HIDING JESUS

  Sorry for such a long pause while I  “fight my bull.”    At least it’s not bucking and kicking anymore….   It’s still there, and I’m tired,  but this is a Sunday!    I’m going to ignore him.    I’ve missed so many good holidays and feast days and celebrations as time marches through the Liturgical Year.

This is the season of Lent, as you know.    It’s a dark time of introspection,  sorrow for sin,  acts of penance, extra almsgiving, and fasting.    The liturgical color is purple, and this is the reason:

It really happened,  that day;  it’s the supreme act of Sacrifice for our sins,  adequate and accepted by our Creator.      Christ died; we live.    We remember  and try to participate in,   from our point in history,  all the acts that make up this act of Supreme Sacrifice.

The Church celebrates this day as Passion Sunday.  (Some of you in the New Version of the Church might be a little confused because . . .  well, they move this title around a little bit and sometimes they ignore it altogether.)

But people are people, no mater what century we  live in.  Just as the the Church gets us psychologically ready for the slide down into  Lent with the lessons on Septuagesima,  Sexagesima, and Quinquagesima Sundays,  so are we now into another “slide”  (downward)  into the seriousness of Good Friday.     We don’t want to wake up one day and all of a sudden it’s Good Friday; we slide into it,  prepare our hearts for it.

The actual passion of Christ is coming ever nearer.

We  do something on Passion Sunday:

We do it, we veil the crosses in our churches, as well as other visible reminders of our faith.   Our priests wear purple, as does the altar.

So why?  Just a quaint custom fossilized in tradition?

No,  it comes from the particular Gospel that is appointed to be read on this day.  This Gospel tells the story of Jesus confronting the Pharisees in Jerusalem just a couple weeks before His Crucifixion.   They questioned Him, pointedly, revealing their hostility and stubborn disbelief.    They said, “We’re children of Abraham;  we know better than You!”

Then  Jesus “cooked His own goose,” as  they say sometimes.  He answered them:  Before Abraham was, I AM.”

That’s it  – that was enough proof for them!  Jesus had just publicly spoke the worst blasphemy.   He told them He is the great I AM,  God-Most-High.    And the penalty is Death – by stoning.

But there is a problem with death by stoning.   Yes, you die, but you don’t necessarily lose a lot of blood.    A sacrifice involves “shedding  of blood,”  a lot of blood, and in this case,  the Blood of Jesus must pour out from Him as He gives up His life for us.

(If you’re a respecter of the Bible,  there is a verse that says:  Without the shedding of Blood, there is no remission of sins.”    Blood must pour out from the victim.)

So Jesus could not die by being stoned.      Then  how did He escape the wrath of the  determined Pharisees that day, after they had already picked up stones?     In our Reading of the Gospel,  we hear:  “But Jesus hid Himself and went out of the Temple.”

“Hid himself”?    When all had their eyes on Him?    I  don’t know how He did that.  No one knows how He did that.       But He was not slated for death by stoning.

  So to remember this mystery,  we also “hide” or veil our reminders of Jesus in our church buildings and sometimes in our own homes.  He is precious.  He is a great value.   His crucifixion is that “great value:  for us to come.

We veil things that are of great value and are protected from profane view and inappropriate view.

 

Purple.  It’s all about Death, isn’t it.     Today we seem to hear about Death all the time, in the constant stories about this strange new virus.   Everyone is at immediate risk.  Who will die next?     Death is never good, never easy, this separation of our soul from our body.

One day the veil will be totally removed for us.   “And I, if I be lifted up (on the Cross)  will draw all men to myself.”   

I have two wooden letter Q’s  on the wall above my computer.  They stand for “quicumque.”      Latin,  for whosoever –  whosoever will . . . .

Whosoever will come . . . .to the Cross.

 

 

BULL’S NEXT PASS

I’m going to have to have March 25th tomorrow.   I hope.

Shoot!  Or maybe Chute –  the bull is back.   Some of you who have been here six or seven or eight or nine or ten posts ago, know that I’ve used bull riding as a metaphor for the disease I’m fighting……

Out of the chute, straight at the bull rider, a job I didn’t want.

The bull decided to turn around and make another pass at me.

It’s a darn bumpy ride.

I’m doing all the  things I know how to do, when I can do them.   Sometimes I know better but can’t quite do everything I’m supposed to do to get better.

Give me a moment . . . .

I have March 25th to write about and rollercoasters to write about and two lessons to prepare for mailing out….   I’ve not forgotten.

 

   If any of you are on speaking terms with St. Jude, 

   please put in a good word for me.

   Sometimes it’s hard to speak for myself.

 

IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END?

(I have rollercoasters on my mind;  they make a wonderful analogy!   But first,  this post, a kind of sermon,  which will make sense of the analogy.)

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IS THIS THE SIGN OF THE END?

That is,  is this corona virus  a pestilence that is a sign that we are in the End Times?     Is the antichrist upon us?

“Signs”  are important to us.  If we pay attention to them, we have a better chance to make the right decisions.  We need signs!

“God, if you’re up there, give me a sign!”

And God gives us many.

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Is this corona virus a worldwide pestilence that is a spiritual sign for us?     Well, I know that it’s bigger than we are; we don’t know how to defeat it.  Even if we find a “cure”  and a “vaccine,”  scientists tell us that it will always be with us now, waiting to strike again  once we relax all our sanitizing and self-isolation.   It’s doubtful a vaccine will be completely safe, and we’re not going to vaccinate 7 1/2 billion people anyway.

The disease is “bigger”  than we are.   The pestilence could very well be supernatural, a judgment on the world meant to be  a spiritual wake-up call.   Maybe.  Maybe not.

I think I can answer Yes to that second question, is the antichrist upon us.    Something we should consider:

Notice the claw-like un-human hands.   It is apparent that the whole world is in his grip:

 

With apologies to Tennessee Ernie Ford, Pat Boone, and all the other singers who put  this American folk song on the Top 40 charts not too long ago, I think the lyrics take on a different meaning today.

A Parable:

Believe it or not,  Jesus gave us a lesson on how to rob a house!   The lesson was repeated in three Gospels,  Matthew, Mark, and Luke, so I think it’s something He wanted us to know.

“No man can enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he will first bind the strong man; and then he will spoil his house.”

Who’s who here?   Well, something valuable is in a “house”   and Someone wants to take it away from the “strong man”  who owns the “house.”

The “house” is the world.

We humans, all Mankind,  is  what is of value.

Jesus Christ is the “man”   who wants to take the valuable thing.   He came into the world, “not to condemn the world but to save the world…”   (John 3:17)

Now, what  “strong man”  owns the house?    It is God’s Enemy, whom we can call Satan.  The whole world is in his hands.

How is this strong man  “bound”?     By Christ’s sacrifice, death, and resurrection Satan’s power was ended;  he was defeated;  he was tied up;   his power was “bound.”

Only we don’t know this anymore;  we don’t listen.   We, as a “world” in general,  don’t hold on to Christ,  but the opposite,  the spirit of antichrist.  Either deny Jesus ever existed, or deny Jesus is the Son  of God,  both are described as the “spirit” of antichrist.
According to the Apostle John,  many antichrists have gone out into the world, leading up to the final,  undeniable embodiment of the Antichrist.

  Few will recognize him for what he is though.    His ways will seem so familiar to us:    Crime, poverty, disease, injustice, violence, selfishness, cheating and lying, infidelity, impiety, murder, abortion, warfare . . .

 

So is the final Antichrist near?    It seems the grip of the spirit of this Antichrist is getting tighter and tighter.

THE NEW VILLAINS

Villain  –   noun:  someone who behaves in an immoral or socially irresponsible way;  someone who is responsible for a bad situation; “a bad guy”

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“Good Beach”

Around the world,  the governments of all the countries are awakening more and more to the necessity for  extreme measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus.   Those who are slow to impose “lockdowns,”    shelter-in-place orders,  or stay-at-home measures,  are seeing exponential rises in their case numbers and deaths.   This new virus has proven to be far more infectious than first thought.

“Bad Pub”

Now that we see a rapid rise in the number of virus victims among the 20-40 year olds, these measures are being extended generally through the whole population.    One British health minister said this today:     Life should not feel normal.  If your life seems normal to you, you must ask yourself if you are following all the rules to keep society, the hospitals, and your loved ones safe.

Young Victim

A list of our new villains is becoming apparent as we listen to reliable news sources.  This is only a partial list.  You will have your own ideas of who should be on the list of villains as you pay attention to the latest developments.

Here are just a few government-sponsored news sources that I regularly check out  – and there are more –  that seem thorough and somewhat trustworthy:    SkyNews,  DeutscheWelle, and ABC News-Australia.

That is NOT the American “ABC” which is notoriously biased, agenda driven,  and,  along with these others . . .

. . .  should be shunned and publicly criticized (or shamed).   These American news sources have one theme:  every “news” story must promote the agenda that Trump is Bad;  Trump is Incompetent;  Trump is (now)  Dangerous    etc.     They’ve got to work that in somehow to each of their “interviews.”

Unfortunately,  since there are only a very few (six maybe)  sources of information in the whole world,  this agenda has infected nearly all media, worldwide.

(There are some good American news outlets, but I won’t list them just yet.)

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Villains:

Perhaps those entertainment-news sources that should be shunned should be included in today’s new villains.   Although that seems obvious.

    According to a Scottish news source today,  people who are hoarding food, buying many times more food supplies than what they need,  are today’s villains.   They are  emptying grocery stores, for instance, and interrupting an already stressed supply chain that is needed for the rest of the public.

It goes without saying that those who try to sell their extra supplies at a profit are supervillains,  criminally liable.

In America we are told not to ask for coronavirus testing if we are well and not in a high-risk group.   This uses up PPE supplies, testing equipment, and personnel that sick people need.

Villains also are those , we will soon see, who refuse to stay home, except for the most necessary errands.    There are a dwindling number of attendees at wedding receptions,  funerals,  church gatherings – and that’s good –  but a not-fast-enough dwindling number of beach goers, pub crawlers,  pizza party participants, private social gatherings….

Teenagers are notoriously gregarious.  And now they don’t have to go to school!

Gregarious Gamers

It’s hard to believe that we must not socialize with anyone outside of our own immediate family  members who live in our own same home!    Surely a short visit from a trusted family member does not make him a villain!   It’s Mother’s Day (in the UK today –  and soon Canada, the US, and other countries) and surely a short quick visit or hug is not a dangerous thing!

People who don’t keep their social distance away from others become villainous spreaders of the disease.   It’s not immediate and obvious,  but such people who shake hands, hug,  even do the “elbow bump”  can quickly become carriers who then eventually spread the disease.

People who are lax about frequent hand-washing are engaging in dangerous, anti-social behavior, even in your own home.

Do you plan to get a haircut in the near future?  Have your hair done?    Get a massage for some stress relief?   Get your teeth cleaned?  See your doctor for a “routine”  checkup?   Pick up some new clothes?   Quickly we are seeing this as anti-social behavior.

Here again:   Life should not feel normal.  If your life seems normal to you, you must ask yourself if you are following all the rules to keep society, the hospitals, and your loved ones safe.

Villainous behavior is a MENTAL attitude.  It gives yourself permission to do what you think you need to do.

But so is socially responsible behaviors such as strict physical self-isolation.  It’s MENTAL attitude that modifies our behavior.

We are perhaps more fortunate than previous generations.    I can’t imagine what this would feel like before our digital age.  We can all do many “normal” things in cyberspace:    Socializing.   Checking up on other people.    Playing games.  Reading.  Studying  Gaining new skills.      Learning to know God better.    (Will you meet Him soon?)  Exploring the world.   Official business transactions.  Ordering necessary foods and medicines and other goods online.

Personally, I’m looking forward to a few good Virtual Vacations!   All around the world!

And especially here:

Think I’ll ever be well enough to get to a Dude Ranch?

I have time for it now!!!!!!

In this most dire, dangerous of times,  we still have much to be thankful for.

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TAKING CARE OF PESTILENCE

Pestilence,  Famine,  War,   Death

A Spiritual Interpretation

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Pestilence –    noun:   a worldwide deadly disease;   plague

Plague –   noun:  a worldwide deadly disease;  pestilence

Pandemic  –  noun:    a worldwide deadly disease; see plague, pestilence

No matter what century you live in,  there is a word for it!   That shows that this is a recurring human phenomenon.

We are not the only people who have ever asked questions about the reason.   In the last post I put forth some reasonable questions.     In thinking about those questions,  underlying them all is the uneasy sense of  “What did we do wrong (to deserve this)?”

There are some proud and hard hearts who will tell themselves they don’t think that way –  but history has shown that people in general do ask that;  there is that nagging, sometimes unspoken feeling that, yeah,  this is a spiritual matter,    we deserve this – not each individual,  but humanity as a whole.      Exempt yourself, if you will;  but it’s still happening, this current plague or pestilence.

I have so much material to write, but I will try to keep it focused down to one-tenth of what could be said.

So what have we historically done when faced with periodic pestilences?

Feeling somehow at fault, societies have always propitiated their gods; and the descendants of Noah, descendants of Abraham,   have appealed to God-Most-High.  Just as a matter of factual history,  the appeals and propitiations have taken the form of  acknowledging guilt,  sorrow for sin,  public penitence, penance, prayers and fasting;  sometimes “sackcloth, ashes,”  and bare feet — and always sacrifices.

Although I count the rise of modern man from about 10,500 B.C.,  I’ll just skim across fairly recent history.  That would be after the rise of Christianity, those descendants of Abraham by faith or by birth, all who acknowledge Jesus as Messiah  (who is the “Light to enlighten the Gentiles”):

At the end of the third century, and reaching a critical point in 302 A.D. was a terrible recorded plague in the Roman Empire.   It was followed by famine, a common consequence of plague because there are not enough people left to grow or transport food.   Both pagans and Christians supplicated their gods/God.

In the  fourth and fifth centuries, as the Roman Empire decayed and fell, there was a succession of plagues brought on by  warfare, famine, and foreign invaders.   Christian writers in that day frequently point the finger at the rise of Arianism, a heresy that  denied the divinity of Christ, and led ultimately to the weakness of Christian doctrine in North Africa and the Middle East, including Arabia.

(An interesting consequence of this heresy is that these are the very same regions that succumbed to the armies of followers of the Arab desert crescent moon-god . . . .those followers still in existence today.)

There was another terrible plague that struck Christian regions, especially the city of Rome, during the time of Pope Gregory the Great, which is 590 – 603 A.D.    Here we have a detailed account of what was done to end the plague.

Gregory organized a massive procession around the city, inviting everyone to pray to God that the plague would be lifted.  At the head of the procession was held high a portrait of the Virgin Mary, believed to have been painted by St. Luke.

As this procession moved through the city,  eyewitnesses say that the air seemed to grow clearer   and more “serene.”  Some reported to hear angelic voices above,  singing this familiar song of praise:

Regina coeli laetare, alleluia,
Quia quem meruisti portare, alleluia,
Resurrexit sicut dixit, alleluia!

Some of you will recognize this sung during the weeks following Easter, the celebration of Christ’s resurrection.     Pope Gregory added the words:  Ora pro nobis, Deum rogamus, alleluia!

According to history, then:

Then the pope saw an angel of the Lord standing atop the castle of Crescentius, wiping a bloody sword and sheathing it. Gregory understood that that put an end to the plague, as, indeed, happened. Thereafter the castle was called the Castle of the Holy Angel.

 

You can visit that “castle”  there today.

This most famous episode in Christian history became the model for turning to God in a time of pestilence, and gives Christians hope that God will have mercy, and hear.

Today, we are still exhorted to go prayerfully to God, confess guilt,  to do penance, to change our ways,  to fast, to supplicate for the end of the disease,  to intercede for others . . . .  I have read of several public processions (mostly in Europe)  and many calls to prayer –  a day of prayer set aside, here and there.

Exhortations to read and meditate on times past when God’s anger has been aroused and He has allowed plagues (and wars and famines and natural disasters) to happen as a way of calling people back to Him.    (Read Old Testament stories of Noah, Judith, King David,  the people of Israel at times.)

We today are exhorted to also read the Seven Penitential Psalms.

We are exhorted to meditate our way through the Gospel, point by point, in a prayer commonly called the Rosary.

We are exhorted to meditate our way through the last hours of Jesus’ life –  in a series of meditations called The Stations of the Cross.

Public prayer, private prayer –  we are exhorted to do something!

And what about sacrifice?    As I wrote above,  .”…the appeals and propitiations have taken the form of  acknowledging guilt,  sorrow for sin,  public penitence, penance, prayers and fasting;  sometimes “sackcloth, ashes,”  and bare feet — and always sacrifices….”

 

     Jesus came to be the one Sacrifice for us, for all of humanity, and us as individuals.   But Jesus is Eternal God,  the Second Person of the Trinity –  His Sacrifice is eternal and eternally touches every minute of “time.”     We are not meant to “remember” once a month or twice a year or once a year in a kind of imitation;   The “Last Supper:  occurred from evening to  evening –  and encompasses the Crucifixion, as well as His own explanation –   I am giving my Body and Blood for you:  Take, eat;  take, drink.

 

This is what occurs at every Holy.   Sacrifice.   Of.  The.  Mass.   Catholics tend to take the Bible literally,  and to participate in the Mass is to offer the Eternal Sacrifice of Christ to God the Father.

There you are.

You can do things to take care of our present-day pestilence.

Ora pro nobis.

WHY THIS GO HAPPEN ?

“Why this go happen?”

An important and worthy question in this time of the current pestilence we know as the corona virus.   Everyone has a right to make comments.  Everyone has a right to ask questions –  even people for whom English is not their first language.  “Why this go happen,” asks the question perfectly.

I came across this question in a comm box recently, following an article on the advance of the corona virus.     Two things struck me right away:

1.     This is not a rhetorical question.  We ask it because we want an answer, not because we think it has no answer and we’re just making a general comment.
2.      The question itself is evidence that we are spiritual creatures, in search of meaning, in search of higher, spiritual understandings.

 

Our common, recognizable search for meaning reminded me of a book I’m reading. 

In it  the author had a little fun with Carl Sagan, a well-informed man with an ill-informed intellect.    Carl Sagan  (and others of his ilk) states that the material universe is all there is and all there ever was or ever will be.    We are just made of the same things as everything else in the universe, therefore there is no “meaning” to our existence;  we just are.

What Sagan didn’t realize is that if we are made of  the same things in the universe,  made of the same material stuff as gaseous balls of burning elements,  then why on earth would the elements of the periodic table be wondering about their own existence?

No,     Our wondering, our questioning, our longing for meaning occurs in us because we are not merely material, but also spiritual beings,  having been created by an infinitely greater Eternal spiritual being — who wanted us to be.

To circle back to that first question,  Why this go happen?,  this weekend my grandson was lying on my kitchen floor doing his math homework or something.  Out of the clear blue sky he said, “I’m mad at Adam because of what he did.”     That’s Adam, as in Adam and Eve.   And that’s a legitimate comment!

It deserves a response that will unfold for the rest of his life as the implications of  Adam’s deliberate break with his Creator sinks in.

Driven out of Paradise

 

Why this go happen? 

We don’t live in a Paradise anymore.     As the inconveniences, denials, privations,  sufferings, and fears of the measures we’re taking to end the spread of this virus affect our personal lives, we’ll all be asking, Why?    How did this get started?  Where did it come from?  Who’s to blame?   Is my world part of the cause?  Is my society part of the cause?   Am I part of the cause?

Does our Creator know about this?    Does our Creator care what’s happening to us?  Does our Creator want this to happen to us?

(Want a Creator joke?      God is ignoring the rule to limit one’s movement and stay at home;  He still plans to be everywhere.) 

But we still want to know why this is happening.   It’s serious.  People are dying.    Your friends might die.   You might die, or have your lungs crippled forever.  Does anyone deserve to die because of this virus?

The answer to all this  gives birth to two other possibilities:   It was either chance;  or God knew about it and allowed it to happen or caused it to happen.

So,  either this virus arose out of the “stuff of the universe”  (whether assembled by mankind or not) , that is, it’s a mutation from other natural viruses and God did not stop it from happening. . .  OR,  God   (using natural materials like viruses, I  suppose)  caused it to happen in order to get our attention or to punish us.

Ultimately, it makes no difference how you answer those questions today, or how you might come to answer them in the future.     What unites us all is our desire for help.  In the end,  we want help out of this.
We try – with human policies,  imposing this restriction or that;  we try with personal policies, changing our behavior.  We try, but we know success is a matter of “luck.”    That is, success is not entirely in our own hands.

This is half a posting.   I just wanted to raise the questions this time.   But next time I’ll write about the other thing mankind has always turned to for needed help.    And we keep doing it throughout history –  because help is real.

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IT’S OVER, FOR THIS TIME

I’m going to insert this family update in between my corona virus  posts –  I’ll get to the spiritual aspects next time — hard to know just how to talk about that.  I have to look up some things first . ..

Meanwhile —

Daughter and  Grandson Cooper right now are on that little airplane there on FlightAware.  They’re on their way home, after a wonderful visit.   They had a bit of a layover down in Houston and they’re heading to Sacramento, where they will have to turn around and drive a couple hours back east, over Donner Pass, through the snow, and then on to their own home.

So glad they made the effort!   I am sending them home with a sugar high which will take a few days to fade away, I’m sure.  (Hey – I’m a grandma!)

We did have some maple sugar treats, as indicated in two posts ago . . .  Even though the Festival was closed down, they managed to find maple sugar candy and maple sugar cotton candy.

That wasn’t enough!     The next we we made our own (cotton candy):

A sticky sugary affair,  but what tastes better than cotton candy made with granulated maple sugar!!!

Even the games were “sweet” —

the Pie Face game

Why DO they find whipped cream flung in the face funny?

On Monday, their last full day here, we had our St. Patrick’s day meal:  corned beef and cabbage.   It came out really good this year!    I got all ready with fresh sauerkraut, rye bread,  Thousand Island Dressing, Swiss cheese – all ready for some Reuben sandwiches!

(But we ate all the corned beef.)

The morning of St. Patrick’s Day?     We continued our sweets:

I just thought a green Jell-O parfait would be fun!  The “sweet” thing about that was I got to answer Cooper’s question about who is St. Patrick and why is he important.   Truly, St. Patrick was a significant figure in the development of Western Civilization.  His writings are complex, intelligent,  and  inspiring;  they’re important to know even today.  You needn’t stay on the Snakes and Shamrocks level.

I will miss my daughter –  what a good mother she is!   What a nice person.   And I’ll miss Cooper’s “inquiring mind.”  Very inquiring!  I’ll miss his delight with new things, his intelligence,  and his  sense of fun.

And I’ll miss his music:

He’s in an orchestra near his home,  the Reno Philharmonic (for children).   He went through some of  my sheet music and found Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, which he wants to learn for his audition for the next level of orchestra.    Maybe my musician father’s musical talent has skipped a couple generations, down into Cooper.

So another visit has passed.  Another joy of seeing Son and Daughter together – they will always have each other, and Cooper will add happy “spice” to their lives.

I will stay positive and hopeful that I will be around for another visit.

Deo volente.

 

 

CORONA COMMENTS

That is a gleaming black Mustang!  I told Cooper  (my grandson) that it’s extremely hard to take a photo of a nice black car  in the sunlight because the black acts like a mirror.   Here, the Mustang is reflecting the blue sky on the top half, as is Son’s GTO in the background.

So,  part of my California family has come for a visit.  So much for Self-Isolation!  (Oh –  family flew, then rented that car.)   Schools in both his state and my state will be closed from now on, for several weeks, anyway, but that is probably too late to completely contain the spread of the virus from juvenile petri dishes (such as my sneezy sniffly grandson).

I haven’t made any comments on the corona virus so far, here at the Tunnel.  Although I have been following this with great interest since mid-January,  the story has developed and changed so much that it is hard to say anything that will be true a day or two later. And you, my readers, are hearing plenty too.

I’ve noticed changes in the reporting and especially in the comm boxes.   Comments are normally good places to get additional information,  but they are also good places to read trolls who give plenty of false information or who write nothing more than criticism of anything they read or hear.

I’ve noticed lately though that these nay-sayers have toned down a little bit, they’re not so obnoxious.   Don’t know why.   Maybe more and more of them are realizing that this is a serious situation.   It’s socially “bad form”  to add more negativity to our situation.

I’ve also noticed that in the past week or so the news reports have “taken a turn for the grim.”        It’s not just interesting news stories getting us acquainted with what the virus is and  where it is,  how it’s impacting various countries,  there are developments that impact all of us now.  A total Lockdown in our own country no longer seems so absurd.

     At first it seemed that fear of litigation inspired the closings of public places,  but the shutdowns now seem to exceed such fears.

 

Consistently we are told to wash hands a lot, wash surfaces, keep our distance from other people –  which is hard to do in certain places, as in airport lines:

The governor of Illinois called in hundreds of firemen to help with the long lines at customs.    We haven’t eliminated all crowds yet, but we’re getting there.   either the virus or the response to the virus has caught us all off guard.

We’re way beyond “To Panic or Not To Panic.”    That’s almost an irrelevant discussion.  Now it’s:   be prudent, be prepared.

We don’t seem to have consistent answers about how easily this spreads.     So many doctors, nurses, lab technicians, healthcare workers, emergency personnel seem to have caught the virus.  So many!    Did they all use sloppy techniques?   Or is this a very aggressive virus?

It would seem I’m in a good position to self-isolate;  due to illness, I can’t leave my home anyway.  But I do get friends coming over, checking on me, bringing me things, wonderful visits;  and now my little family is here. It’s so great to be all together that the virus is sort of on our minds,  but not foremost on our minds.   We are still having fun.

Or trying to.   Our local Maple Syrup Festival was canceled,  but the maple grove was still open for walking around in, and their store was open for purchasing things such as:  Maple Syrup Cotton Candy!       What a nice treat!

Son, Daughter, and Cooper explored the equipment in the maple grove,  cooking Cooper, not the maple sugar sap:

The virus may ruin tomorrow’s excursion too, which would be a trip to the REOlds Transportation Museum.

This is where the Oldsmobile originated  and Cooper is very much into cars nowadays.

He might a well enjoy a nice Valkyrie now at his age since he doesn’t have to worry about affording one!

So, a phenomenon shared by the whole world.    That happens only in terrible disasters.

Is this a mass psychological disaster or a real physical one?

Whichever it turns out to be,  no expert, no scientist, no doctor,  no leader, no president can protect you,  Each of us must protect ourselves to the best of our knowledge and to the best of our ability.

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And, yes,  there is a spiritual dimension to this.  Next post.

NOSTALGIA FOR THE OLD COUNTRY

I suppose many Americans wonder what it would have been like if their grandparents or great-grandparents had not left the “old country” –  whatever it  is –  and moved to America.     Presuming we’d exist,  how different would we be if we still lived in the country of our families’ origins?

I’m half Finnish,  half Swedish, with Lapp mixed in with the Finn and Sami mixed in with the Swede.     That’s part of my identity.    (I love winter!)     So it is with great interest that I keep up with news from Finland and Sweden.

I heard the Finnish and Swedish languages spoken by my relatives.    They all became enthusiastic American citizens,   but sometimes they spoke with a bit of nostalgia for the land which they had left.

Today?

What country is this?

Some Nordic country?  Scandinavian country?   Point your camera anywhere in Sweden and you can  find crowded streets with people who look like this.   Simple fact.

And this common scene in Sweden –

I know this looks like any night in France, in one of their several No-Go zones;  but this is Sweden,  which also has No -Go zones —  areas where Swedes are not allowed in their own country.

Nostalgia for the Old Country:  120 years later, my ancestors would be speaking with nostalgia, but also dismay, and most likely disgust after a generation  of unopposed invasions by Third World peoples –  intent upon changing the country they’ve invaded.   Their own great-grandchildren, still living in Finland and Sweden,   have failed to guard their culture and keep their countries safe.   For the most part,  they have turned their backs on their religion, too, so they have little inner strength of purpose.

Then what happens?   I wrote in a post or two ago about the pretty young Saani Ovaska of Finland who was beheaded by her M os  le m   boyfriend.    We have many similar stories from Sweden.  Like the German women in my last post,  women are cautioned not to leave their  homes in the evening.    Or else.

And now this from a school in Sweden:

“I belong to Islam”

It’s a page of homework one 8 year old was forced to complete and turn in to her teacher.  All children in the room had to do it and were threatened with expulsion if they didn’t comply.   Here’s part of the story:

According to the news portal Katerina Magasin, third-graders were forced to confess to Islam and Allah in a letter during a lesson in religious studies. Among other things, the nine-year-olds had to write “I belong to Islam”.

Anamaria von Roteliuc, the mother of a nine-year-old girl, told the magazine the pupils also had to participate in a prayer, while a minaret call was played in the classroom. Furthermore, the children had to colour a mosque on a piece of paper.

No,  this wasn’t  “let’s try on  (Is  *lam)  for a day” —   in order to understand “all” world religions.    There was a sentence they had to write which amounts to a statement of conversion to  (Is  *lam).     According to cultural experts,  this statement is a statement of reality and cannot be rescinded . . . .

The news article went on to describe how upset some of the children were.   They were actually intimidated by their teacher to carry out the not-so-mock conversion.

The girl initially refused to pledge allegiance to Allah, but had to to write “I belong to Islam” in the end.

“My daughter came home and was completely devastated”, Anamaria said. “She said, Mom, we had Islam yesterday and they forced us to say that we are Muslims. She told me that during the lesson, she jumped out of the classroom crying, ran to the toilet and prayed to God. She has been feeling bad since it happened. I myself am so angry that I’m seething. How can you do this? We are Christians and my children should not be subjected to forced Islamisation at school”.

What will become of the parents’ protests?   What will change after their complaints?  Where are the Scandinavian men to protect their families and their country?   Where the fight?

In fairness,  there are a few Scandinavian voices who do object, strenuously,  to what has been done to their countries.    I know some have been forced to leave Sweden because there are laws against speaking out . . . .

But . . .  then what?   Where is the country that my great-grandparents left?    Does it even exist anymore?

Is there any culture to even be nostalgic about?

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(You don’t need to look far to realize this is being done to every European  and European-derived nation.)

 

 

 

HANG ON TO YOUR NUMBERS

Nowadays I go to sleep with the radio on, hear it off and on all night, and wake up still hearing the radio . . .   and this morning I heard a state official talking about voting fraud, which was timely, since today our state participated  in the primary elections along with a few other of our local  issues.

Will our roads have enough money to get fixed?   Depends on the the numbers, the election results.   Will our bus services continue to run?  Depends on the numbers.  Will our wonderful little zoo continue to operate?  Depends on the numbers.

Clearly,  numbers are important to determine these answers.  The count must be accurate, of course,  and represent the people who actually live here.   We all know that.   Guarding the vote count,  hanging on to our numbers, is crucial to our Republic.

On election day, all we are is a number!

But the man on the radio today said some alarming things –   In the largest city of our state,  more than 100% of residents were registered to vote in many of the precincts.   Today.  Now.

Okay, it was early morning, but even I knew there was something wrong with that statement.    Each precinct has a known population,  and usually not everyone votes –  but what happens when there are more registered voters than the number of people who even live there?

The answer is:  voter fraud happens.   Who is voting?      All over our country,  dead people vote – because they are on the voting rolls.

And felons are voting,  prisoners who are disqualified according to our voting laws:

 

All over our country people who are non-residents vote in local elections because they have been helped to register to vote.

 

The man on the radio said they have determined that as many as one out of eight people have voted without being qualified to vote.  Sometimes it’s an honest mistake.  People move away or die and their names don’t get taken of the list.    Sometimes certain political parties  deliberately  harvest names from lists of people who have died.  And sometimes politicians want to change the laws so more people can vote (for them) –  people such as felons, citizens of foreign countries, or even  people as young as 16 years old!

There are things we all can do about the problem of voter fraud,  from  being aware;  or supporting policies to clean up our voting rolls;  supporting legislators who want to reduce the problem;  volunteering to work at our precincts as the votes are cast;  volunteer to be an election “watcher,”   honestly counting, verifying, and reporting the vote count.

That’s a Democracy Participation List of things to do.

Each fraudulent votes nullifies your own vote.   Some unqualified person canceled out your vote.

If we all  don’t “hang on”  to the numbers of votes we  cast in the next election this Fall, we give up our voting  power.    It’s an issue that’s going to come up real soon.

THE DOUBLE OPEN-DOOR OF DECEPTION

(Caution:  a little blood and gore here)

Let’s return to the theme of Deception  in these times. (God will send a strong delusion so that they believe a lie, the Bible says)

With all the talk about the corona virus and the Democrat political candidates,  sometimes it seems as though the movement of Third World people out of their countries has substantially ceased.    Not true.  It’s still a dangerous issue.

Dangerous.   What kinds of things would you expect to read in a popular women’s magazine?    Fashion?  Child care?  Health?   Recipes?

This?   —

 

This is an article in a popular women’s magazine in Germany which is giving advice about how you should prepare for a knife wound (eine Stichwunde,  stab wound).    When German non-Muslim women walk around their own streets,  they are in danger of being one of the many victims of knife wounds,  knives wielded by Third World men — often followed by brutal rape.

Better be prepared. . . .

German citizens don’t want this,  but the Leftist leaders all over Europe invited in and are still inviting  in citizens from other countries to enter their country and make use of the “free” health, education, and social services, paid for by European citizens.

Do they not believe that Somalia,  Ethiopia,  Libya, etc., as well as Middle Eastern countries have the concept of citizenship?    Are Somalians  not citizens of Somalia, for instance?     Do they get to demand from citizens of other countries?

The Deception is that these are “refugees”  who are seeking “asylum”  and are running away from oppression.   (That’s not what these “refugees”  reveal.)  If this were true,  then the many Christian refugees from these areas who are experiencing persecution and death from their governments or factions within their governments would also be given asylum.    But they are not.  Christians are largely being denied refugee status, even though their danger is well-documented.   Leaders have noted a Christian genocide going on in these areas.

There are two powerful forces working together to continue this Deception.  One is the well-defined Is – lamic practice of Taqqiya . . . lying for the sake of advancing your religion.

The other force is the Radical Leftist leadership of most of the European leaders – elected or not.

In America we are familiar with the Radical Leftist teaching of Saul Alinksy who advocates doing anything,  being anything, saying anything for the advancement of the Revolution.  Progress for the Revolution!

Remember hearing Candidate Joe Biden saying that he stands for Truth Over Facts!!!  Explain that, Mr. Biden.   Whose Truth?   The Leftist Truth?    Your truth superior to Facts?

Although we have plenty of examples from America,    here is a Fact from Finland.

Beautiful girl, huh?  —

Her name is Saani Ovaska, and she is from Finland.    She is very proud of having a Muslim, third world country “immigrant” boyfriend.    So open-minded!

Here is Saani  two weeks later:

Well, at least  that’s her blood, leaking out under the door of her apartment.

Here is the caption to the first photo:

Here is an interesting group of women:

Finnish women, female leaders.

Now, you may know that Turkey, who is at war with Greece, is facilitating the movement of Third World people into Greece, and then on into Europe.  Greece is fighting against this.    It’s an act of aggression against the Greek people.

The UN and the EU — and the Finnish government — have all declared they are on the side of Greece, they shouldn’t be forced to receive an overwhelming number of “migrants.”      That declaration has proved to be a Deception.

Those four Finnish female leaders have deceptively said they will go along with their government’s official statement – “We support Greece in ensuring its external borders hold. ”      But –  they also will support the third World “migrants”  and give aid to those who are seeking asylum status.

As well as this contradictory statement from the Finnish government that  it will not turn away any migrants who arrive at its own border.

It’s not just a contradiction,  it’s a Deception.   

Socialism  will spread around the world,  the Third Secret of Fatima said,  if we don’t turn back to God and obey Him.

It will spread when many nice people who are not paying attention allow themselves to be Deceived.

 

 

 

EVER MEET A TAMARIAN?

It’s Reminiscere Sunday today,  the Second Sunday in Lent.   A day in which the Church reminds us to “use our brains,”  or  at least use that faculty of our Intellect that recalls to our minds important things.  I’ll get to that later.

First, I want to use two metaphors.  Hey!  Metaphors can be fun!   And useful.   Anyone remember the  Star Trek episode in which the Enterprise came to Tama,  the territory of the Tamarians?   They were the only nearby people who hadn’t signed a Peace Pact with  the Federation.   This could be serious, because probes indicated they were a highly advanced society with powerful technology –  but didn’t they want peace?

Probes also showed the Translators could translate their language into English words,  and they had received our overtures for peace,  so what was the problem?

Captain Picard hailed them and waited for their answer, which was:   “Rai and Jiri at Lungha. Rai of Lowani. Lowani under two moons. Jiri of Umbaya. Umbaya of crossed roads. At Lungha. Lungha, her sky gray.”

Uh-huh.

Further attempts yielded such answers as:
Mirab, his sails unfurled.
Shaka. When the walls fell…
Uzani, his army at Lashmir.

Darmok. On the ocean.

Both sides became increasingly frustrated;   The Enterprise crew couldn’t figure out their intentions and the Tamarians couldn’t communicate their intentions.    Eventually,  the female psychologist character on the Enterprise figured it out.     She said, for example, what would you think of if I said  “Juliet.  On the balcony.”      Romance, maybe?   Expectation?  Openness?

The Tamarians think exclusively in terms of images, and they speak strictly in terms of metaphors.     Each of their answers was a metaphor.

We humans can do that,  though not exclusively.

   It’s been a week since I could write.   I hate that, so long between posts,  but I’m on a sort of metaphorical bull of a disease, as you may know.   You sit on the large, sharp vertebrae,  the humps and bones of the bull’s back as he twists  and heaves with mighty power,  trying to get you down on the ground where he can stomp you to oblivion.

Well, this is a more hopeful photo than the ones I’ve been showing in previous posts   —  I’m having more good moments, and I know it’s because I’m being sustained by so many prayers.

That rider is probably two seconds into  his run.  He’s got six more to go.   Life is short and uncertain, and  none of us is strong enough for it on our own.

None of us can make it through life on our own!    The Enemy of humans may stroke you, comfort you, give you good things, and make it seem all will be well – if you can only stay up on that bull –  every time.    But he’ll get you in the end, if you try to live this life on our own.

So here’s my second metaphor of the day:   The Acorn develops into a Tree.     That is:  God is.  God is everything.  Like it or not, we popped into an existence which God made.  He knows everything and knows how to get us through this life.   He sent His Son who told us “I will not leave you orphans….”

And this is why I choose to be within the Church.   I wasn’t born into the Church,  but even if I had been,  anyone can choose to leave it . . .  but I won’t because of the “acorn”!

Remember when Jesus came here,  he sent out his disciples two by two to prepare people’s hearts to receive the news about Him?

 

Acorns usually come in twos on the oak branches, but actually it takes only one acorn to make an oak tree.

The acorn grows into a sapling . . . The Acorn is the original teaching from Jesus,  about Him, what He taught us that God is like,  and all about His crucifixion.   And resurrection.    That’s all within the acorn – and it gets planted by that first generation of disciples.

As the decades and centuries go by,  the little tree becomes fuller –

–  but the young tree is still growing from out of the same nourishment that was in the acorn.    Roots are spreading out as God continues His invisible work; and the tree grows.

But the tree is not separate from its acorn beginning.   It cannot change or it won’t be an oak tree anymore.

Through the centuries, that oak tree stands tall and strong,  true to its origins.   Metaphorically speaking, it  offers shade, shelter, and protection.  But only by coming closer and entering into it can you understand all the other riches it offers to us.

Again, anyone can leave it and start their own idea of an oak tree:

The birds can leave it and try to find another place, and especially by the 16th century,  about a third of Europe did leave . . .  and many of these “birds” created new “trees” and new countries and left the original oak tree far behind.  The Enemy made them prosperous and strong in this world, although not without serious problems.

However, as long as the “birds”  took with them many of the good qualities of the Oak Tree,  it seemed okay.     “Don’t do murder;  don’t steal;  be honest;  keep your families intact; be respectful;  talk about a ‘higher power’ for people . . . .”    But eventually, all this comes up for discussion;  it’s relative;  it’s up for debate;  it’s all subject to change and “Progress.”

The “birds” have a better way to Transform society,  but they haven’t been taught the wisdom in the book of Proverbs:  “There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.“   (Proverbs 14:12)

So that’s why I am inside the Church — even though evil people have entered it now – as was predicted for the end of times.      I’ve had a taste of bull-riding – and it’s a little scary,  it could lead to death –  but not that kind of death.

Reminiscere Sunday:    Calling to mind important things.

Each Sunday,  for many, many centuries,  has an Epistle and a Gospel assigned to it for our meditation.     Today we hear of the soul’s cry for God;s assistance.   Part of the Introit:  Remember, O Lord, Thy compassions and Thy mercies, which are from the beginning, lest at any time our enemies rule over us . . .”

And God answers in the Epistle with St. Paul’s words:    “ For you know what precepts I have given to you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”    (I Thessalonians 4)    

God wants us holy so we can be with Him, and He’ll help.   

Check out that Oak Tree.  Metaphorically speaking.

THREE GIRLS WHO BECAME WOMEN

It’s the First Sunday in Lent.  I haven’t forgotten.     (Do not “deceive” yourself.   Lent is all about The Four Last Things.)

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The  Growing Dark Deception –
Sometimes I’ve invited you to take a walk with me through The Spruce Tunnel – but today I’m going to invite you to take a brief “walk” through my history.   I’m in the  midst of posting about the uses and tactics of Deception, in our politics  and  in our culture.  This post somewhat fits that theme.   I think.

This is a tale of three girls who grew up in America, and became women.

When you’re riding the Metaphorical Bull Riding Disease as I am,  your life flashes before you in that brief 8 seconds, and you tend  to think in terms of the meaning of your life.    You get serious.  Rider Mason Lowe was trampled to death by the bull in this picture.

These three girls grew up in Illinois, in suburban Chicago, all with a five-mile radius of each other.  We didn’t know each other.   One girl is myself, of course.   The other became my next-door neighbor for quite a number of years.  And the other girl eventually became the ruthlessly ambitious wife of an easy-going Good Ol’ Boy Arkansas governor.

Wealth-wise you could call us small, medium, and “very,”   although we all started out as middle class.     The other two had fathers who invested in the stock market and retail and  real estate development.   My own father  was a brilliant musician, a jazz musician who played in Chicago nightclubs until the musicians union muscled out many of its members for the various reasons of Chicago politics.

A musician without a music job doesn’t make too much money.   However, in those days, even a lower middle to middle middle class family could be very happy.

My suburb, my own neighborhood,  was bounded on one side by a huge, dense Forest Preserve . . .

It was full of trails, bridle paths where lots of people rode horses, and in the middle was the DesPlaines River, with its slow-moving murky brown water, complete with muddy banks, quicksand, and alligators.   (Yes, seriously, alligators from time to time.)

(Deceptively peaceful;  My father moved our family out of there when a serial killer  kidnapped and killed little girls like me and dumped their bodies in the Forest Preserve.)

On the other side we had a very large  field which was an abandoned  construction site so there were plenty of uneven land, hills, valleys,  occasional large oak trees left standing,   one of which I stationed myself in for hours at a time – with a book, of course.   We kids spent most hours of our waking time romping around in that field.

At the other edge of the field was O’Hare Air Base, before it became a commercial airport, before it became an international, airport.    I have no idea why we kids didn’t sustain hearing loss as those military jets roared overhead periodically.    The roar of the afterburners rattled the dishes  in our cabinets.

   To the south were the schools and shops where I rollerskated and bicycled every day.   I often rollerskated the two miles back and forth to school, sometimes beating the school bus.    Illinois spring, summers, and falls can be hot.  The most agonizing decision I had to make in my childhood was at the Walgreen’s, on the way home.   Should I get a cherry soda?  Or chocolate soda?  Or lime?     Or if I didn’t have a whole quarter with me, then just a phosphate.   Lime.

I don’t know what the other two girls’  childhood was like.    They probably had less of a tomboy, outdoor life, but I’m sure it was happy – and conventional.

Here’s  where the Deception creeps into our society.   What binds our experiences together, I’m sure,  is that very lucrative and destructive invention called Teenager,  an artificial category which separated family members.

(Annette Funicello, America’s  Sweetheart)

  We all enjoyed the hour-long after school program called Mickey Mouse Club which entertained and indoctrinated our generation into  a carefully planned future agenda (Global Socialism).     (It was during these years that schools Deceptively dropped the education part of their mandate and became institutions of indoctrination for the New Global Citizen.    “Think globally, act locally.”    Schools became easy – and fun.)

We  all enjoyed American Bandstand, that daily afterschool display of teenagers in Philadelphia who danced to popular music in front of  TV cameras for us.  They presented the latest hairstyles,  clothing,  attitudes, dance moves, and the music that was going to be on our Top Forty radio stations.

(Bandstand’s Dick Clark interviews the Beetles)

American Bandstand modeled, directly or indirectly,  what it was to be a “Teenager,”  destroying family life and family togetherness in the process.

Sociologists would make their careers in describing this “generation gap.”   All based upon the Deception that teenagers were somehow apart from their families.

Some of us went the wholesome Mickey Mouse Club way,  which soon faded from the scene;  others went the pop music way, which morphed into the sex, drugs, and rock n roll of the Sixties.

If you were “conventional,”  you went that way – a little bit,   but not enough to lose your respectability.

So the childhood of these three girls  was fun;  It was Free!  It was Exciting!   It was youth-centered!  There were endless opportunities for prolonged  entertainment and a nirvana of superannuated childhood – and wealth and ambition.

My neighbor inherited her father’s wealth and was able to do things like travel on the Concord and on the Queen . . . Mary, I think, where tuxedos and evening gowns were the ordinary travel and dining clothes.   She and her husband eventually moved to a deluxe condo which was like walking around in a pink and white and gold fairy castle.  It was so pretty!   (I got to take care of her orchids when she was away from home.)

But somehow she didn’t seem too happy.   She drank a lot and smoked a lot and yelled a lot.   Coarseness came with her wealth for some reason.

The third girl grew up to become fabulously wealthy, living in a governor’s mansion the White House, and eventually unimaginably expensive urban apartments.   She drinks a lot too, from all accounts, and smokes and yells a lot using horrible foul language on her inferiors.  I don’t think she’s too happy either.

Wealth is okay if it comes to you,  through family,  through hard work, through good luck.    But it isn’t you.    When it comes to human values,  wealth is a big  Deception – and a stern ruler.

As we three girls grew up,  we did not at first notice the Dark Deception that was overtaking the world.   The ambition for wealth and power was leading our World Rulers down some very dark paths –  and the Deception they are buying into is Globalism,  Global Governance,  Global Power,  Global Organization, and, of course, Global Socialism which sums up all of that.

How many of our current politicians, including the Democrat candidates are Globalists?   Or have to act like Globalists?    How many of our  current politicians speak deceptively to us, to hide their Globalist viewpoints?    How many Globalists plans will they really carry out?

America – or not?

The wealth, the “evenly distributed” wealth,  the Progress, the peace that Globalism promises is a big Deception.    

Be careful who you vote for;  there is only one way to bring about Globalism, and that is by Imposition.    Temporary, of course, they tell us.   Necessary losses along the way.    Sacrifices dictated to you for the good of “the whole.”

That was from Spock,  not his father, the wise Sarek.

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