unseasonable

“Preserve me from unseasonable and immoderate sleep”
Samuel Johnson

(Helleborus / Lenten Rose / Julie Cook / 2017)

Unseasonable warmth gives way to
an unrelenting chain of events…

There is…

emerging,
birth,
growth…

A fullness of life…

there is preparing,
and a signaling of readiness,
and the ushering in of the new…

there is hopefulness…

Yet it is all so dangerously premature.
It is ill prepared,
unsuspecting,
and unsustainable…

It is out of step with time…

It is not strong enough to ward off that which will certainly be coming…

It is the living of a falsehood.

Living without regard for the Word,
while there is disregard for the Sovereign…
with contempt for the Promise…
Ignoring or discrediting all that has been proclaimed and foretold.

It is like the premature bloom…

Blooming,
growing,
living…
out of step and out of time…

Ignoring the rhythmic nature of what is to be,
only ushers in an inevitable destruction…
brought about by the reality of rebellion and ignorance.

What makes you think you are any different from the premature
blooms lulled into the pretense of Spring by an unrealistic and untimely change?
You who simply ignore the Truth because you find yourself basking in a
a false and unseasonable warmth…

All the while as you know, in the back of that mind of yours…
you who are fully aware that none of this of the superficial and self indulgent will last…

As you find yourself now unprepared to ward off that which is surely coming…

You will be defenseless and ill prepared.
You who have been basking and relishing in the allure of something other than the Truth.

Be not fooled by your own folly of bliss over the distortion of reality.
The Lion roars as winter is coming…
The premature thaw and warming winds will not last…
Take heed,
for you have been warned and now told…

Only those hearts humbled and now knowledgable will be ready…
for they have not given way to these foolish and heady times…

For out of the North,
and then the West,
while up from the South,
and finally the East…
the premature blooms will be trampled under the hooves
of the stampede…
those who run seeking a safe haven…
who will find none.

Yet the faithful will not dismayed…
you who have been prepared and ready…
Your time draws near…

As Hope is ushered in on the returning winds of change…
As His way has been prepared and now made ready,
as you who have been waiting,
now find yourself more than ready to pay homage to
the returning of the King.

Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath.
For then there will be great distress, unequaled from the beginning of
the world until now—and never to be equaled again.
Matthew 24:20-21

Absurdities of truth

“Almost all absurdity of conduct arises from the imitation of those whom we cannot resemble.”
― Samuel Johnson

(an absurd looking jellyfish washed up on the beach / Santa Rosa Beach, FL / Julie Cook / 2016)

The other afternoon as I was on my way home from Dad’s, finding myself traveling happily lickity split on the highway, as I thankfully worked my way out and away from the madness of the city…I was winging my way home in the fast moving far left lane…

People with lead feet usually prefer the far left lane…

All of a sudden, the car in front on me slams on its brakes, as if a goose had wandered in front of it on this tangled conglomeration of highway and cars…
My reflexes kick in and I feel myself bracing for impact….

The real issue here however was not an errant wandering goose, but rather that this driver had decided that she needed to exit…as in immediately. As in crossing 5 lanes of rapidly moving traffic, over to the exit at the far right, that was soon to be just a mere blur of a memory by everyone driving lickity split…was perfectly alright.
Makes perfect sense right???????

And by what can only be credited to the Grace of God… no one was killed or rear ended…the idiot car made it to the exit.
You’ve got to love those who are in the far left lanes and decide instantaneously that the exit in the far right lane is where they want to be…as in now.

Stupid, unnerving, maddening, dangerous, idiotic, potentially deadly and mostly absurd!!

So as I regained my composure, continuing lickity spilt in my now nervous left lane, I began to ponder the often infuriating wealth of life’s absurdities.
With one truly glaring facet…

That of the Truth.

You know that little thing we were all taught early on to always tell.
As in your nose will grow long if you don’t,
As it’s always stranger than fiction…
and that it will truly set you free…

Yet it dawned on me that the Truth, in this bizarre and surreal world of the overt PC police, the Truth is not politically correct.

Of course it’s not!

To be politically correct one has to bend both Heaven and Earth to fit square pegs into round holes..and of course we don’t like to use the word Heaven as it may be too offensive for some and then square pegs and round holes may be considered too demeaning to others…
perhaps you can see how this is all coming into play…

The Truth–as in the word and law of God, just doesn’t fit into today’s round holes.

And praise the Lord it doesn’t.
Thank God that God is not politically correct.

And yet this grossly politically correct world of ours has decided to just cut Him, His Law, His Word totally out of the picture because they just can’t seem to get any of part of Him to fit in their round holes.

Oh they’ve tried…
They’ve tried to bend what He said, what was written…
God isn’t God…
Jesus isn’t Jesus
Christmas offends
Easter offends
Crosses offend
Praying to God offends…oh, but Mohammed is ok…
The Ten Commandants aren’t really real laws
and for heavens’ sake, don’t display them because they are offensive…
Forget what He said about same sex unions
Forget what He said about what happens when you opt for the sinful side of life….
And forget about anything being said about too much of a good thing really being a bad thing—
because to heck with that kind of thinking, cause we’re going to party likes it’s….
I think I’ve written about that one before….

So as I continued to lickity split down this one particular highway of my life….
I came to the happy conclusion that the Truth is indeed NOT politically correct…
and the truth of the matter is that I think I very much like that little realization…

So here’s to a being a rebel with all things politically correct…
And remember…it is never wise to exit right when you are in the far left lane…
just saying…

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through me.
1 John 14:6

Best intentions

“Hell is paved with good intentions.”
― Samuel Johnson

“A good intention, with a bad approach, often leads to a poor result.”
― Thomas A. Edison

(Variegated Fritillary visits the heather / Julie Cook / 2015)

(Variegated Fritillary visits the heather / Julie Cook / 2015)

Best intentions are not always best—and sometimes it takes a lifetime to finally, sadly, remorsefully understand such wisdom.
What is it that they, those anonymous and innocuous wise sages, say about that proverbial road to hell?
The one I fear I’ve spent a lifetime paving?

Despite the poor choice of yielding to those intended intentions, time and time again we see that it is actually our hearts which often steer us toward the kinder and gentler offering rather than the more difficult.
Which may just prove that it is indeed better to lead with one’s head, rather than one’s heart.

As a people we tend to lean toward wanting to be kind not tough, soft not hard.
And yet it seems that we as a people learn best by the harder knocks in life.
Those lessons in life that spare neither our feelings nor hearts.

As parents we experience all of this first hand do we not?
Tueri et provide — to protect and provide is the creed and motto of any parent.
We spend most of our time and energies wanting, and / or doing, just that for our children—
Yet it is not always the better decision, stance or choice.
A child’s hard lesson learned is usually a well lesson learned—it may be painful in the beginning, especially for the observing parent, but a great reward of character for the child in the long run.

And with all this talk of good intentions, one should know that inevitably there’s a whole lot of reaping and a whole lot sowing to be had.
And sadly good intentions don’t always seem to reap a like kind.
Instead they often times reap a whole lot of uncomfortableness, misfortune and misery.
Leaving behind those well intended souls, in the wake of the aftermath, like a deer in headlights wondering what just happened.

Thankfully there is another small thought or motto that has become a bit of a life-line
or actually it’s really more of a short sweet prayer which helps me through those moments when my best intentions get the better of me. . .

God, I blew it so please renew it. . .

And so once again, in this thing called life, as I look back on those intentions that may have, at the time seemed best yet rather turned out to be anything but best—even overflowing with negative repercussions, I once again offer up my prayer—
“God, I blew it. . .again. . . and it’s a mess, and only you can “renew” it. . .please help”