Faith is a force, one so powerful that it cannot tolerate anything next to it.
How weak in faith we are: we are constantly letting things outside of God take up space in us!
Adrienne von Speyr
from Lumina and New Lumina
This meme pretty much sums up our collective year thus far…
as in 2020 probably won’t be the year you’ll want to invest in that special case of wine
to save for a momentous occasion on down the road.
The way things are going, there may be no more momentous occasions and
there may be no more roads…just saying.
So yeah, 2020…NOT, a very good year.
My husband and I basically quit watching the news almost two weeks ago.
It had gotten to such a depressing point.
Leaving us feeling helpless, frustrated, and downright mad.
Our leadership is abysmal—plain and simple.
They’ve not been able to handle a pandemic and Lord knows they
are not handling this cultural civil war worth a flip.
Arrogance, infighting, ignorance, hatred…you name it.
I do believe the President is truly trying to cull the madness but
the opposition, along with some of his own party, are making all things
impossible.
I feel like a person who’s been cut adrift in a raft,
drifting helplessly out to sea.
I imagine I am not alone.
I could write on and on about Antifa or Black Lives Matters, both
Marxist organizations bent on violence as an end means at any cost.
I could write about a society that wants handouts rather than hands up.
I could write about the never-ending demands for abortions and the deaths
of babies aborted who actually live– those so-called late-term abortions
that are gone awry.
I could write about a sexually confused swarth of society that
no longer believes in biology.
I could write about the lunacy over the “defund the police” movement…
as that is plain idiocy run amuck.
I could write about the destruction of monuments, statues, buildings,
churches, synagogues all because of a white European legacy…
all of which is simply stupid.
I could wirte about the capitulation by Church leadership
bending to the whims of a progressive culture that takes
no prisoners.
You either get on board or you get destroyed.
I could write about a culture that will strike you dead for
disagreeing with their rabid ideals.
I could write about being woke…or is that arrogantly ignorant?
I could write about violence, hatred, anger and zero civility.
I could write about the emotionalism found in a younger generation who
feels compelled to kneel against a flag and anthem of which is simply
misguided and historically ignorant.
I could write about a pandemic that has crippled a global economy
while leaving those in the know scratching their heads.
But I won’t.
I won’t belabor what the sane amongst us already know.
About 7 years ago, when our son was engaged to be married, I decided,
as the mother of the groom, I needed to get myself into some kind of
presentable shape.
My husband had bought me an elliptical machine for Valentines…a truly heart-healthy
gift…and so I decided I needed to get serious about using it.
I would spend between 30 to 60 minutes daily pushing, pulling and trucking
myself to nowhere all in the confines of our basement.
Sweating like a pig in the process.
After about two weeks I could actually feel a difference in my legs and ‘behind’.
A good difference.
My shorts fit better.
That was then…no so right now but I digress.
When I’d “workout”, I played music to help me push through the pain and strain.
One of the peppier songs was ‘Can’t Hold Us’ by Macklemore.
I didn’t really know all the lyrics…if I had, I probably wouldn’t have listened to it
but the beat was great when one was pumping one’s arms while practically running uphill
via a machine.
I still recall one part of the song that still resonates in my head…
Can we go back?
This is the moment
Tonight is the night, we’ll fight ’til it’s over
So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us
Like the ceiling can’t hold us
And so yes—
“This is indeed the moment”
All week long I’ve waxed and waned about the notion of discovering one’s true calling.
I’ve written about the differences between a vocation versus a job.
I’ve written about the curse of the repetition of history.
I’ve written about a world gone simply mad.
I’ve written about being lost while longing to be found.
But the one thing I do know, and know most clearly, it that
this is the time for those who call themselves Christians to stand up and stand firm.
You have not been called to be timid.
Those who waffle will fall.
Those who prefer appeasment will be dismayed.
Those who yield to the world will be damned.
It is the one thing that I know more clearly than anything else.
God has called us to be resolute.
This is our Spiritual call to arms.
Accepting a rewritten version of God’s word is unacceptable for a follower of Christ.
Condoning death as a viable and convenient option rather than choosing life is a sin.
Marriage is a sacred union between a man and a woman, end of sentence.
Denying Christ before the vile and violent mob, kneeling before the world might
spare your earthly life but it will not find you seated by Christ’s right hand.
Enough is now enough.
God has given us a voice.
It’s time we use it.
They can kill the body, but they cannot kill the soul.
Cry aloud; do not hold back;
lift up your voice like a trumpet;
declare to my people their transgression,
to the house of Jacob their sins.
Isaiah 58:1
My post this Sunday afternoon features Captain Picard saying, “This far, no farther.” I follow it with Sheldon Cooper saying the same thing for more silly reasons, but I am with you. I watched a program on the local Christian channel last night where they featured an author who wrote a book about a Gentle Presence. “Gentle” was in the title. He said that combat the present madness, Christians should be gentle, but Jesus flipped over the tables in the temple. He got angry. At what point do we draw the line and say, “this far, no farther?”
Amen Mark- I’m with you— gentle as lambs yet bold like lions— it’s time to be bold— to be lions!
There is a concerted effort to quiet and eventually do away with Christianity— not on my watch…not on my watch
But I find it hard to show love while angry. That loving one’s enemies is not so easy, but deep inside, I just want everyone to know Jesus and all this madness goes away. Then I get angry because they don’t “get it”. A vicious circle.
You’re right— that’s why I’m so Peter like— sometimes I react before thinking
I speak before thinking. That’s why I like writing, I can edit before I hit send, and even then my wife says that it seems like I don’t care who I offend.
I do think we tend to be an over offended culture—so I too write but something hit send perhaps before I should 😉 HA
Every thing is falling inline and our God is separating the sheep from the goats and certainly the wolves who have started to eat .
The whole sheep and goat scripture keeps running through my thoughts— yes, the wolves are eating
I’m thinking a lot about sheep these days. I feel as though we’ve been led and misled by so may voices that the clear voice of the Good Shepherd is being drowned out by the din of it all. It seems there is no end to the ugliness all around us, but we must remember what Christ endured to carry all our sin to the cross and pay for it with his own blood. Clinging to that truth is our only hope. Only God can bring order out of chaos. Maybe the end is near.
Truly so!!!!!
So well said my friend. Holding on to and standing firm in faith is really the only constant and true thing we have. We who feel the same way must combine prayers, thoughts, attitudes and actions to stand tall and solid in the face of this chaos!
Praise God! This is what I needed to hear during this time. Really encouraging words! Thank you Julie!
Thank you Ed—I’m happy that what I say to myself can bless others!!!!
You are such an encourager~and a motivator ~and a leader. I hear you and can SEE you saying it. I understand. Heavenly Father, you hear us. You are in control in all of this chaos. You are our authority and the scroll is in your hands. It’s your Kingdom that will be restored. Bind our hearts, restore our will, and give us courage to fight with faith.” We May lose these battles here~but we know who wins the war💚
Amen..Father hear our cries
What a time this has become!
“I imagine I am not alone.”
Indeed you are not, Julie!! As I mentioned earlier – I stand guard beside you – and I know thousands others will as well, at the appointed time….
Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong! (emphasis added.) 1 Corinthians 16:13
God is on the move Dawn Marie—the goats and sheep are separating!!!!