lOctober 1, 2023
Better Late Than Never
Got started late and then had to be in church, at least no more than my normal half hour late, so this is being finished after the ear banging from pastor Fredy, (“ear banging” was the term used by the homeless for the sermon at the Union Rescue Mission), even though if I would have been 35 minutes late, I could have finished it:
I see on the first set of pages that it was a year ago that I started the pages here on the Grist website. Then, for a period, I wasn’t keeping the daily jargon flowing and it wasn’t until a couple of months ago that I got back into the groove, whatever getting in the groove means. Now, there are times I wonder why I am doing this every morning, as whoever wanders on this site probably also asks. I hope when they find out, they let me know.
We started a class on Thursday night, which in order to get anything out of the class, we have to be honest with ourselves, which obviously means being honest with the others at the table where we wound up sitting. Plus we need to read the chapter in the book which corresponds to the week we are meeting, and there are 8 chapters in the book, so guess what, the class is eight weeks long. Good thing I have a grammar school diploma so I can figure out all this stuff. I understand one of the requirements as spelled out in the book is we have to be “vulnerable”. Have you ever looked up the definition of “vulnerable”? It is an adjective in that form, so it describes a noun or pronoun. Didn’t think you were going to back to school for an English lesson did you when you started reading this morning. But, just like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, you have to be prepared. I guess I prefer to be prepared like Gideon and his 300 but all you progressives can stick with the secular definition of being prepared.
Here are the three definitions I found when looking up online instead of getting out the hard bound Websters, which I am not sure where I placed at the moment anyway and I don’t have all day to dig through the hidden treasure boxes where I store all the important items in case the power goes out and I have to return to research like it was in the dark ages. There needs to be a warning label put here as two of these three definitions are negative in my book: 1: capable of being physically or emotionally wounded; 2: open to attack or damage : ASSAILABLE vulnerable to criticism; and 3: liable to increased penalties but entitled to increased bonuses after winning a game in contract bridge. I guess number three has both negative and positive and to be honest, I haven’t played bridge for years. I played with my grandmother, who wanted to play for a slam every hand and always wanted me to be the one to pick the suit which we were going use to win. We did win more than we lost and that made her happy.
That practice with my grandmother actually helped me to win a bridge tournament on the one and only cruise I went on. There was a little lady about my grandmother’s age who had problems finding a partner as she played like my grandmother and nobody like her bidding. We got together and beat all the husband and wife teams who used all kinds of fancy bidding methods from Blackburn on down. You have never seen so many angry people hanging around the room, rushing through their games so they could see if some team would take us down. We won more games by far than any other team and she took the trophy with her to share with all the members of her bridge club back home.
I guess I do love a challenge. On that cruise, we docked at San Juan, Puerta Rico, and went ashore, with a bus taking us to the beach. The average age on that cruise must have been 80 and off the old codgers went to soak up the sun while I wandered over to the where the taxi drivers were playing dominos. I got in line and sat down and held my seat for a couple of rounds until one of them asked why this, (whatever he called me), was still sitting at the table and why weren’t they making me stand up, which made me all the more determined not to get up until the old codgers came back up the path to the bus.
Anyway, looking at the other two definitions, I could have been physically attacked on that cruise but I doubt I will have that problem at a class at church unless some really radical group infiltrates us and then they will have to have one of those seared conscience, (I Tim. 4:2), in order to avoid the love emanating from the Gospel changing their life before they do the bumrush on anyone, so having your emotions being attacked must be the issue. I must admit, I am not the most emotional person at the table, probably because of my upbringing and length of life so far. I am a much more objective person who kind of just deals with what comes along and keeps moving. So, how am I going to allow myself to be emotionally vulnerable at this table with a group who already know me and I know them as most of the table I sit at are in the lifegroup that has been attending together for over a year? I hear the words, “That is the question, to be or not to be”, echoing in the far reaches of the mind. I guess I will have to Spiritually work on the 90% of my emotions which are below the surface like the iceberg. Didn’t I say that was an example used in the book for where we are headed this eight weeks? Not only do I hide my 90% but I seem to hide important facts.
Well, we have one week down and I managed to keep my 90% below the surface but at least let the Holy Spirit have a peek at it, even though He already knew what was there. I am glad I could remind Him just in case He forgot because it has been so long since I have tried to bring any of it to the surface. Think I can make it seven more weeks and keep my 90% frozen below the surface? Wait a minute, this class is supposed to cause me to grow Spiritually emotionally, melt that 90% and keep that below the surface iceberg from sinking any more Titanics. This may be a tougher seven weeks coming at me than I thought. Why don’t we just let Gore, Thurnberg and AOC use their climate change threats to melt our icebergs as you want your 90% melted, don’t you? Wouldn’t that be easier and less work?
October 2, 2023
Mission Accomplished
When I was writing every day during the extended flu season, I would start off with words from a jingle, song, saying, etc. It was not for any particular reason, it was just because that was the way I liked to start. When I went back to writing again for a short period a few months later, I tried to follow the pattern I used before and it felt flat to me. It didn’t work, or at least to me, it didn’t and I wasn’t faithful in writing each day.
Another thing I used to do was to have a title because I had a thought when I started. I know I didn’t always stick with the title as the words came out but the title was there, nevertheless. I tried that this time and I mostly made up a title I thought sounded great and then when the races started, it seemed like it never fit or even came close to making sense, not that it may seem to any reader reading today with the new way of filing in the title fits, but it feels better to me to give the grist for the day a name after it is there to chew on than before it is available to gnash on.
Then, as if I needed more, my desire was to have it sent by 7 as I emailed it, and which I know, it sometimes showed up after 7. All these were not rules written in stone but the way it was working at that time. So, I kind of tried to follow the path of least resistance and go for the same guidelines as before when beginning the beguine this time. As noted above, and because the computer is not in the same location, things were not going to be the same. I tried going back to the same computer but that did not make it any better.
The real deal changer came about because sometimes I did not start until after Josh and I got back from his morning sniffing and that might be after 7. Then, e.g., like yesterday, I had to finish after church and my finishing time was way off. I had been thinking and asking why I was doing this project anyway. I had started the first time because I felt the life group I was attending at that time could benefit from some encouragement during the time of worldly quarantine, I wanted to get up in the morning and start off with some sort of time with God, and did feel the Holy Spirit was nudging me along. The bottom line was it was a way for me to make sure I was spending some time with God as the goal was to have the Word included into the discussion of the daily events, thoughts, ideas, etc. Anything and everything was on the table to be discussed, with Scripture and the Glory of God at the center.
When I started again, the Scripture and Glory of God were the only items I found I could carry over in the guidelines as outlined above. And as the reason for the season stayed the same, it made me think about the Lord and try to stay filled with the Holy Spirit as I worked my way down the paper towards some type of concluding sentence and yet be honest with where I was coming from or in the point I am trying to make. As I said before, I hardly ever go back and read what I wind up with and if I did today, I would probably wonder who wrote all this stuff and what was their point, if they ever had one?
I know when I started, I was thinking about how things change in our life, how something we were doing yesterday was great and when we go to repeat it, it does not work or feel the same as it did before. Most of the time, we just give up instead of finding out what works now and going about fulfilling the job set before us. Plus, I was reading the book for the class on Thursday night and having discussions with myself about what I was reading concerning how the past affects the present. I moved into how we want the things we liked in the past or ways we did things in the past are attempted to be how we go about doing things in the present. While I probably still write in the same style, I know I have learned at least one new thing, (and hopefully more than one), which will cause me to have at least a .01% new perspective on life and give me new tools and ideas. I firmly believe Isaiah’s words about people not having a vision and perishing.
Here is an example of why I write each morning, it forces me into the Word. I wanted the cite and tried to find the verse in Isaiah and it was not there, Isaiah is not the one who penned those words. I finally found it but it was in the KJV, Proverbs 29:18: “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” The NASB reads: “Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, But happy is one who keeps the Law.”, with the 1995 version placing the word “perish” in there for “unrestrained”. Probably more than anyone wanted to know, but that is how I roll so my mission is accomplished for today as I spent some time in the Word reading a lot of verses about perishing, none of which had to do with a lack of a vision causing the perishing. And I learned I did not know where a verse was that I had been quoting for years was found.
I haven’t read chapter 2 in our book for the class yet but I think the author ripped off the title from me that I ripped off from Eastwood in “Dirty Harry”. I took the saying about a man’s got to know his limits and made it into, “A man, (and a woman, which I can define so I am disqualified from being a Supreme Court Justice), has got to know who they are”. The author made it into, “Know yourself that you may know God”. I used it for knowing your abilities, shortcomings and most of all, your spiritual gifts, so one could be all they could be. Let’s see what he is going to do with it and how it will change my world..
The person for today is Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), who pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon Building, setting off a chaotic morning as the lawmakers prepared to vote on a resolution to keep the government open. I was at the Edelman Building, where the Children’s Services Hearings are held, on the day it opened and they kept having to empty the building because the fire alarm kept going off. It appears they put the alarm low so kids could pull it in an emergency and the kids thought it was an emergency each time they saw one. They finally sent everyone home, except for the trials, and continued all the other hearings until they could move the alarms up the wall or enclose them. I haven’t read Bowman’s reason yet, but it was somewhat of an emergency about passing the Continuing Resolution to keep the county open so they couldn’t send everyone home, so, back inside they went and voted. By the way, did you know the government has shut down 10 times in the last 40 plus years? And we are still here, along with the 10 million new illegal aliens Biden has let in for you to support. Don’t quit that second job yet and maybe you should consider doing your fair share and getting a third job.
October 3, 2023
Finding Favor
Usually when you claim a person is evil, you can point to specific provable facts that are undisputably evil in their nature. Rep. Bowman pulling the fire alarm to buy time is stupid but not evil. Swalwell sleeping with a Chinese spy while being a part of the government could border on being evil depending on further investigation, which never happened, but is definitely not on the side of the leger which had the good heading. Accusing others of what you are doing or have done is unfortunately something most of us have done at one time or another and is done continually on the debate stage, in government offices and even in the DOJ, and belongs in the evil category. The thought comes to mind that I am basically calling all of us evil, imagine that!
And then it says in Gen. 6:5, “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of mankind was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually.” NASB Maybe I am on to something here? For those of you who didn’t sleep through Sunday School, you know chapter 6 in Genesis is a very condemning chapter from which Noah seems to be the only person that finds favor with God, so much so that God spoke with him and gave him directions on what to do to escape the judgement coming with the flood.
The book we are reading for the class on Thursday is encouraging us to explore our feelings more because God had feelings and we are made in the image of God. He even uses Gen. 6:6 where God says he is grieved about His creation as an example of God having feelings. That is definitely not where I was heading this morning but it could be a rabbit hole for another morning.
The thought I had was built on the question of what it must have taken for Noah to find favor with God, v. 8, after God saying everything was corrupt, violent and evil. It really started with looking at the tree of good and evil, finding out that eating from the tree of knowledge of good and evil could be bad if you then ate from the tree of life and lived forever, all back in Gen. 3, which is why God had to kick Adam and Eve out of the garden and then eventually wipe out all mankind because of their evil ways.
I looked up Spurgeon to see how many sermons he preached on the “tree of life” and there were quite a few. Pat Davis has probably already read them all as he worked his way through a sermon a day. Maybe that is one of the things it might take for us to find favor with God like Noah? There would naturally have to be more basic demands on us but combining reading the Word with some Spurgeon sprinkled in could be stepping stones to the good life in the Lord. I imagine there are some other famous preachers who could also count as being positive when thrown into the mix. I haven’t read any of Billy Sunday’s sermons but one of his famous quotes is one a lot of you have heard, “The world is wrong side up. It needs to be turned upside down in order to be right side up. Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.” I may even have used that last part a few times myself in one form or another.
So, what would it take to find favor with God, today? Noah didn’t have the internet to distract him with images of enticement which is a good thing but he also did not have a Bible to read and study to keep him on the straight and narrow path. It doesn’t look like he could gather together with like minded individuals as we are encourage to do in Hebrews as they were all corrupt and violent, so, that means he didn’t have any friends to invite over to attend the weekly card game.
Noah’s great grandfather was Enoch, who God took because he walked with God. Noah’s grandfather, Methuselah, and father, Lamech, didn’t hear what Enoch must have been telling them because they were not spared in the flood. I started to spend the time to work out if maybe Enoch was still alive when Noah was a young man but realized the important thing is that Noah might have been able to hear stories, either from Enoch himself or his parents, about his great grandfather and decided to follow in his path rather than his grandfather’s or father’s. It is about the choices we make in life that has something to do with finding favor with God, both then and now is the point.
The sermon on Sunday had to do with the three temptations Christ experienced when He was taken into the wilderness to be tempted. Somehow, I believe this is different thatn the alcoholic going to the bar every day to show he resist the temptation like Christ did in the wilderness but I know a few who took that path, some even go so far as to placing a bottle where they had to see it every day to show they could resist. The strange thing is every single one of them were building their houses with red bricks they bought from the traveling saleman with the wagon of bricks from the Brooklyn Bridge.
I got a double dose as the book for Thursday night also used the story of Christ’s temptation, although with a different point being made. I want to even try another avenue and say Christ gives us three values, three responses to temptations, three ways to walk today to find favor like Noah did those many years ago.
You must know it all starts with us acknowledging we are a sinner and asking for the payment of Christ on the Cross for that sin to be put in out account and mark the account paid in full. Without that first step, there can be no second step! All the attendance in church, the good deeds, the money given to further the Gospel, are all in vain to find favor with God today. John 14:6, “ Jesus *said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” and of course, John 3:16, ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish, but have eternal life.” NASB
The first step is clear and not open for debate unless you think you are a god and know better, but the next steps are filled with potholes, (which Mayor Pete still has yet to fix one), and unbound emotional adventures, of which only some of them will find favor with God. We are back to making choices and choices have consequences as Walker said in my favorite Walker, Texas Ranger, tv show. Be on the lookout for the next choice you have to make which will or will not help you to find favor with God, because it is on the way and will soon be in the way.
October 4, 2023
The Prayer Warrior
I finally was able to do some streets yesterday, the first time in over 2 weeks. And wouldn’t you know it, my watch died about mile 2 ½, at least I think that was when it died. I looked at it and the screen was blank so I knew I was going to be required to come back and drive some of the route. But that will really make my time set a speed record as I will be faster than a speeding bullet as I drive down the street. I will have to wear my cape and let it be hanging straight out the window to demonstrate how fast I am going.
When I parked and looked for my earphones to listen to music, I found I had forgotten my earphones so I knew I was supposed to have some time with the Lord and geared up for a couple of hours of prayer. I do not know how the prayer warriors do it. I wasn’t even to the end of the street before I was thinking about something other than continuing in prayer. So, I went back into the prayer position used while walking and made it, maybe another 100 feet, and realized I was talking to my invisible running partner and not the Lord. I guess I could say it was the Lord who was next to me and then I can say I made it all the way back to car in prayer.
If I was to analyze my situation, I would say I start thinking about someone or something and asking the Lord either for direction or a blessing or something to do with the subject at hand and next thing I know I am on the fast train, hurtling down the tracks, passing all the stations and heading straight into the new subject, which rarely includes the part about seeking the Lord or speaking to the Lord, as my my imagination is running wild. It is that speed thinking at work again and there is no speed limit constraining the distance being covered in the play being played out in my mind, (like that play on words?).
Sometimes it will be a situation at work that needs attention, a situation at home, or calling out to the van that came up from behind me and shouted at me from the other side of the street, (I try to stay on the side going against the traffic), causing me to jump eight feet in the air, (disproving the allegation that white men can’t jump), [this event did actually happen yesterday but it was really one foot, not eight!], or even something as simple as wondering where the end of this Cul-de-sac I turned into is. And that shows me that it can’t be the Lord next to me because my invisible friend says he doesn’t know where the end is so he can’t be the Lord. And here I thought I had a solution to my getting out of the running prayer position so quickly and often. Back to the drawing board.
At one point I was asking the Lord for salvation from a situation and had to clarify I was not comparing that salvation with salvation that comes from Jesus dying on the cross. I am not sure why I used the word, “salvation” instead of asking to be saved as that seems to be less offensive when seeking salvation from something. I looked up the definition and it was just as I thought: “preservation or deliverance from harm, ruin, or loss”. That is certainly what I want to experience from the salvation resulting from Jesus paying the price of my sin on the cross when He shed His blood. Any other takers looking to experience that salvation or are you only a Looky-Loo, (apparently this name is from the early 70’s)?
The word, “salvation” is in Scripture 164 times, with the first one in Genesis 49 where Jacob is giving the word on each of 12 tribes, and this section concerns Dan, and it would seem to me it does not fit there at first blush: “16 Dan shall judge his people, As one of the tribes of Israel. 17 Dan shall be a serpent in the way, A horned viper in the path, That bites the horse’s heels, So that its rider falls backward. 18 For Your salvation I wait, Lord” NASB So, after hours of staring at the section, it appears Dan is going to judge the other 11 tribes and the ones being judged are being made to fall backwards after the heel being bitten and are going to have to wait for the salvation of the Lord in order to stop the falling backwards. I wonder if this has anything to do with what we call backsliding? If so, salvation in that mood could mean being saved from going in the wrong direction through getting it right again with the Holy Spirit. I think I will look for some verses with the words, “repent” and “santification”, in them.
The really good news is that, if I wanted to, I now have the next 164 days of material set out for me. All I have to do is take one verse a day with the word salvation in it and I am home free. Wonder what my invisible friend thinks about that? I am going to ask him rather than the Lord because I can get him to say anything I want and the Lord is not so easily manipulated.
October 5, 2023
My New Job
For all those woke progressives who think America has harsh rules, e.g., no shoplifting, they should be sent to Indonesia. The person for today is Lina Lutfiawati, an Indonesian influencer, who was sentenced to two years in prison for eating pork, preceded by her uttering “Bismillah,” which translates to “in the name of Allah” in Arabic. Her actual charge was blasphemy and she also was fined $16,269.00. That seems to be a pretty tough religious law to live under in Indonesia. I wonder how Jack, the baker from Colorado would do? Oh, that’s right. He would have no problem because the alphabet community would be non-existent in Indonesia.
I asked someone the other day if they knew what Trump is actually being accused of in some of the trials he is facing. The person came all unglued and started talking about that evil man, who is a liar and the devil hiimself. I know there was some glee when the judge said Trump was guilty but for the uninformed, a Summary Judgment is decided by the judge on the law and the jury decides the facts. If there are facts which need to be determined, they are not done by the judge alone. If I understand right, Trump’s attorneys did not check the box for a jury, (probably because they knew who would be in the jury pool), so the judge was able to decide the Summary Judgment. And as you could guess, he was gleeful as he stated he definitely could see Trump was a crook, had overvalued his property, somehow had the bank apprasisers go along with the value they asked him to put on the applications, paid back the money didn’t overstate his income like a lot of people do when applying for a loan, and should lose his business license in New York and pay $250 million in fines to house and feed the illegal aliens crowded into the Sanctuary City of New York, Mayor Adams had his hat in hand standing in the line as Trump went out the door. I do not see Trump going quietly into the night so I expect the appeal process engine to be fired up for lift off to start soon.
Normally a person is tried in Court because someone has made a complaint against that person. Here, half the country made a complaint against a man and because the complaint was not something that could be found in the books to charge him for, a crime was made up by a prosecutor who ran her campaign on getting the Orange man. I don’t care if you like him or not, that is not what we want our justice system built on, going after someone we don’t like bccause my name and yours had been “mud” a few times and we may even be called “mud” again before we are on the other side of the ground. And believe me, the people who are calling me mud are the same ones who go berserk with their TDS when the name of our former president is mentioned. There are times I refuse to answer the door and have to use my evasive driving skills when I see the same car turn when I turn more than once in my rear view mirror because “mud” was used to call me for dinner on two consecutive days.
I realize it is difficult to prove what would happen if Trump was president but I do believe Putin would not be in Ukraine, we would still be energy independent, (think about that when you fill up at the pump), bread would not cost $5.00 a slice, and we could still talk about all thos mean tweets which come out of the White House instead of the loud snoring.
I am perplexed at what my next step in life will be and what direction it will take me. Mr. Koon will be 85 on the 17th and is obviously having major health problems. We have clients who literally place their lives in our hands, if you consider a major financial loss something serious and affects your future. And then we have one homeless person who believes collecting a $5,000.00 judgment will get her off the street and is depending on us to collect that money for her. My heart is broken each time she asks me if there is anything in the office with her name on it. But Mr. Koon’s memory is fading and a day will come when the office will close, if that day has not already come. So what and where will I go and do when the actual day arrives?
Even though I am perplexed, I am not anxious. This is not simply blind devotion to the Word but is devotion to a God who loves me and has a purpose for my life, even if it going to be like the Greeter who used to be at the entrance to Laguna Beach. Most of you probably never heard of or saw Eiler Larsen (March 27, 1890 – March 19, 1975), who was a Danish vagabond that earned fame as “The Greeter” of Laguna Beach, California. They have a statue of him as he stood by the highway for 40 years, rain or shine, and greeted those entering Laguna Beach. I don’t know if he thought God was telling him to do that but he did it.
God had not told me where to stand in my new job as a greeter. The corner of Santa Anita and Valley is where the Sante Fe Trail ended according to a plaque located there. Maybe that is where I will stand and wave to all those entering that intersection. If you hear God telling you to inform me to report there, please let me know.
October 6, 2023
I Really Do Agree
Friday, beautiful morning and I am still on this side of the ground. I do think Josh is one of the smartest dogs but he does have his moments. One issue is he is REALLY particular about where he deposits his gold during our morning and evening strolls. He can circle and area for hours and you would think the search and rescue team that comes to check on us because we have been gone so long would know we are ok by now. Plus, they must be tired of paying that bill for the wasted trip that arrives each month cause I stopped paying it years ago. Anyway, Josh circles and circles and them puts his rear end up on a hill and that old saying about stuff rolls down hill literally comes true. The last question before I leave the subject of Josh, is have you ever bought toilet paper for a dog? I didn’t think so, as you don’t really need to and that is probably why the dog toilet paper business I started went bankrupt with a warehouse full of inventory.
While I was reading for this weeks Thursday night class, I couldn’t get away from one of the sentences where the author was saying he sometimes stuggled with the thought of his Abba Father, (God), saying He was “well pleased with him”, apart from anything the author did, which was about 20 pages from the end of the chapter. It did create quite a problem as I only had about ten minutes to read 20 pages and the old trap I left for the wild hamster who went woke and I had to stop from turning the wheel kept the thought from escaping and allowing me to move to the end of the chapter.
The issue I was struggling with was that his statement concerned our position with Christ, the Cross, and heaven, but not how we wind up conducting our lives, meeting the daily and sometimes hourly challenges. I was probably going too far afield for the point the author was making but I didn’t want the ball to go over the fence if I could catch it before it cleared the wall. I thought about hearing the words, “well done, faithful servant”, and that has more to do with what happened after my position in the Lord was solidified and God saw me and was well pleased.
Do you know the phrase, “well pleased” is only found five times in the NASB? Of the five, two do not deal with the time of the baptism of Jesus, one of which is found in Mt. 17:5, “While he was still speaking, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and behold, a voice from the cloud said, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him!” NASB This is the chapter the “he” speaking is Peter with the disciples and they are talking about building the booths to worship Moses, Elijah and Jesus. God stops them with those words above and I believe God is referencing more of how Jesus has conducted Himself than His standing with the heavens. The othe reference is in II Peter 1:17-18, “For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such a declaration as this was made to Him by the Majestic Glory: “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well pleased”— 18 and we ourselves heard this declaration made from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.” NASB
I don’t want to build a whole theology on what is only two verses saying the same thing as that will get one into the pickle barrel and while pickel juice is great for cramps while running, I don’t need to make an overnight stop in the pickel barrel. And besides I only had about five minutes now to finish those 20 pages.
Why do I want to turn this molehill into a mountain? It is not that I disagree with the point being made by the author, I wholeheartedly agree. Let me check out what he is saying again. Well, he does talk about the things of the world are not what makes out position in Christ any better, that the world, our cultures, our families, are the ones who require us to count possession, position, friends, bank accounts, as the criteria for security. Aha, there it is. He is talking about security, which comes from surrendering our will to the Father, (God), which is the true anchor for security. The Titanic is really far down there at the bottom of the ocean. I wonder if I can get my anchor down that far? That would make it difficult to get it up quickly when those other voices mentioned above try and take away my seurity. I guess it would have been much easier to just meditate for a minute, shout hallelujah, agree with the truth being stated and finish the chapter in 10 minutes instead of one.
I am still not giving up on my quest to have those verses about knowing someone by their fruits, being told I am a “faithful” servant, as found in Mt. 25:23, “His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’” NASB, which is the next step after I surrender. I am going to start reading chapter three and see if it is there.
October 7, 2023
Follow The Science
I am sure you have heard by now that the reprogramming camps for MAGA people, (being opposed to Making America Great Again makes it obvious your goal has to be the opposite), are being set up by the Congo line of morons who still think Hilliary is relevant. One woke progressive said James Wood should be the first one reprogrammed, and Woods said to try it, “nut chugger”. Rats, now I have a new term to look up.
While I have never personally received any marching orders from Trump, nor have I heard anything new which I was not already thinking, e.g., I didn’t call it the fake media, but used stronger words like lying, stupid, incompetent, lazy, etc. I watched Morning Schmo for a period of time, way before Trump or even Ms. Schmo, and read his book, which by the end of the first chapter, I knew he was not a conservative and starting wearing my fact checking ears each morning until I could no longer take the amount of lies in one day and stay sane. The proof in the pudding was when he took Ms. Schmo as his life partner, lock stock and barrel, and she was definitely not a conservative, nor is her father. Anyway, Walter on Gutfield said we should make a pact to check on each other every day and if one of us comes up missing, we should all drive to the desert in Neveda, (not sure how he knew that was the location for the reprogramming station), and rescue the missing person. I signed up because those guys in the sedan seem to get closer every day and there are only so many ways to get to Monrovia from El Monte..
I am not sure why, but the phrase, “bum’s rush”, was on my mind yesterday. I think I may have used it at some time or another and I think I may have used the phrase wrong. I sat in my car until it was too hot sitting there, contemplating that phrase. You would think I would simply get out of the car, go into the office, and look up the phrase instead of mashinig it over and over as the hamster kept wanting a break. It is hard to keep that wheel gong when I am speed thinking.
Of course, I didn’t look up the meaning until this morning. You would think I had the good sense to stop laying there with my eyes wide upen until it was time to get up and look up the phrase. Stubbornness must have a good point somewhere but it usually seems to cost me in some way or another. So, drum roll please, here is the definition: “forcible eviction or dismissal”. Yup, I was thinking about it wrong all those years, you know, since I haven’t used it for a decade or so. How could I have been wrong for so many years, and not know it? Now here is a DEEP rabbit hole to go down!
Ok, I’m back from my short catnap I had to take after staying awake all night. I wonder if it was the Holy Spirit Who was keeping the hamster wheel turning, tormenting me all night, (can the Holy Spirit really torment you or is that blaspheme? Have to ask Pastor Fredy tomorrow).
I guess one of the problems yesterday was the day didn’t get off without some difficulty. Ali’s cat, Pumpkin, which you can tell is her cat by the name, as I name all my four legged children, names from the Bible. We presently have Joshua, I have had an Abraham, and even a Barnabas. I will start that unfinished sentence above by saying, Ali’s cat, Pumpkin, knocked over one of my weeklt vitimin boxes, opening the lids on the two remaining days, and they were all over the floor and desk. Sje gets up in the window and sometimes takes a route off the window sill that must look like the trail up to Mount Wilson. I can see that one section where you go along a ledge and then make a sharp turn right, (going up, left coming down), and you are on what is a slippery rock in kind of narrow passageway. Right before the turn, it is kind of rocky and a single track. One time I got a cramp right before the turn, had my poles out of a useful position and could see the ground, WAY down there. Of course, I was in the back, everyone was probably already at Wilson and turning around to come back down. Obviously I made it as I am here and Pumpkin made her jump successfully, but her jump caused me some trama. And then the memory of Pumpkin’s actions came flooding back this morning when I had to split the vitamins up for the Saturday and Sunday boxes. But I tossed those memories into the trash can and deposited them with the trash out in the dumpster so I can move forward with my day.
If I was going to use the phrase, “bum’s rush”, properly, I would say something to the effect that I gave Pumpkin the bum’s rush out of the room. But I had been thinking the meaning was more like, I was being bum rushed when the group came at me, rather than them taking me out the foor into the street. I spent hours, well, maybe not hours, looking for my meaning. I said stubbornness has its drawbacks. I had to give up looking for that fool’s gold in them thar hills and get something going this morning or I might as well go sit in the car again and waste a few hours.
It wasn’t all for naught as, did you know that “bum’s rush”, was first penned in 1910? I am not sure how I got there but there is a site that shows you words that were also first penned in the same year. Here is one I found that might be interesting to some: “heterogametic”, “when forming two kinds of gametes of which one produces male offspring and the other female offspring, the human male is heterogametic”. What is a gamete? Not sure yet but the example of the word being used in a sentence is, “In humans females are homogametic, XX, and males are heterogametic, XY.” Uh oh, who knew when I started this morning I was going to be able to really say, follow the science as established in 1910? I certainly didn’t.
But I still think the question to be answered after I go sit in the car for a few hours, and in spite of being sent to the camp, is the issue about the Holy Spirit and His ability to torment us.