July 2022 – Page 3

Hey Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and Dad, Thanks!

Monday, July 11, 2022

As Far As The Horizons Stretch and Beyond:

There’s Lots of History, Everywhere, for Everyone,

Can You Be Thankful For Yours?

Jeremiah 16:19

O Lord, my strength and my stronghold, my refuge on the day of trouble, to you shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and say: Our ancestors have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit.

2 Corinthians 4:8

We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair;

Words of Grace For Today

As I started to contemplate that nations will come and say that their ancestors had left nothing but lies to inherit,

a big, old, fat fly started to disrupt my view. Caught my attention it did. Distracted me, until it was dispatched.

Flies are not good to have around food, eating spaces, sleeping spaces or any living space for that matter.

I suppose I ‘inherited’ plenty of flies and wasps from someone. I’m sure it was not my ancestors, though Grandpa Sam and Grandma Dorothy did have an outhouse above the lake cottage on Lake Wabedo, back when it was an isolated lake. After each used we’d scatter a cupful of ashes down the hole to deal with smell and flies. Still there were always a bit more of both than I cared for. I also remember once in my University days arriving and finding the parking spot I chose was free because everyone else arriving earlier knew there was a wasp nest on that corner of the garage. Flies and wasps: I’m sure that since Lake Wabedo is more than 12 hours by car away, and that was about 3 or 4 decades ago, those flies and wasps have no direct lineage or causation effect on the fact there are flies and wasps here.

My ancestors, that I know of, where respectable people. (Thank you Goldie, Dorothy, Sam, Dort, Dennis.) I have not discovered any lies, foundational or formational or simply for the lark of it that are part of the family heritage. I count my blessings. I have a hard time imagining how devastating it must be to grow up knowing or to discover later that one’s ancestors passed down a pack of lies and not much else. I have seen the parents and grandparents who are such people, but the children were unawares or unapologetic, as they began a life of lies themselves, without regret or awareness of their great loss in doing so.

I have noticed friends of our offspring being very appreciative of us parents, since by comparison I guess we measure up as pretty decent, or the only parents of their circle of friends who are kind, gracious, welcoming and generous. I feel for the adult children who have parents whom they would rather forget, for remembering is costly.

We certainly can say with Paul: We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair. It’s not like life has left us unscathed, unscarred or un-‘rewarded’ for the good we’ve done. Life has at times knocked the living daylights out of us, for sure.

We are afflicted, perplexed, not crushed, not driven to despair. And we remain grateful for all God’s blessings, even if I am homeless, living off the grid in the wilderness. People hear that and say they always wanted to do that- it must be fun. – No, it’s just hard, and then harder, and quite dangerous pretty much every day. Weather getting more severe is a greater portion of that danger, though the greatest danger still remains the two legged wild animals that are fuelled by unnatural things, like drugs and revenge (for nothing I’ve done) and jealousy (that I can survive in the wild.) The wonders I experience do not make it safer, but they do make it blessed.

In fact, by celebrating the Eucharist each morning, my time is blessed, and this space, this piece of wilderness, is consecrated and made holy. I get to live in a sacred place. Nothing beats that!

In the face of each life-threatening adversity and challenge that I face I am shown again and again that God is my refuge from trouble and my strength and stronghold in the face of every adversity and challenge.

Nothing beats that.

So another day starts, and though it will have it’s dangers in quantities most people would run from, I know that in this sacred place and wherever I go all will be well, all will be well, all manner of things will be well … so onward with the work to meet the needs and best preparations for safety in the coming months.

How is your past and present measuring up?

Slammed Onto The Wheel … Again

Sunday, July 10, 2022

Sometimes A Bit Square

Is The Best God Can Mould Us To Be

Jeremiah 18:6

Can I not do with you, O house of Israel, just as this potter has done? says the Lord. Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel.

Philippians 2:13

For it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Words of Grace For Today

Paul does get it concisely to the point and correct …

every once in a while.

It is not us doing the right and goodly things.

It is God, working like a potter with the clay on the wheel spinning, forming, moulding, a wonder, a miracle, an exquisite dish.

Of course, that is the dish before we get pounded and de-lumped, the air pushed out of us, and then we get slammed onto the potter’s wheel and it spins out of round, until God gently pushes us into round, able to become something, something at all,

Though it’s not likely we will become an exquisite dish, because God needs plain old everyday, durable, hard-working plates and bowls, too.

From us the world around us will be nourished in the regular, daily, not-fancy-or-celebratory feeding that we humans require in order to flourish and prosper as God’s labourers.

It’s the work we are created for that is the blessing we offer to God’s good creation and all God’s creatures (good or not.)

Another day, more work, common and bland blessings for others, and exhaustion for us. Even to the point that we are too broken and God may have to retire us to the slop pail, to soak before we are pliable enough to be thrown back on the wheel. There again God moulds us for more hard, tedious work in the Kingdom.

Hard work. Always blessed. It doesn’t get better.

Crying Out “Let the thirsty, come!”

Saturday, July 9, 2022

Take the Steps to the Water,

the Reflection of God’s Glory Awaits.

Isaiah 48:21

They did not thirst when he led them through the deserts; he made water flow for them from the rock; he split open the rock and the water gushed out.

John 7:37-38

On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, ‘Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.

Words of Grace For Today

While climate change has brought us to experience first-, second-, and internet-hand drought like never before, and likewise floods, wildfires, hurricanes, tornadoes, drechos, and disasters like glaciers and mountains collapsing on pristine areas, towns, and people, Jesus still stands up in the busy festivals and market places and cries out to us:

Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Come all you who are thirsty, come drink your fill.

Right, that was not Jesus, that was Isaiah 55.1.

The theme of thirst and of God providing water is often repeated in scriptures, as well it may be since water is essential for life and it is a symbol of God’s providing for us in all ways (not just physical water) when we are in need.

Isaiah 48 recounts how God provided water for the people during the Exodus, their fleeing from slavery in Egypt into the wilderness. Rocks usually do not provide water, but with God all things are possible.

So, how do you thirst this day?

For Justice?

For Truth?

For water or hunger for food?

For a faith strong enough to see past this day’s challenges and pitfalls to the blessings God pours over you?

However we thirst, God provides what we need.

Just Desserts!

Friday, July 8, 2022

The Platinum Halo Awaits … But For Whom?

Jeremiah 21:14

I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings, says the Lord; I will kindle a fire in its forest, and it shall devour all that is around it.

Galatians 6:9

So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

Words of Grace For Today

When it comes to our enemies we jump on the band wagon and toot our horn: go God, get ‘em! Give ‘em what they deserve! We are more than ready to see our enemies (who would do us in) get their just desserts.

We re-write Jeremiah to read: “I will punish them according to the fruit of their doings”, says the Lord; “I will kindle a fire in their forest and it shall devour them and all that is theirs!”

But that is not quite Jeremiah, now is it.

We don’t get to see our enemies burn to the ground.

We don’t get to see God devouring them for the evil they have done.

God’s hope, and ours as well (if we’ve matured enough for it to be so) is that God will finally reach our enemies’ hearts, they will confess, amend their lives and live justly and graciously the rest of their days. We’d like some restitution, but if they amended their lives, we could even forgive them almost everything they’ve done so far, almost everything.

Meanwhile, we hear Paul loud and clear: do “not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.” Actually we hope we do not reap all that we have sown, for all of us have enough sins in our past to earn eternal damnation (we’ve just not earned it so clearly so many times over as our enemies who seek our death.) We trust that God’s promises to be gracious with us, already since our baptisms, are sure, uncompromisable, and … well life-giving, not only for us, but as a witness to all people how gracious and generous God is with us, so just maybe for many people, even our enemies perhaps?

This day we work again, in spite of being very weary, at doing all that is good and right, so that God’s harvest will be gathered in with great abundance, and all people will have life, living in Christ’ light.

Would you hand me that thingofamajig?

Thursday, July 7, 2022

Departed after the July 1 Holiday weekend there’s garbage everywhere.

So much for taking out what you bring in. New fire pits, dead spots now in the soil, are everywhere.

The worst was an air mattress box hidden in the bushes … filled with used diapers and other garbage. As if hidden it would not be found or someone would not have to carry it out, since the owners decided to carefully tuck it behind a bush.

God hand me that thingamajig

to knock some sense

into these senseless

creatures of yours.

1 Chronicles 29:12

Riches and honour come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might; and it is in your hand to make great and to give strength to all.

Mark 10:16

And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Words of Grace For Today

The truck I’m renting broke down. Fuel Rail Pressure Sensor is toast or maybe a loose wire or ????

So, hundreds of dollars spent to get a replacement part later, a 60km bike ride in the rain with knees, heart and soul that should not attempt that anymore, three days of mechanic work for which I am not knowledgeable nor really able to reach over the engine to under the windshield to get at the FRPS and the bolts that have to come out on the air manifold. There was no one to ‘hand me thatthingamafig’, so it was hours of finding stuff and hours of looking for pieces dropped into the engine (not into the cylinders – at least I know enough to cover that ‘inside’ well enough) just to eventually lose them completely and then with one last ditch look having found them in the grass. And a whole week trying to do things without the power of a vehicle to assist. All that and 1) the truck runs without an error code, though it may have just been a loose wire on the air intake, and 2) I am fixed-und-fertig (to mix a few languages and idioms). From biking I can barely walk, from damage now over a week old my right foot still does not like to bear weight, and from tip to toe I am drained of energy, reserve, and I’m way past Bingo. Not sure where I will land, if indeed I do land or crash or ?

Now if riches come from God, I guess God has spared me that challenge. Thankfully there is no shortage of honour having God’s blessings I may be just about done and way past my best by date, but life is filled with wonders and miracles.

Like God caring for Children when others ignore and despise them or disregard them or abandon them to abuse unimagined.

So we start a new day: waiting for the next miracle, perhaps that enemies hearts will be converted from hard and cruel to kind and merciful, respectful of truth. If not God has plenty of other miracles waiting for the days ahead.

With them God will demonstrate that God has, continues, and always will bless me. It may be so for you as well, if you are so fortunate to have God’s favour and grace adorning your life.

Of course if life is easy for you, or you have so many possessions and opportunities and choices, then it may be impossible for you to recognize all God is doing. You may think it’s just your own doing.

No such abundance of possessions, wealth, opportunities, and choices here, so anything that goes well is a wonder, a miracle, the hand of God demonstrating God’s presence with me, again

and again

without end.

Would You Hand Me A Light!

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

Bears May Hibernate in the Dark

Coming Out In The Spring,

But We Humans Live Through It

And Hope To See The Spring.

Isaiah 60:19

The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory.

1 John 1:5

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Words of Grace For Today

It sounds like an apocalyptic movie: the sun shall no longer be your light by day, and the moon will not give you light by night. Polar darkness, for ever.

Then comes our salvation: the Lord will be our everlasting light, and our God will be our glory.

John puts the words there that seal the deal for us: God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.

Thank God, because it was beginning to look like the darkness had taken a firm grip our our world leaving us just a short time before we would plunge into eternal darkness.

January 10, 2022 I wake to a rustle followed by a huge bang. Then more rustling of tarps and more bangs, loud, crisp, close and … the ground shakes. I reach for the light to switch it on, and nothing. The batteries are dead as a 100 year old mummy, and as cold as if the mummy were uncovered from melting polar ice. That’s not right, I remember thinking. The fire should still be quite warm. I try to see what the thermometer reads but cannot see. I zip open the door and wind blows in my face crisp and instantly freezing cold. That’s not right, there was a fire in the fire box sheltered from the wind by a frame hung with insulated tarps. I cannot see anything. I feel for something, anything. But there is nothing. I stumble around pulling on a parka, pants, boots, gloves. I step out to where there had been a wood stove when I went to bed just a few hours ago. I thought I’d stoke it, but it’s not there.

I walk a few steps and the piercing cold bites deep into me, so much so that as I turn I lose my bearings, I flounder around a bit. Trying to work this out, I take one step and feel in a circle. I take a step back and then one more back and feel in a circle. Then I step in each side direction. Nothing. So I repeat the search this time taking two steps. This time my hand brushes against something. I take one more step towards it, trying to ensure I know the direction I’ve come from. It’s the zipper door flapping in the wind. I crawl back into the tent.

A loud to no one I say in a prayer: Would You Hand Me a Light!

As I reach to climb into bed my hand brushes something hard, a flashlight.

I have a light. I turn it on and realize in my restless sleep I’ve turned myself all around so that I have gone out the ‘back’ door of the tent. I look through the zipper of the front door and there is the shelter and fire, dwindling to almost no heat.

I get dressed again and go out to stoke it, lay myself back down to sleep again, and thank God

… for being the Light of my Life.

Or I could have panicked and never found my way back in the tent.

In the morning I see evidence that a bear has taken on a tree not 5 feet from my tent, and the tree lost. It was left banging against the tree next to it. My night of banging waking me turned around. Thankfully God got me straightened around.

God leads us and lights our ways in so many and various ways, but always God lights our ways, even on this day to come.

Just Doing it Right!

Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Wisps of Light

Begin the Day

As the Spirit Starts

Our Hearts

Genesis 15:6

And he believed the Lord; and the Lord reckoned it to him as righteousness.

Galatians 3:7

so, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham.

Words of Grace For Today

Righteousness is, by definition, the quality attributed to someone who does this right. Or as Wikipedia has it (like many other dictionaries – no surprise) it is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable.

Further as Wikipedia has it: William Tyndale (Bible translator into English in 1526) remodelled the word after an earlier word rihtwis, which would have yielded modern English *rightwise or *rightways. He used it to translate the Hebrew root צדק tzedek, which appears over five hundred times in the Hebrew Bible, and the Greek word δίκαιος (dikaios), which appears more than two hundred times in the New Testament.

It is tzedek here in Genesis that is translated as righteousness. It is connected with justice, and not merely the dispensing of decisions (that may or may not be just) as courts do, but about ensuring that decisions are just before they are made and that after ensuring that injustices are corrected.

It is all about doing, and doing it right, or doing what is necessary to make sure what is done wrong is corrected to be that which is done right.

So how is it that Abraham gets off being called righteous! He was a man of God, but he was also a cheat, thief, and con man. For those who do not want us to forget (rightfully so) our female ancestors, Sarah was right there with Abraham, helping him with his cheating, thieving, and conning! Abraham, less Sarah on this one, was ready to kill his own son, until God stopped him. So he could be considered, in his heart, to be a murderer. How can one such person be considered righteous.

Consider for a moment what then it means to be called a descendant of Abraham because of what we believe!

How can Abraham be consider to be righteous?

By faith.

He believed the right things?

Or as the New Testament witness clarifies again and again, we are saved by God’s grace (gift), not by what we do, think, or believe, but by what the Holy Spirit brings us to do, think, and believe.

So we do not really ‘do’ any of this on our own, certainly not by our own ‘free’ will.

And neither did Abraham.

God made it so. We might say God justly did it so.

And that is where all righteousness comes from, from God justly doing it … to us.

We get to be called righteous and we get to be eternally grateful, for left on our own righteousness is impossible, as plenty of history and current events give witness to!

Let us begin the day, then, trusting that the Holy Spirit will bring us to do righteously, and always giving thanks that it is so, also this day for us.

Renewing or Destroying?

Monday, July 4, 2022

This pine took about 15 years to grow to it’s six foot height. A quad (on private land beyond a barrier in the road to stop his all too frequent and intentionally extra noisy intrusions) took one roaring instant to run it over and kill it.

What was He thinking, when He created this quad-idiot?

Isaiah 66:2

All these things my hand has made, and so all these things are mine, says the Lord.
But this is the one to whom I will look, to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at my word.

John 17:17

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth

Words of Grace For Today

What a wonder God has created.

It is a privilege to be able to spend time of solitude and retreat among the trees, near and on and in (chillly!) the water, gather for stories around a campfire with it’s smoke scattering the mosquitoes when the wind is not strong enough blow them away and us free of them, and to sleep in the fresh air (as long as one ignores the pollution created by the oil processing plants not a half mile away.)

This long weekend after the rain storms let up, the campground was inundated with people seeking to be campers, bringing tents, campers, small yappy dogs, large constantly barking dogs and equipment, drinks and marijuana galore, kayaks, motorboats, and jetskis to ply the water with increasing fumes, oil on the water, and endless droning whines of engines, quads and motorbikes to rip up the ground and knock down trees, sound systems to pound out loud noise for miles … oh and a few fireworks. They sought out any open space to set up their campsites, making a veritable city in the woods.

So much for solitude, retreat, and time for quiet reflection in nature. Everything they do, other than being on the water, is more easily done at home in their own backyards, though bylaws restrict the extreme noise at the late hours.

Theirs is not a quest to enjoy nature. It is, apparently, to destroy nature, and their own bodies and minds.

God created all this: the wonders of nature, and the stupidity of humanity to destroy everything around them and themselves as well. What was God thinking?

God certainly created it all, and God looks not to those who destroy nature and themselves. Doch God looks to the humble and contrite in spirit, who trembles at God’s word.

Were it so that those who came to this place of the wonders of creation would come to be humble and contrite, trembling at God’s word, respecting the land, the water, the trees, the wildlife, and the other guests.

Were it so that those who came to this place of wonders, consecrated holy and set apart as a retreat, would come to renew their spirits, instead of destroy their hearts, minds and souls with spirits and drugs.

Of course, not all who come, come to destroy. Some actually come to bask in the beauty, drink up the wonders and fresh air, and reconnect their bodies, minds, and souls with God’s good creation. It’s just they get drowned out by the destruction-seekers-doers.

Yet, here truth is rediscovered, rekindled, and nurtured, so that if one so chooses, one can find life abundant here, and say upon departing back to their everyday lives: God has sanctified us in the truth; God’s Word (evident in God’s creation) is truth.

So let it be also in this consecrated meadow, a holy hermitage, a place to live of last resort, and a resort of God’s many blessings, as with those who live elsewhere and only by reading experience a slice of the holy life lived here.

Come and Hear …

Sunday, July 3, 2022

*Photo Credit: Fred Olivier. Source: tinyurl.com/nvrk8st*

Adult penguins create creches for the chicks.

Psalm 66:16

Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.

Galatians 2:20

and it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

Words of Grace For Today

Come and Hear ….

Brett sat with his older sister who protected him as best she could. The others were quiet, except for a giggle or a short yelp when someone got an elbow in the side from the person next to them. Four years old and Brett was proud that he got to come along with his 7 year old sister to Story Telling.

Today a big tall man, at least he said he was a man though he dressed like a woman, told them a story about ten penguins on the ice shelf of Antarctica. It was cold, windy, and the moms and dads to be had to travel hundreds of miles to where they gave birth to their babies. Except first … well that was the story. Would be moms and dads travel to the rookery, the breeding location on stable ice in the middle of the cold, cold windy winter. They find a mate and pair up for the season. Mom lays one egg and passes it off to dad. Dad has to hold it on his feet and in his ‘egg’ pouch for around 65 days. That’s about 3 months. Neither mom or dad have eaten since they arrived at the rookery. So mom gets to head off to the ocean to catch fish to eat. She returns in time for the egg to hatch. Dad gets to go to the ocean to eat finally after not eating for four months! When the chick breaks open the egg and comes out both parents take turns catching fish to feed to the baby chick. By December, in the summer down under, the chicks are almost as big as their parents. They grow real fast! They molt, that is they shed their chick down and grow adult feathers. They spend the summer at the edge of the ice shelves learning to swim, catch fish and survive. The next winter the would be moms and dads start the whole breeding process over again.

Can you imagine going 4 months without food?

When the story was done, Brett followed his sister to get a cookie and juice, and then they walked home. When Brett complained that it was a long walk, his sister reminded him that it wasn’t as far as the emperor penguins walked every year to get to and from the rookery.

Brett remembered, and said that word again, rookery. He asked his sister if their home was their rookery. His sister laughed and said, ‘I suppose it might be.’ Just then the neighbourhood bully crossed the street towards them. Brett asked his sister if she would protect him like the parent penguins protected the chicks from predators. She laughed nervously, and said, ‘Yes, I suppose so.’

The bully came up to them and said their mom was looking for them. His dad and their dad worked together, and there was an accident. No one knew how they were. But they should get home.

At home Brett saw his mom crying. Grandma was there, too. The bully’s mom was there with her oldest daughter, a year older than Brett’s sister. When the phone rang everyone jumped. Grandma grabbed the phone. She was quiet, and then said, “Thank you. Thank you so much!” After she hung up the phone she said, “Both men are okay, but they are going in an ambulance to the hospital to have the doctors look them over, just in case.”

Like Brett and his family and even the bully and his family, we all can say (if we dare), “Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for me.”

Just Right

Saturday, July 2, 2022

Fresh, Clean, Wet Morning

Psalm 139:9-10

If I take the wings of the morning
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Matthew 28:19-20

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And

Remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.

Words of Grace For Today

Some mornings the joy of life permeates everything (despite all the possibilities of so much shtako colouring the view)!

Everything is wonderful today. The monster has eaten it’s fill of dry wood and produces in return warm dry heat to dry out the wet towels and clothes that need drying every day. Outside the rain falls on and off heavy, pounding the air clear, washing the camp clean. The rain is cool. The air is fresh, refreshing coming in the windows, countering the intense heat available from the monster (the wood stove that eats so much wood in the cold winter weeks). I pull two spoons full from a newly opened can of coffee and the aroma fills the small living space. The water boils briskly on the monster so I need not spend propane for that this morning, a savings when every savings is life. Great creamy Silk half-n-half with coffee coffee in the mug warms my hands, minimizing the arthritic pains, and soothing my throat all the way down! Creamy tart berries wait on my cereal where every spoonful is both smooth and crunchy, sweat-creamy and biting with Vitamin C in the black berries.

It’s a new month. The start of the second half the year, so it’s a new log file, crisp and clean. The calendar pages get turned up and held with tape for the small calendar, and up and over the board for the large calendar.

Since it’s not cold outside freezing the living daylights out of everything, I need no monster heat to survive. It’s like grits, ‘its extra, only 25 cents.’ And that (the gathering of an armful of small wood sticks) I can afford today. Maybe not in four months, but today I’ll burn this resource, upon which my life depends in the winter.

The heavy rain lets up, the sun shines in the windows, the birds start to sing and the stupid squirrels (and 2-legged animals) are silent so far this day. All seems just right.

I’ll take it. It’s rare.

Today, a holiday weekend, I’ll take a break from ‘going to the nations, baptizing them, and teaching them to obey.’ Or maybe I’ll be able to, we will see what this day brings.

These are small celebrations of life, enjoyed fully, before it is taken, shaken, and made nearly impossible by my ex’s lies (added to by so many, even the judges) in court. (What illness, evil, and cruelty bring people to lie so profusely and then defend the lies as if they had become truth? Some say it is the necessity of relieving conflict by scapegoating innocent people. Some say it is as good as it gets. Some say the lies do become truth. Most people bury their heads in the sand, unwilling to realize that this kind of lying in court is what brings violence to the doors of governments and courts and individuals. When you live by the lie, unfortunately you will die by the lie as well. If you are to uphold justice and you dispense injustice based on lies, allowing that barbarism to play a part in so many people’s lives – those that benefit and those destroyed by your lies – really a barbarism in themselves – then it should be no surprise that those who are violent will rise up and cut out of society those liars and injustice-dispensers. Once barbarism is in play, it will dominate, as easily and surely as Omicron.)

But let’s set that aside for a few more days, and not let the evil of it ruin these days. It will have it’s deadly effect soon enough.

Now and always, I rest in the peace of knowing that Jesus is with me always, to the end of the age

This morning I’ll take the wings of the morning and sing with the Psalmist:

If I take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me fast.