Coming About

I have been feeling and expressing all kinds of frustration and anger over the past few days because my Gmail accounts were hacked…as well as all of the accounts which my Google browser held passwords for.   I was not thinking about the truth of what I said in How to Win the War.  In fact, it took anger at my blessed neighbor to come to grips; she has been doing very poorly lately but got herself out of her chair to yell out her front door at me that my dog was “doing dookie” in the yard.  Really?

I struggled with my reaction to that…and everything else…last night.  (I have had 3 credit card companies reduce my credit limit to at or BELOW my credit balance because of a credit report pulled last December…when I couldn’t make house payments, moved here, and put the house up for sale.  One card had this month’s minimum payment set at $792.00…the minimum due… and reported my status as OVER LIMIT.  My credit score is now 551 primarily because of my credit allowance to credit balance ratio.)

Okay, I got that out.

Time for my sailing analogy.  It is time for me to make a course adjustment.  I have been sailing off-course for about a week.  I have been focusing on spiritual battles and race-war distractions.  (I am not implying that inequities in the laws governing the treatment of blacks is not an issue.  It is.  These laws must be changed…NOW.)  But, the REAL enemy is drawing us off course and is pitting blacks against whites and blacks against police and protesters against military and protesters against police and ….  We are distracted by these confrontations and the evil one and his minions and those who believe his propaganda are the ones perpetrating these evil deeds and as long as we don’t recognize this as a distraction from the real war, it appears to the world that they are winning…but they do not…have not…and won’t.  Remember who the enemy is.  Remember Who has won.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.”  That is from Isaiah.

Back to my sailing analogy.  The appropriate action which one should take to make a course adjustment, depends on how far off-course you are.  Sometimes you just move the tiller a bit to the left or right.  The tiller (your mind or the thoughts you focus on) moves the rudder…which is underwater, therefore hidden.  The rudder would equate to your sub-conscious or perhaps your spirit or soul.  You can make subtle adjustments to your tiller (thoughts or focus) by reading scripture that refers to God’ goodness, Jesus’s commandments, and the strength and protection of the Holy Spirit.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”  That is from Philippians.

If it is not enough to just change your focus or thinking, then you may need to ‘come about.’  Tacking is another word for ‘coming about;’ what you must do is switch which side of the boat your sail is leaning toward.  It requires a major shift of the tiller (and, therefore, the rudder) and causes a change in how the wind affects the sail.  What may be required is a major change in what you are focusing on.

Think of the wind as everything that affects you emotionally or spiritually.  That would include the news, events around the world, what’s going on in your family, your city, your country.   That also includes the Holy Spirit, prayer, and scripture.

Your sail, responding to the wind, is what propels you and gets you where you are going.  If your sail is picking up ‘bad’ or ‘foul’ wind, which means it is wind influenced by something (like another boat or bad teaching that you are following or ‘bad’ news, or fear, or hate,….), then coming about and making a major course change can move you into better wind and will greatly improve your journey.  The best wind is the Holy Spirit.

To get out of a ‘foul’ wind,  pray:  present to Jesus all of those issues fouling your life (hates, grievances, injuries, resentments, abuses, fear, guilt, …) and ask to have your sails filled back up with the good pure wind of His Spirit.

(Aside on how to present those issues to Jesus:  imagine a hamper or a bucket….like one you would bail with.  Imagine or list all the crap that you can think of and a few you aren’t aware of …Jesus will know…imagine putting all that stuff in the hamper or bucket and laying it at the feet of Jesus.  Imagine putting it at the base of the tree from which He was crucified, if that helps.  Then back away.  Do Not pick it back up.  Then pray that the space opened up by the releasing all of that junk…that that space be filled up with good, clean, pure Spirit from God.)

When you are sailing under a good wind, you can make progress in your journey and do constructive things to improve the world, as well as your own life and your eternity.  Good wind comes from your own relationship with God…your creator.  Good wind does not come through your church membership.  Good wind does not come from just reading the Bible.  Good wind is the Spirit of the Lord which comes to you Directly…not filtered…not translated…not through association with others.  It is directly to you…directly from God.

If you are unable to connect directly with God, your creator, ask for His help.  He will give it.  He will bring to mind those things which are fouling your wind, and when He does, immediately put them at Jesus’ feet; do not dwell on them or relive old injuries.  Give them immediately to Jesus.  And when residual stuff comes up, and it will, give that to Him, too…over and over.

You are not fouled….your wind is.  You are a sturdy, well-built, little craft.  Get out of the foul wind and sail on.

I’m heading next door to apologize for my dog’s having gone “dookie” in my neighbor’s yard and to see how she is doing.

(Thank you, God, for this deliverance.  To You be the Glory.)

(Yes, that is a picture of me hoisting a sail …many years ago.  I have stopped stealing images from the internet and that photo is the only one of my own that I could find quickly that had anything to do with sailing, sails, and wind.)

 

 

Brush-B-Gone and Jesus

This is the window in my bathroom.  Anyone who has ever spent time out of doors knows that what is climbing outside my window is poison ivy.  It struck me as I sat there gazing on the hated stuff (did I say ‘hate?’) is that that window is a good analogy for my life these days.  To give you some insight, there were only two clusters, of three leaves each, in that window two days ago.  It is time for the Brush-B-Gone…(great stuff).

As the analogy alludes, my home and life have been encroached upon lately.  It has seemed as if dark forces have been on me like socks.  My gmail accounts have been hacked.  Passwords have been stolen then changed to passwords I don’t know.  My cell phone took on a life of its own.  I’m keenly aware of everything going on around me.

But, like the window in my bathroom, I can see the evil but there is a window between me and it.  That pane of (plexi-) glass is my faith in God and trust in the protection of the Holy Spirit.  I fall back on what I said in “Shadrach, Meshach, and whatshisname,”

I serve God, through Jesus, with strength and conviction from the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus, saved by His blood by the Grace of God.  I look to Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the very Father God to protect and save me.  But if He does not, I will not turn from God nor will I stop drawing close to Jesus and neither will I stop turning to the Holy Spirit for guidance and protection.  I will not worship anything else.  Emphasis, MINE.

Are there any questions?

Now, where’s that jug of Brush-B-Gone?

(Thank you, God.)

An Enlightening Article

“the Nixon administration “had two enemies: the antiwar left and black people…We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black [sic], but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin, and then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities. ” – John Ehrlichman

Reading this Time magazine article made me uncomfortable but discomfort is often a good thing…a God thing; for me, it means I am disrupting my comfortable and familiar views and stretching my awareness.  I may not alter my course or I may have to make a mid-course correction.  I may accelerate my pace…or I may have to do an about face, altogether.  Opening one’s eyes is always good and one can discern truth from propaganda by asking for enlightenment from the Holy Spirit.

Confession:  I now know one meaning, the possible origin, of the term ‘institutionalized.’  I did not know about this history before and my previous post reflects that ignorance.

I strongly recommend this Time magazine article and allowing a little discomfort…

The GOP Can Lead on Criminal Justice Reform—If We Admit Inequality Exists

2 Commandments

For those not inclined to “Love Jesus” right off the bat (because of current beliefs, views, background, and/or upbringing), “Love God.” In time, you will be introduced to the person of Jesus and you will love His person, and love others through Him, as well.

An Appropriate and Powerful Response

Do you remember how you responded after the shock of 9/11 waned enough for you to stand up and walk again?  If you were like me, you went out and found an American flag and taped it to your car window.  I put a tiny flag on my desk and looked up the rules for the proper displaying of the flag.  I made sure the flag I flew in front of my house never got wet in the rain, was put up at sunrise and came down at sunset.

I was just like most Americans in that there was not much else I could do besides pray for our safety, to show the terrorists that we were not afraid and we would not give in to their threats and their show of hatred toward America.

But that was all I could do.

That was then.  THIS IS NOW.

We have a much more tangible way to respond to the displays of anger, hatred, and evil in the world around us.  And this is what I am going to do:

In response to racial anger and resentment, I will demonstrate to every person I meet, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RACE:

kindness,

patience,

concern,

charity,

and the Grace which I have received from God in abundance.

In response to stories and accusations of bias, injustice, unfair practices, hype, and propaganda, I will remind everyone who will listen, that we are all to blame and the only correct course of action is to STOP.  Stop, turn around, and do the opposite:  I will continue to be an ambassador for Christ and demonstrate 1) Love of God and 2) Love of Everyone.

An appropriate response to this assault on humanity is to show that WE WILL NOT DO LIKEWISE.

The buck stops here.  The hate stops at my door.  The attacks, accusations, lies, and slander stop at my mouth.

I will not spread or return anything but love, kindness, charity, compassion, understanding, and a whole shit-load of patience and forgiveness…so help me God.

(And I mean that, God…You’re going to have to help me.)

All Lives Matter

” Every life taken in anger… is simply because people’s pride and ego are too inflated, their greed and ambitions too important. Regardless of who they are.

” We all need to bow our heads in utter shame, we need to repent, we need to follow the Two Commandments of Jesus.”

It is no longer important who hit whom first.

It is no longer important why.

It is no longer important what has gone before.

Stop.

Stop hurting others.

Stop hating.

Stop killing.

Just Stop It.

Whose Lives Matter?

“It is a love of God and Christ that begins our journey to truly embracing our neighbors and loving them no matter who they are.”

You cannot legislate love. It must be lived and demonstrated.

You cannot force another to be different or to have a change of heart; You must be different, first…and have a change of heart, first. Then, you can show others how it is done.

“PLEASE, look at each other and find the good in each other.”

Please.

A Rat’s Nest of a Problem

When I was growing up I had long hair. Everybody had long hair. But long hair is like freedom, it has its costs and it requires maintenance. Quite often I had what I call a Rat’s Nest in my hair:  a big wad of a knot in the back of my head that resulted from sweating at night, tossing and turning, not using proper conditioner,… it was intractable, which means it was not easily resolved or fixed.  I could have cut all my hair off but I wanted long hair…and being able to keep long hair if you want it, is a good example of freedom.

I’ve read a lot recently about institutionalized racism.   Well, I’m going to have to look up on Merriam-Webster to find out exactly what “institutionalized” means.  For now, however, I am going to call it a Rat’s Nest of a problem because that is more descriptive and easier to visualize.  It makes it more “tractible.”

The way I got rid of my rat’s nests, was to put a solution on it like vinegar (to sort of soften things up) and then I would sit in front of the TV and slowly work the knots out one small strand of hair at a time.  It took several shows but I eventually got them all out.

The only way to sort out seemingly intractable problems is to soften the situation and to take your time working  out the mess…one strand at a time.  You could throw the whole thing out but that would likely result in destroying somebody’s freedom.

Having a nice word with several syllables like “institutionalized” is okay but simply applying a word to an issue…even a big word… does not improve the issue… unless of course there is a standard method of fixing an institutionalized thing.  But, I don’t know what to do with institutionalized things other than throw out the institution…and you really don’t want to do that.

Last year, a ‘gentleman’ was given the title of  “Humanist of 2015.”   (I’ll leave it up to you to look up who it was.). He was quoted as saying something about how organized religion was like a major problem in democracy and the sooner we got rid of it the better.  Well, my response to him was, “Just how do you propose to get rid of organized religion…or disorganized religion, for that matter?  You can outlaw religion, and that has been tried, but the believers go underground and persecution makes faith grow stronger.  Or you can annihilate the believers, and that’s been done, too, and genocide is always good for democracy, don’t you think? ”  I recommended, at the time, that this humanist out vote the extremists or, better yet, join their ranks and try to adjust their extreme viewpoints from within… but I digress …

My point is this:   while it is useful to come up with terminology that helps encapsulate an issue so that it is easy to address quickly, simply giving it a big word, (a big title, a big label) only serves to make it more abstract or abstruse or obtuse or any other word that most people don’t know.

Call it what it is:  a rat’s nest…  a complex, gomming together of abuse, dirty practices, mismanagement, neglect, and struggle which damages something natural like hair or people or lives.

The only way to resolve the issue of racism is to deal with it the way I dealt with my rat’s nest:  first you have to soften the situation with something like vinegar.  (BTW, vinegar is what they gave Christ to drink while on the cross.)  For racism, instead of vinegar, use what Christ gave us:  love, forgiveness, and the power of the Holy Spirit.  That will loosen up a lot of the dirt and the residual stickiness of the past.

The Holy Spirit makes it easier to work out each knot, one strand at a time…one issue at a time..one event at a time…one confrontation at a time.

When you’re out in public at Walmart or Target or the IGA or Quality Foods and you pass by someone of a different race, say “good morning;” ask “how are you doing?” and wait for an answer.  If they need help with their groceries, help. Carry a bag.  Show them…demonstrate that there’s more in this world for them than anger from a member of your race.

Addressing racism one strand at a time is a very important point so I will repeat what I mean:

Every instance of racism (or sexism, or extremism, or terrorism) on your street, at your work, on television, or from another city or another country, is just an individual strand and needs to be addressed individually.

When you gom them all together into a big generalized issue that you label with a big multisyllabic word like “institutionalized,” you are making it abstract…you are detaching yourself  from it, and you are making it seem intractable and it is NOT.

Besides, terms like “institutionalized” make it sound like the fault is the institution; “systematized” or “systemic” makes it sound like the fault lies with the system.  Institutions and systems are abstract entities governed by rules and perceptions.  To change the rules and perceptions, you must change hearts.

THE PROBLEM IS US.

And, remember, you can not legislate love.

So, one strand at a time…one heart at a time.  Every heart and every event is a separate strand.

This may seem unrelated at first but follow me here:  I am enlisting the help of a very strong spiritual healer to help address the problems of a loved one.  I was asked to pray for this loved one because he needs to get a job. But I know that before he can get a job, he needs to deal with his mental illness, his alcohol abuse, his rage issues, and a bunch of other resentments and stuff.

When I described all this to the spiritual healer he pointed out that each of these is handled in a different way… they have different demons associated with them and there are different ways of handling those demons.  In other words, there are many strands to my loved one’s life that need to be handled individually …and separately.

You’ve heard that patience is a virtue.  Patience IS a virtue. But do you know why patience is so important?  It is not just because it makes you able to wait on God, (and it does and that’s good), but because you need patience to deal with seemingly intractable problems… because quite often they can only be handled with patience, one strand at a time.

Racism is a rat’s nest; my loved one’s life is a rat’s nest.

I have another loved one who struggles with disorganization;  her life is a rat’s nest and I am helping her separate all of the disparate parts of her life so she can address each one …one strand at a time.  Otherwise, all of it gommed together seems intractable…it is too overwhelming.

My neighbors live a rat’s nest life; they have legal issues, financial issues, medical issues, addictions, abuses, …  Until they start handling these issues one strand at a time, the seemingly intractable nature of their rat’s nest life will continue to overwhelm them and nothing will improve.  Taken one strand at a time, these issues are resolvable.

These people are important…all people are important…and when anyone has a gom of problems that looks like a rat’s nest, they need to work it out one strand at a time.  But don’t forget the vinegar: the love of Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit…for the balm on the issue that will help work things out.

It will happen; I’ve done it enough times to know.  And with every strand you pull out, thank God for that one.

Thanks be to God and to God be the glory

Make it Real – Going Public

Have you ever noticed how when you mention God in conversation (no, not that way…), that things suddenly become real?

I was having a difficult time finding funds for gas.  I had funds on a card the gas station didn’t take.  I did a work around through my phone by doing a funds transfer from the unacceptable card to another card and then, again through my phone, from that card to my refillable gas gift card.  The attendant swiped the gift card; …nothing.  I murmured, “Come on, God, help me…”  Another attendant looked up along with a customer.  I swiped again.  It went through and I murmured, “God is good.”  When I looked up, everyone was smiling.  Some were smiling to themselves.  Many were nodding.

Why is it when people pray out loud, they sound as if they are speaking for your benefit or for the benefit of the room and not as if they really are speaking to someone?  Have you ever heard anyone say out loud, particularly in church, “Okay God, let me ask you this…”   or even, “God, I want you to know something…”  It’s always in a ‘recite the creed’ tone of voice.  If you don’t sound like you believe in God, how is anyone else going to believe in God ….or even believe that YOU believe in God?

A friend of mine has been battling dark forces for years.  She’s good at it.  She is a prayer warrior.  She advised me to speak ‘out loud’ when commanding the evil ones to get away from me, in the Name of Jesus, etc.  I will explain why I believe speaking ‘out loud’ makes a difference:

There have been many times when I thought I was going to do something but didn’t.  In ‘psychiatry/psychology-speak’ this is often referred to as ideation, such as in ‘suicidal ideation,’ a rather derogatory term meaning you’re a wimp and you haven’t got the nerve to do it.  (I don’t want to think about how many people have gone through with suicide just to prove ‘friends,’ family members, and doctors wrong.)

There have been times when I thought I was going to cross over into on-coming traffic…but didn’t.  There have been times when I thought I was going to jump off of something high…but didn’t. There were times when I thought I was going to take bottles of pills…but didn’t.  It wasn’t out of fear that I did not do it, because there have been times that I have done it.  More benignly, there have been times I told myself I was not going to go into a store…but did; furthermore, I told myself I was not going to buy books…but did.  I confess…and digress…

My point is this: taking it out of the mind of intention and into the verbal makes it more real for me.  My imagination and mind of intention are not trustworthy.  And I don’t think I am alone in this.  I read an article yesterday that mentioned cognitive behavioral therapy…or ‘talk’ therapy.  Talking about how one thinks about things, situations, and life; and how one behaves as a result of one’s thoughts; and talking about making changes (not just thinking about making changes) gives it more oomph.  Verbalizing affirmations is what gives them power, not just the present tense of the verb.

It is similar to what the Apostle John says about “In the beginning was The Word…” how at creation there was a difference between when there was just the Mind of God and when there was Christ: the Logos or the Word.

The Word.

God uttering Christ made Him real.  God uttered Christ into being.

I’ve read and heard a great deal about how naming a fear gives you power over it.

God calls us by name.

I believe the invocation of a prayer…the speaking of the prayer…makes it manifest…or maybe just more likely to be manifest.

Am I making any sense?  Talk to me…

 

(The image above is borrowed from the internet.  I did an internet search for “making it real;” don’t do that.  just don’t.)

 

Shadrach, Meshach, and whatshisname

I’m with them.

They had been thrown into a fiery furnace for not bowing to an image of  Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.  Similarly, I am finding myself in a bit of a ‘warm environment’ which I believe is due to my not giving in to demons and other annoying influences.

Read what they said to Nebuchadnezzar:

our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king.

But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.  (emphasis, mine)

I serve God, through Jesus, with strength and conviction from the Holy Spirit and in the Name of Jesus, saved by His blood by the Grace of God.  I look to Jesus, the Holy Spirit and the very Father God to protect and save me.  But if He does not, I will not turn from God nor will I stop drawing close to Jesus and neither will I stop turning to the Holy Spirit for guidance and protection.  I will not worship anything else.  Emphasis, MINE.

Are there any questions?