage

When Glenn Beck announced his Restoring Courage event, my first reaction was to actually go to Israel since I have never been. But circumstances prevented that or I thought they did. When merchandise supporting the event was available, I ordered the silicone bracelet and the yard signs. I have worn the bracelet most days but I am aware of a reluctance, knowing that it could bring down criticism on me. The yard signs are still in the box. I lacked the courage to put them out, even for the day of the event. I don't even live on a particularly busy street so few would have seen them.

I think of myself as a realist but perhaps I am really a pessimist. I do expect the worse to happen and I struggle to hang on to hope. Glenn Beck's words today at his event in Jerusalem were inspiring. As he spoke, I began to take notes:

• Hold on to what is Right, Good and True
• Fear is the pathway to surrender
• Courage is the first step into the dark
• Rights go arm in arm with responsibility
• Do not fear to call evil by its name

I needed to hear these things and to make them realities in my life. There is that old saying: If it is to be, it's up to me. I believe that to be the path out of the mess Americans have gotten themselves into. We could say that the government has done all these horrible things, spending 40% more money than they have but it is we who have also done that. We lived on our credit cards, our home equity and put nothing into savings for emergencies. This is the same as the government. The only difference is that if we write checks which we have no money to cover, that's called fraud but when the government kites checks it's called deficit spending. Let's speak the truth, it is fraud for the government as well.

At the end of the Restoring Courage event, a young black singer sang the song "Make Them Hear You." I was taken by that song which came from the musical Ragtime. I think perhaps it should be the theme song for Americans who want to return to the times on honor, dignity, goodness, trustworthiness, and all the virtues which made American the exceptional country that it was.

So I say, "Make them hear you!" Make the entrenched politicians and career bureaucrats hear you. Speak out. Be not afraid, speak out; make them hear you loud and clear.

What Holds Us Back?

Lord only knows the economic news is bad but strangely, people seem to be able to ignore it and go on with their lives with no worry. Why? Professors Kahneman and Tversky at the University of Chicago, proved it again and again: the average person avoids risk when seeking gains, but is willing to embrace risk to avoid losses. People would rather hang on to what they have or what they think they have, seemingly avoiding the risk of losing it. But the reality is that they are already going to lose what they have, it is just a question of when. The ones who are willing to accept losses now will minimize their risk of losing all.

Political ads that point out the coming economic earthquake being inexorably brought on by our government spending 27% more than it takes in, are ignored because they alienate the viewer/listener. When confronted with unpleasant news, they prefer to direct their attention elsewhere. Those that do listen sometimes attach a negative view to the one delivering the message. How can the few that speak the truth about the real economic situation, which won't end until the over-spending does, get folks to listen to the truth and motivate them to do something about it?

 These images from the 1930s may be a reminder that times like those that brought such poverty to so many can indeed happen again.

Please do not say to yourself, “Economic issues don't mean anything to me.” Truly, inflation brought on by these economic issues you don't care about will impact your life and it will grow worse and worse if ordinary American citizens like you and I continue to direct their attention to entertainment and other distractions. Pray for wisdom and just do the most important thing first.

Memorial Day

Almighty God, you have given us this good land for our heritage. We humbly ask you that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of your favor and glad to do your will. Bless our land with honorable endeavor, sound learning and pure manners. Save us from violence, discord and confusion, from pride and arrogance, and from every evil way.
Defend our liberties and fashion into one united people the multitude brought here out of many nations and tongues. Endow with the spirit of wisdom those to whom in your name we entrust the authority of government, that there may be justice and peace at home, and that through obedience to your law we may show forth your praise among the nations on earth. In time of prosperity fill our hearts with thankfulness, and in the day of trouble do not allow our trust in you to fail. Amen.

Thomas Jefferson

We began with an awareness of our need for God's help in maintaining the goodness of America.


We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of heaven; we have been preserved these many years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers, wealth and power as no other nation has ever grown.
But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which preserved us in peace and multiplied and enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined, in the deceitfulness of our hearts, that all these things were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own.
Intoxicated with unbroken success, we have become too self-sufficient to feel the necessity of redeeming and preserving grace, too proud to pray to the God that made us.

Abraham Lincoln

Years later we recognized that we were straying from God's ways in spite of all God had given us.

O Merciful God, we cry to Thee for pardon and for mercy. We are "an unbelieving and perverse generation." We are disobedient, disloyal and ungrateful to Thee. We have excluded Thee from our homes, our schools, our business places. We are no longer worthy to be called Thy
children. But Merciful God, spare America! Forgive us! Save us from the scourge which we have
deserved. Teach us Thy Law, and move our wills to serve Thee, henceforth. Merciful God, please
spare America.
Apostles of the Holy Spirit

In these times we have strayed far, far away from our Creator. If we fail to return, God will once and for all turn His back on America. On this Memorial Day when we remember the many who gave their lives to preserve our liberty, pray that we may once again become the people God once blessed in the founding of America.

Israel

More and more I am truly concerned about the Arab/Muslim/Palestinian attitude toward Israel. When they are teaching even their children to hate Jews and to kill them, it can't end well. What Glenn Beck said last night is true. The Palestinians are provoking Israel in every way but when Israel responds, then Palestine will cry to the world, "Aggressor!" This is being created as a Catch-22 situation for Israel. No matter how you feel about Israel, it can't be a good thing that this plan is being put in place. No matter what Israel does, the Arab/Muslim/Palestinians will never cease wanting to wipe them off the face of the earth. And when or if they succeed, then they will come for the United States. Don't think they won't!

With Egypt re-forming the Nazi party openly, what we said would never happen again is being planned. We said we would never forget, but have we? It is sad to think that some of the people who fought in that war or were victims of the Holocaust are still alive but some countries are planning the very same thing again. Don't stick your head in the sand or blindly refuse to see what is happening. It will certainly not stop with Israel! All that is needed for evil to triumph is that good men and women do nothing. Do something!

Take it to the end

I have not seen anywhere a blog or an article of any kind which discusses what the final result of the Obama energy policies would be.

For a couple of years now I have been plagued by a vision of economic disaster, complete collapse. I see the streets empty, no cars, no people. I see the malls empty, stores closed. I see gangs preying on the few people who have money for gas, taking by force whatever they have in their cars. In the more urban areas, gangs will come to houses and apartments and take what they want.  I see travel being near impossible because airfare will be out of sight, travel by car dangerous and perhaps impossible with the high prices of gas and perhaps the general unavailability of gas. The depression of the 1930s will look good by comparison because then the country still had a Christian world-view while today individualism and moral relativism reign.

I am getting freaked out that under Obama, this vision seems to be coming closer and closer. He was duly elected but he has put many bureaucrats in who now control regulations for just about everything. While Congress sleeps, Obama has taken control. Before the end of his term of office, I think that he may have completed the fundamental change, that he desired. The election of 2012 may be a moot point.

He has said that he wants energy prices to rise and Obama has curtailed drilling of our own oil. Unlike what he says he wants, he is actually forcing the United States to be more dependent on foreign oil. The effects of skyrocketing oil/gas prices are far reaching. First, people will not be able to afford to drive. Getting to work will be a challenge as few live near where they work. In many instances, public transportation is not even an option. So people won't buy cars when they can't afford gas, or maybe even afford the car if they can't get to work. Second, what about those who heat their homes with oil or propane or kerosene? Will they be able to afford to heat their homes? During the winter, will people die because they can't heat their homes? Third, everything we buy is delivered by trucks/trains/planes. If they can't get fuel or if they have to pay 3 or 4 times more than they pay now, the cost of goods will necessarily rise to the point where people won't be able to afford them. Oil products are also essential for the manufacturing of many products: waxes, sealants, distillates; basic costs of many items will rise. Food prices will rise not only from increased delivery costs but from manufacturing and petrochemical feedstock price increases. Fourth, infrastructure will slowly crumble as tar, pitch and asphalt are all oil products. How will roads be repaired or new roads be built? 

So now what about electricity? Coal plants providing electricity are being closed and nuclear plants may be the next to go after the earthquake in Japan. Together, coal and nukes provide 65% of our electricity. What will this do to electric rates? Who will be able to afford to pay rates that might be at the least 65% more as we will have 65% less electricity available? This presumes that electricity would still be available to all. I doubt that it will. We are an all electric country from our light bulbs to our refrigeration, to our computers, to our phones, to our small appliances. How long can you live without electricity? Currently electric cars are being pushed as green but who can afford to charge them if rates are astronomical? The government has been forcing us to use fluorescent bulbs instead of incandescent because they use less electricity but the difference is not that great and moot if there is no electricity anyway.

Less people will make Obama's policies more workable for the government. Abortion, euthanasia, death panels via refusing to pay for care are essential parts of making Obama's policies sustainable in the long run. The government just can't afford to pay the expensive Social Security and Medicare; I believe they will do everything they can to reduce costs.

These are only two parts of what is going on under Obama but carried to their logical conclusion, America will indeed be fundamentally transformed. The voters had no idea what Obama was really saying when he talked about change. So how do you like this change and where it may end?

Prayers

Cleaning out some shelves, I came upon some prayers I had written down. The first one must have been copied from someone else but the second one is a rewording of the Our Father we were asked to do on a retreat.

Take, O Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and my entire will. Whatever I have or hold, Thou hast given me; I restore it all to Thee and surrender it wholly to be governed by Thy will. Give me only Thy love and Thy grace, and I am rich enough and ask nothing more.

Our true Father in Heaven
Your name is the holiest.
May Your kingdom be established here,
And Your ways followed here on earth as they are joyfully in Heaven.
Take care of our daily needs,
And hold not our sins against us
As we hold sins not against our brothers.
Let us not be lead near tempting,
But be our strength against the evil one,
For all is Yours here,
Your strength, and Your glory beyond the end of time. Amen

Why don't you try creating your own version of the Our Father and share it with me?

Good versus Evil

 Which list describes what I want or should choose?
Order               Hate
Love                 Anger
Peace               Chaos
Honor              Cheat
Truth                Lie
Do right           Steal
Compassion    Revenge

 In the future, maybe soon, maybe in a few years, there will come a time when evil will seem to triumph. There will be much done against the godly and it may seem to them that they are helping God by bringing down these good folks. I want to be counted among the godly and I hope you do too because Psalm 52 is pretty clear about what happens to the evil people:

 Psalm 52: 1-5
Why do you boast, O mighty man, of mischief done against the godly?
All the day you are plotting destruction.
Your tongue is like a sharp razor, you worker of treachery.
You love evil more than good, and lying more than speaking the truth. 
You love all words that devour, O deceitful tongue.
But God will break you down for ever; he will snatch and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. 

But I say also, in that time, it will seem very tempting to be among these powerful people because they will be prospering while most folks are barely getting by or are in fact dying of starvation. They will not care for the poor, they will care only for increasing their power and wealth.

Jeremiah 5: 26-28
For wicked men are found among my people; they lurk like fowlers lying in wait. They set a trap; they catch men.
Like a basket full of birds, their houses are full of treachery; therefore they have become great and rich, they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no bounds in deeds of wickedness; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy.

But I say we must not be like these wicked people. No matter how little we may have, like the loaves and fishes in Christ's hands, it will be enough for our needs and enough to share with our friends and neighbors. You must show compassion and mercy, remembering that we are to be holy as God is holy.

Deuteronomy 15:7-8, 11
If there is among you a poor man, one of your brethren, in any of your towns within your land which the LORD your God gives you, you shall not harden your heart or shut your hand against your poor brother, but you shall open your hand to him, and lend him sufficient for his need, whatever it may be. ....For the poor will never cease out of the land; therefore I command you, You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in the land.

Soon you must choose: will you walk with the wicked or delight in the Lord? More and more the words of the Old Testament and New Testament seem as if they are written for today. They are being fulfilled in this age and we, as much as the early Christians, must choose whom we will serve.

Psalm 1: 1-2
Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night.

So I say we have our work cut out for us. Today's culture more and more is one of entitlement and receiving without putting in. And now that we are very close to having no money at any government level to pay and pay and pay, people are getting angry and others are telling people to get angry and be violent in protest, to seek to take what others have. But that is not to be your way. You must seek peace and pursue it.

1 Thessalonians 5: 13b - 15
Be at peace among yourselves. And we exhort you, brethren, admonish the idlers, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all. See that none of you repays evil for evil, but always seek to do good to one another and to all.

Look up! This earth is not our home. It is only a place of journeying, a way-station - not our eternal home.

Colossians 3: 1-2, 12-14
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, and patience, forbearing one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

I am really working on being aware of what is going on and making decisions about whether or not I want to do what everyone else is doing. I do not want to be rioting. I do not want to be destroying property. I do not want to be coveting what my neighbors have to the point of grabbing it from them. As in the early days of the Church, Christians may have to give everything, including their lives to be numbered among God's holy people. I want to be willing to give it all, do you?

Angry Words

With the union argument going on in Madison, Wisconsin, there has been quite a bit of angry language and threats mostly coming from the pro-union side of the table. After the shooting in Arizona, there was much talk by those same folks about civility in the public arena. Why are they not listening to the words coming out of their own mouths? 


This morning I was reading in James 1 and came to these verses:
Know this my beloved brethren, let every man be quick to hear, slow to speak, show no anger, for the anger of man does not work the righteousness of God. (James 1:19-20) And just a few verses later: If any one thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this man's religion is vain. (James 1:26) I think it is pretty clear that a Christian listens first and then speaks but always with a controlled tongue.


Times may come soon when anger will pour out of people who have been living on the government when the government finally acknowledges that it is out of money, out of credit and in huge debt. And many organizers will encourage the people to be angry, to get angry and to take their anger out on others who seem to be better off. There is nothing like entitlement to make people feel that they have a "right" to be taken care of in the way they would like. Poverty in this country is for the most part hardly the poverty of other countries. People can do more for themselves than they have been in the habit of doing. There are many resources here and in the past there were good folks here who looked out for one another. Those who have lived without worry will now have to worry. They will have to work more to take care of themselves and their families but that is a good thing, not a bad thing. Together, sharing of our own free will, we will make it.


The first reaction to change is anger. But American's must get over that anger quickly. It isn't going to help and it will most certainly hurt if it goes unchecked. We are going to find out if the America that was brought into existence by the founders is still the America of today. I do hope so.

The Lord is telling some people...

 I got an email today from a woman who has a group who gather to speak in tongues and then to say what they feel the message was. One of them said this:


 "Kept hearing repentance, not relying on Lord enough, saw big circles over US.  Big circles were where prayer was not going up, many of them in Midwest.  He said my people are so busy they are not relying on me.  Then saw the White House and the white was pealing off, then saw slaves crying out for prayer (don’t understand the slaves part).  Message is that we are not praying enough, specifically for our president and our Holy Father, protection for him.  Betty confirmed that this morning she received at Mass to pray for Holy Father.  Need more prayer and less criticism."

 I can see that certainly, with all that is going on in Wisconsin, there is likely not enough prayer about that explosive situation where many are bringing anger and violence instead of civil discussion. I also see very well that the White House is in decay because Obama and his administration are not honoring God in any way. Certainly there will be many slaves, slaves to many different things: wealth, power, Islam, debt and many will cry out for prayers for themselves when things go south. We need to pray for President Obama. He needs the Lord's wisdom and guidance.

I believe that the Holy Father absolutely needs prayers too. I have been praying for him for a while now. We must all focus on the truth of our faith and try to live that out. That is what Pope Benedict XVI is asking us to do.

Travel? Maybe...

My husband and I were going to drive to California to visit friends but with gas prices already at $3.50 here and without a doubt headed higher by April when we were considering going, we are now wondering if we can do it. I think it would take $500 plus meals and the occasional motel room so flying looks better. But, what to do with our two Bichons? We already impose on our daughter quite a bit and we wanted to take them with us, which we can't do if we fly. Also, at least one of our friends does not welcome dogs so that's a problem too.

I have a feeling that everyone's travel plans are going to be limited this year by oil prices which will cause airfare to go up and make car travel unattractive too. We are so used to going whenever and wherever we please in our cars that it is going to be a shock to the system to have to weigh the options very carefully, and perhaps not go at all. We have already started trying to take one car to work, not two. And we buy gas at Costco which is the cheapest around here. It was a 15¢ a gallon difference this past weekend between Costco and our local stations.

With the government's decision to cut off drilling for oil nearly everywhere in the United States, and the unrest in the Middle East, which surely will not end well, there is no place for oil prices to go but up and up and up. Delivery figures into the price of everything we buy so prices on everything will necessarily rise. This country, and the world, are headed for an economic time like no other. We will all be pulling in the belt sooner or later. Prepare now and save yourself some real grief in the future. Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.... a depression era mantra that we would be well to heed now.

Fear Not

All the political news these days is pretty grim: the whole middle east in turmoil and threatening to coalesce into a caliphate; South American countries become more communist and anti-American; unions organizing to fight for their own interests, no matter what the interests of the country might be; strong anti-Christian and anti-Israel sentiment around the world; our debt mounting and China, who holds most of it, not exactly a friend of the US; threatening collapse of the dollar. What is the answer to times like these when one might seriously think that the end times may come in one's lifetime?

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, not rulers, nor things present, nor things yet to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:35-39)

I worry a lot. I am just a fearful person by nature. I am not an optimist. So this encouragement in the face of today's news comforts me.

"I called upon the Lord in distress: the Lord answered me and set me in large places. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do to me? The Lord is on my side to help me; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me." (Psalm 118:5-7)

This is the antidote to my fear: call upon the Lord in my distress. No matter how bad things might get, I can always call upon Him.

Sleeping Dogs

I was reading in Isaiah 56:9-12
All you beasts of the field, come to devour- all you beasts in the forest. His watchmen are blind, they are all without knowledge; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; dreaming, lying down, loving to slumber. The dogs have a mighty appetite; they never have enough. The shepherds also have no understanding; they have all turned to their own way, each to his own gain, one and all. "Come," they say, "Let us get wine, let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure."

Does this passage not describe Americans today? To be fair, many people all over the world. We are slumbering, not paying any attention to those beasts who come to devour us, easily catching us off guard. We are concerned with our pleasures. We think that how it is is how it will always be. No need to worry about the future. We are full of pride, thinking no one will challenge us, no one will come to take away what we have. And our leaders are without vision, oblivious because they have their own agenda, each trying to increase his own power and influence.

What of the righteous? "The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands." (Isaiah 57:1) In this culture, Christian people are ignored as being 'not with it' so no one cares if they are cut off.

The rest of this chapter talks about all the ways the culture is turning from God: deceitful, lustful, worshiping the world, shameless, looking everywhere for new things to tantalize - even as far as hell, finding new strength in new sins. God questions, "Whom did you dread and fear, so that you lied, and did not remember me, did not give me a thought? Have I not held my peace, even for a long time, and so you do not fear me?" (verse 11) How many go about their lives taking no thought of God? Many, many of our children, my own included, think that faith in God is unnecessary; their lives seem to be going along just as they like without God. Verses 17 and 18 "Because of the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry; but he went on backsliding in the way of his own heart." This generation is enamored with stuff; everyone's closet are full and many have to rent storage units to contain all the things they have but don't even use. God must heal these slumbering dogs.

But as for the wicked, solidified in their evil ways: "But the wicked are like the tossing sea; for it cannot rest, and its waters toss up mire and dirt. There is no peace for the wicked." In this world there are many wicked people. They strive for their own gain and power. They think that eventually they can rule the whole world, as in the days of the Tower of Bable. God alone is fit to rule the world.

Beware, therefore, things will not always be as they have been; never in the history of the world has this happened. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Get wisdom.

Retired?

I didn't expect this. I thought that it was surely several years off. But instead it has come like falling off a cliff. I am still in free fall. I don't know where I will land or in what condition. Some days I feel positive, seeing signs that God is caring for us and some days I am scared witless, feeling like I am staring into a black hole where I might at any moment run smack into the bottom with no warning.

More than anything this is a journey of faith. God quietly shut down our business but He has not yet revealed what shall be for us. He preserved my husband's life with a triple by-pass which prevented a certain, fatal heart attack, so we know He has a plan. It is so hard to be still and wait for the Lord. Patience and fortitude, gifts of the Spirit, needed now.

Books

I chose the book background for my blog because I love books. I have hundreds at home and I can't bear to part with a one. Sadly, I also have quite a few that I haven't read. Just don't have as much time to read as I would like. There is so much to learn, so many places to explore, so many ideas to consider in books. They are real treasure. I hope you read and that you encourage your children to read as well.

Who Are We Following?

 In one day's readings were the verses below from the Old Testament. They set me to thinking about who we are following now. The news of the shootings in Tucson yesterday made me aware again that there is a shadow group that wants uprising and violence in the United States and elsewhere in the world. You have only to read the news to see that in places where the governments have already had to deal severely with the lack of funds, the people there have taken to the streets in riots. They are being organized and fed a line that isn't true. They are being told that the government is supposed to taken care of them is every possible way. Well, it can't and good government was never intended to. These rioters are lazy. They want things handed to them. They do not want to make sacrifices.

What will the people of the United States do when money runs out here? It could come very, very soon if the congress does not vote to raise the debt ceiling. (I personally think they shouldn't. It just encourages them to spend money they don't have.) But how will people react if they don't get their welfare check, their unemployment check, etc? There are those, as I said, who are just waiting for a crisis to encourage riots here. So, read from the first Psalm and gain wisdom:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD,
and on his law he meditates day and night.
Psalm 1:1-2

We should cling to God because He will deal with these wicked people who are trying to get everyone to do the wrong thing.

The wicked are not so,
but are like chaff which the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will perish.
Psalm 1:4-6

Satan is actively trying to get the nations to conspire to have a one world government. But only God can rule the whole earth, only He is fit to. These folks have been straining indeed to get out from under all that God requires: marriage between a man and a woman, the sacredness of life for the unborn and the elderly, to love one another as neighbor.

Why do the nations conspire,
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD and his anointed, saying,
"Let us burst their bonds asunder,
and cast their cords from us."
Psalm 2:1-3

 It will not go well in the end for those who defy God. And we should actively take refuge in Him, not be led astray by those who are of the world.

Now therefore, O kings, be wise;
be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the LORD with fear,
with trembling, kiss his feet,
lest he be angry, and you perish in the way;
for his wrath is quickly kindled.
Blessed are all who take refuge in him.
Psalm 2:10-12

 There is much evil afoot in the world right now. It is enough to make me wonder if the end is not near, everything does seem to be in the power of Satan and things seem to be going his way. It is discouraging.

We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. 
1 John 5:19

But we should never despair. There is a light which the darkness can't overcome. We should follow that light. It is the light of love and hope.

The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land overshadowed by death,
on them has light shined.
Isaiah 9:2

I am by nature a pessimist. I don't expect things to go well. I worry a great deal. I have to remind myself all the time of eternal truths. I have to remind myself whose I am, who takes care of me. I want to be wise, not foolish. I want to follow the One who leads me to eternal life, not the ones who would lead me to eternal death. I have to be careful that I am not fooled. Therefore I pray: "Come Holy Spirit, give me Wisdom."

Sacrifice

Monsignor Luigi Giussani, the founder of the ecclesial movement, Communion and Liberation is one of my favorite authors. He wrote: "The cross of Christ revealed, on the one hand, the dominion that sacrifice has on the life of all and, on the other hand that its meaning was not necessarily negative, or better, that it had a mysteriously positive significance: it was the condition for men to reach their destiny.... Sacrifice becomes a moral value... when it becomes a... response to Christ's death. If sacrifice is accepting the circumstances of life, as they happen... then sacrifice becomes the keystone of all life — life's value is in the sacrifice one lives."

In Jeremiah there is a verse which says, "I will put anguish in them so that they will find me." We humans have such a hard time with sacrifice. We shun it if we can. But what if it is the coin of the realm for heaven? Revelations 3:18 says: "Therefore I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, that you may be rich..." What if this "gold" is sacrifice? Am I willing to store up this sort of treasure in heaven?

In coming times there may not be enough of anything for anyone. Am I willing to share even the last bit I have left rather than say, "No, I need this, I have none to share with you."? I believe that we will have a much greater opportunity to sacrifice in the coming times and whether or not we do will prove whether or not Christ will find any faith on Earth when He returns. He asked if there would be any so there must be a possibility that there would not be.


Sacrifice is a moral value that must be planted firmly in our lives now while it has a chance to take root. Is Christ the only one to sacrifice? No, if our goal is to be like him. He gave everything, we must be willing to do the same in the circumstances of our own lives. Store up for yourselves this sort of treasure in heaven.

Debt Ceiling Conundrum

Here's a thing to consider. When you have charge up your credit cards to the limit, is it a good thing for the bank to raise your limit or to force you to stay under a certain amount of debt? And how should you respond to being at your credit limit? Should you pay down your debt and avoid adding to it, or should you just keep on charging and hoping the bank will keep raising your debt limit? This is basically what the government is doing by considering raising the country's debt ceiling. Here are some quotes from The Blaze, first from the news story and second a comment by a reader:

WASHINGTON (The Blaze/AP) — Some Republican lawmakers said Sunday they opposed raising the ceiling on the nation’s debt without tackling government spending, and President Barack Obama’s top economic adviser warned against “playing chicken” on the issue and said preventing further debt would be “insanity.”


“The impact on the economy would be catastrophic,“ Goolsbee told ”This Week” on ABC. “That would be a worse financial economic crisis than anything we saw in 2008.”

Mister President

Posted on January 2, 2011 at 11:18pm Not raising the debt ceiling will be an economic/financial catastrophe the world has never before witnessed.

Raising the debt ceiling will lock the world into an economic/financial catastrophe it has never before witnessed.

There are no easy answers anymore. There are two options: a somewhat controlled collapse or one that just happens and cannot be stopped or controlled. Make your choice. I don’t trust Obama and company to oversee a controlled collapse (I’d trust someone like Christie though), but I really, really, really don’t trust them to be at the helm during an uncontrolled collapse and the panic that will allow them to do, literally, anything. Damned if we do; damned if we don’t.

If we don’t raise it, we basically admit what most already realize. If we do raise it, we get to live in denial for a little bit longer until a Treasury auction goes bad an interest rates skyrocket.


 Will the government go for a controlled crash of the economy or will they let us smack into the end at full speed? At some point the economic steam runs out - it's like driving your car towards a dead end. There is absolutely NO WAY to avoid a crash. For a hundred years the government has spent more than it has taken in and has promised many, many people that it would pay them for all sorts of things. Now the piper must be paid. There is no money, there is not going to be money. There is only going to be debt and soon no one will want to loan any more to the US because there will be no expectation of being repaid. We will be in default. When we go, the world goes. Total collapse ensues.

Are you ready? Being prepared is the best way to combat fear. Know where your true security lies: in your God first, then your friends and your family. Can you stand feeling a little crazy now buying extra groceries, keeping extra cash on hand and investing in silver or gold or other precious metals? I hope so.

Friends, to Keep the Fire Lit

Saint Bonaventure is a Doctor of the Church. This is what he said:
The further one withdraws from the world, the closer becomes one's friendship with good people. It follows that the more the company of ungodly people loses its attraction, the more the company of saintly and spiritual people inspires the heart with radiant delight. Saint Gregory says: "Anyone who keeps close to a holy man discovers that by seeing him often, listening to his words and witnessing his exemplary behavior, he is set on fire with love of the truth, keeps away from the darkness of sin, and is inflamed by the love of divine light." Saint Isidore writes: "Seek the company of good people. If you share their company, you will also share their virtue.

A log by itself will go out, but close to others on fire, it will blaze up itself. It is the same with people. Keeping close to friends who encourage you towards virtue (and that is what true friends do) will help you immeasurably in growing in virtue. Make it a point to spend time regularly with good friends. As Matthew Kelly says, "What you give time to, grows."

If times grow tough, as I believe they will, having good friends is going to be essential. Sirach 6:14-17 "A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter: he that has found one has found a treasure. There is nothing so precious as a faithful friend, and no scales can measure his excellence. A faithful friend is an elixir of life; and those who fear the Lord will find him. Whoever fears the Lord directs his friendship aright, for as he is, so is his neighbor also."
The Bible is full of references to friends and friendship. Like Proverbs 17:17 "A friend loves at all times and a brother is born for adversity." Or Proverbs 18:24 "There are friends who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Or again John 15:15 "...but I have called you friends..." no doubt Jesus is the friend who sticks closer than a brother or at least one of them, if you are so blessed.

We were not meant to live separate lives but to live in community, helping one another, blessing one another and being helped and blessed ourselves. Our culture has separated us. We must do what we can to restore human relationships. The world depends on it and our own happiness does too.