Just Me and My Salt Shaker

Posted on August 13, 2012 by ehurst

Transparency is a virtue.
Having nothing to gain makes it easy to be honest. No agenda here except encouragement to remain totally free of agendas and hoping you’ll treat the noise like a buffet. Take only what appeals to you, including my noise. You get to listen in on my conversation with myself, as if it mattered.
How many places did you read dire warnings of a false flag disaster at the London Olympics? I recall about a half-dozen sources claiming it was likely, and two who were so certain it was unavoidable. And nothing happened, aside from the typical bureaucratic bungling which saw income from the Games far below the potential. Brits don’t seem to understand serving the customer. So the real disaster was the management of the Games.
I rather doubt there will be a big event of that sort coming this fall. Not that we won’t see bad times; I’m still pretty sure the Euro will come apart and the US dollar right behind it. But it won’t be the end of the world, just some pretty nasty times for a large portion of humanity. Banking will go crazy, but for the average Joe, who is already in pretty bad shape financially, it won’t be anything new, just different. Here on the ground in everyday life, it will seem the grind lurches a bit but continues apace. I don’t expect another 9/11. That seemed almost plausible until the past few weeks.
Not that I can explain exactly what, because this arises from intuition, not logic. It’s the bigger pattern of things. Obama has seemed pretty reluctant to get much involved in foreign affairs, and he’s allowed others to decide and do what they want, but with much restraint. He hasn’t stopped anything, just held it back. Instead, he turned his oppression on the US itself, preferring to attack his own. That was his job, and it’s about done. Whatever passes for liberalism these days is fragmented and there is simply no real excitement behind Obama, none possible.
Israel has made lots of noise about attacking Iran, but I honestly doubt they could possibly accomplish much alone. They simply don’t have the firepower to seriously affect Iran’s nuclear plans and programs. They also know Obama won’t give them the go-ahead, so I believe we can be relatively sure Romney will win the election. That’s because he would most certainly be glad to attack Iran. Not that he really cares, but that’s what his party (Neo-Con Fascist) likes, and he’s on the team. Paul Ryan is an even bigger cheerleader of such, imminently more eloquent about it. I think they will struggle to keep Romney the center of attention. Meanwhile, the real conservatives have been told to sit down and shut up, and they probably will, with some token resistance here and there. They lack the courage of conviction to gut the party and start fresh.
Viewed collectively, the situation here at home has been tightened up so it will be easier to force Americans to support the next war with Syria and Iran, Lebanon as a side-dish. I can’t discern how the timing of events will collide, and how the propagandists will use each one, but I’m pretty sure the trend remains increasingly harsh slavery for us, a rising proportion of all economic activity spent on warfare, all as a means to further enrich those who already control the system.
Among central themes will be domestic police brutality rising exponentially, with zero accountability to the citizens. That’s because there will be a growing separation between those governing and those governed. The system will be overwhelming to anyone coming in with a will to make things better, compromising those with any weaknesses and spitting out those too tough to manage. Those who really care about people, and have a measure of wisdom, will avoid law enforcement.
Meanwhile, those who can think only of their discomfort with the bad economy will begin beating on the door of government recruiting offices, especially the military, or contractors thereof. Pay and benefits will decline according to market pressures, but this rush will paradoxically not reduce the likelihood of a revival in conscription. I rather expect to see a whole new class of half-military, lesser privileged, lower status jobs to free up combat-ready personnel. Maybe a sort of forced re-activation of retired and even some marginally disabled. The point is a new, even more insatiable demand for warm bodies involved in warfare. At the same time, the term “lowest bidder” will take on a connotation in ever more faulty and useless equipment. Not everything, but far too many new items will be junk before shipping.
Sure, crime and social unrest will rise, too. I still believe all those fine plans for handling domestic resistance will miss the point entirely, as the resistance will be less turf-oriented than officials expect. We’ll have our own American version of Taliban, complete with IEDs. At the same time, narco-terrorist parallel government stuff in Mexico will become more prominent here. It will be very confusing with a proliferation of interests attacking government control, and the bureaucrats generally unable to distinguish properly, and thus unable to respond appropriately. They’ll simply get rougher on the innocent. But most of this will creep into the fabric of American life, having already begun in many places.
So while there may be some dramatic events, they’ll be mere distractions. I sense the really substantive change will be a series of things connected to enslaving us more forcefully than we can imagine. The old canard of “FEMA Camp roundups” will not be a matter of course, but a threat held over the heads of folks to make them fearful. The means of economic exchange will be tightly controlled, and independent commerce of any sort will be flatly illegal, including barter and even gifts. I expect a lot of charities will be taken over or shut down. We already see religious charities requiring you register first with the government welfare system, with all the hateful oppressive and stupid restrictions that means. People will be progressively debased under the most obscene bureaucratic assumptions. More and more we will find ourselves forced to surrender wealth of all types, and virtually compelled to work as slaves in service to the war efforts.
At any rate, I tend to think most of the resistance press, particularly on the Net, is missing too much the point. They keep predicting things which don’t happen because their orientation as a whole is something which cannot be, and never was. They envision an America living the Constitution, with memories of some fake Golden Age of national greatness. All their rhetoric is aimed at claiming that vision, but it won’t be. And the survivalist preppers who know better on that point are still wrong in assuming how this will all go down, though I suppose they come close in some particulars. Still, in the cacophony of all the chatter from the MSM versus indies and alternatives, you could get lost and never find your way out. Am I any better?
Let’s hope to God I’m deluded on at least some of this.

Posted in sanity | Comments Off on Just Me and My Salt Shaker

The Wrong Path

Posted on August 12, 2012 by ehurst

Got an illegal robo-call on my cell phone yesterday from “Prophet Manasseh Jordan” which was basically an appeal for donations.

Manasseh Jordan is the son of Bishop E. Bernard Jordan, and is linked to T.D. Jakes, Joel Osteen, Steven Furtick, and Craig Groeschel of Life Church. There are wider linkages — Benny Hinn, Pat Robertson, James Robison, Kenneth Copeland, Creflo Dollar — because they are all part of a much bigger Word Faith movement, a relatively recent offshoot of the old Pentecostal movement. All of them have worked with each other, at least indirectly, offering many kind words about each other’s ministries, each with varying styles and portions of the basic teaching.

It’s a false teaching, typically ridiculed as name-it-and-claim-it. It’s a sort of magical invocation, using spells to obtain desired ends. It is, at best, a half truth. Please note I don’t say it doesn’t work that way. Anything you really want bad enough is likely in your reach, but at what spiritual cost? People who believe they can verbally demand something and see it happen are typically operating off the basic principle of desire. That is, if you are obsessed with something which is honestly possible, your subconscious will steer you into decisions which tend to optimize the opportunities for that obsession. It works often enough simply because that’s the way the world is, for now. It’s a portion of the moral fabric of the universe, just enough to get by with it in the context. Missing many of the finer points of God’s Laws, what they promote is little more than a newer version of Pharisaical legalism with a softer tone. Even when they talk about “born again,” it’s a matter of what man can accomplish.

Do they really believe the churches in Macedonia, wracked by poverty, was somehow lacking faith? Paul said they were quite faithful, fully loaded with grace. They gave sacrificially, painfully depriving themselves of worldly goods their bodies needed in order to participate in the gospel. They never harvested a vast reward of more money, but form of riches which ignored this world. They understood nailing the flesh to the Cross.

The bottom line is the Word Faith god is a slot machine which pays out more often than not — “seed faith giving.” Their measurable success does not mean their massive programs come from Jehovah as a good and blessed expression of His will. God will certainly give people enough rope to hang themselves. These folks are avid participants in the anti-spiritual crusade which forms the bulk of what Christians churches do. Church History is replete with rejecting the clear and sharp division between the Spirit Realm and the Fallen Realm, having absorbed without question Aristotle’s false unified reality. They read the Scripture with bald literalness by default, and insist symbolism is reality.

In the Old Testament, the terms “holy” and “sacred” did not carry the same pool of meaning and intellectual assumptions they do today. When Moses was told to take off his shoes before the Burning Bush, it wasn’t because the bush was holy, but God’s Presence was. Moses and most of his audience would understand those terms with that very kind of symbolism. You show respect as a commitment to God and His requirements, as One who rules over your very being. Calling that “sacred ground” was never meant to be taken literally. So when religious officials refer to their buildings as sacred, they often mean something completely different, and treat it differently than what the Law of Moses meant. The church serves the same mistaken assumptions which provoked a few Israelis to idolatry with the Bronze Serpent.

The Word Faith teachers treat stuff as literally sacred and blessed, and their whole world is a matter of what man can accomplish. They don’t even comprehend what it means to take up your cross and follow Jesus. They dumb down the meaning of nailing your life to the Cross of Christ to a simple mind trick. I wonder what their robust little kingdoms will be like when the underlying world economic system breaks? God only knows whether they will panic and start acting crazy, seek compromise with the Beast of human government, or get right and embrace the otherworldly ways of Christ. A real church needs nothing, only the people committed to Christ.

What they have right now, what they seem to believe is so all important, given by God, won’t be worth much against tribulation.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on The Wrong Path

Micah 5

Posted on August 11, 2012 by ehurst

We cannot guess what Micah knew in our modern terms of knowing about his own prophetic message. He wove a tapestry of truth in a language and culture which blended literal and symbolic together because the burden was on the reader to be open to the Spirit of God. We must be careful not to read too much of one, nor too little of the other, into his message.
This chapter opens during the siege of Jerusalem by Assyria. Micah warns the king will be struck by a symbol of another’s authority, a symbolic act of dominance over the kingdom. While Assyria did not do so herself, it was Babylon a short time later who did. The point is, things aren’t looking good for those now living in Jerusalem so deeply embroiled in idolatry. Bringing the troops inside the gates signifies an expectation the walls will breach any moment.
In the midst of this fearful moment, Micah turns to mention a clan so insignificant, everyone was surprised when Samuel anointed one of the men as successor to King Saul. He was already ancient history at the time Micah wrote, but David was a symbol of the coming Messiah. Thus, Jewish scholars knew Micah alone among the prophets named His birthplace. He would be even more ancient than David in the truth He bore. This promise stands in contrast to the current siege. Eventually the people would be taken into exile, and live under pagan rulers for a time. But there would be a day of return, when the nation would be reunited under this Messiah.
It would have been the promise for Israel to claim, but she would not have it. God’s promises cannot be frustrated, though. When He rises to claim His divine throne, the Messiah will lead a New Israel. His name would be known throughout the world, and nothing could harm His domain, because His reign was in the hearts of people. So it won’t matter who thinks to invade His kingdom; they won’t be able to touch it. Instead, those who seek to crush His truth will be crushed by it. As many leaders as it takes, so many will Our Lord raise up to shepherd with Him in the ferocity and effectiveness of David, but in terms of the Spirit. To the very home of the first human empire, they would be able to dominate on Christ’s behalf with His truth.
This new Kingdom, “survivors of Jacob,” would be found among every people of the world. It would seem they fall from the sky like the dew which no man can prevent. They will be like a lion among the flocks of sheep, seizing whomever they see without any hope of stopping them. The powers of men cannot avail against the onslaught of the gospel message.
When the Day of the Lord comes, sin is destroyed. Micah symbolizes it as the cavalry forces Judah had gathered to match her neighbors, in violation of the Covenant. In ancient times, horses were always dedicated to pagan gods, and the Lord commanded Israel should always only have infantry, but with such they would always defeat any foe when they relied on Him. All those mighty fortresses symbolized a commitment to the ground, not to the truth which should have been in the lives of the people themselves. They could have remained in tents eternally and God would have prospered and defended them. For sure, the idols and pagan practices would be destroyed.
The last line in the chapter is a reminder God judges all nations of humanity, and all the people in those nations.

Posted in bible | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Micah 5

Failure at Failing

Posted on August 11, 2012 by ehurst

I’m a failure at failing.
God is not interested in your successes. He’s not much worried about your failures, either. There is no success or failure in the Kingdom of Heaven. There is only faithfulness.
I’ve been hitting it hard on the workouts. Not in the sense of pushing until it’s no fun. When I take long rides or hikes, I have time to stop and pet dogs or examine a flowering bush, and other things like that. If I can’t enjoy it, there’s no point. But I have been trying to add a second workout most evenings.
This morning I woke up feeling rather limp. I finished breakfast before 6:00, and was just trying to stay motivated. Twice I stopped and lay on the bed for a few minutes. Not that I was sleepy, but just feeling tired. Still, I knew I was going to hit my upper body workout, one way or the other. So on the ride out to the playground, I gave myself permission to fail. I reminded myself it needed to be more fun than work, and it was okay if I didn’t do so many repetitions of everything. Just go and do something.
The ride itself was mildly invigorating. So I stood relaxed a moment to catch my breath, then plunged in without any concern for performance. And I made gains on almost every exercise. Yeah, it was nice, but it wasn’t important. God said so, and that it was why He gave me some gains to celebrate. I didn’t need rest; I needed inspiration, a reminder it’s okay to fail because it’s more about faithfulness than anything else.
When I was stationed in Europe with Army, I had a friend who bicycled competitively. Not elite, but up there on the bottom edge of the elite, and way beyond anyone else I knew. He would ride 200km for a Sunday outing. But he never had fun with it, because he always obsessed about keeping up with the leaders of his competition class. When I described a Saturday ride in the country and how pleasant it was, he noted with sadness he couldn’t simply go out and ride for fun like that. I said, “That’s okay; I can’t compete.”
When I remember there is no goal, only faithfulness and obedience, it’s easier to refill the cup of joy.

Posted in sanity | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Failure at Failing

Life: Quality over Quantity

Posted on August 10, 2012 by ehurst

I suppose if you really are concerned about surviving and living through the coming troubles, you should take the time to read what the Health Ranger has to say about it. Yes, it’s long and involved, but he covers all the bases.
While I do take most of his advice, I’m aiming at a totally different target. I don’t care a whit whether I survive because my body and it’s life here is just a tool. It’s to be used, and used up, then thrown aside as fertilizer when my time is up. My conviction is I have virtually no control over that, so the focus is on what my body can be used for so long as it keeps working.
The issue is faithfulness to the Lord who owns me. Had He said forget it and just waddle around and worry about other things, I would have done that. Instead, He has a different plan, and I’m doing my best to listen. Don’t follow my precise example; if you don’t sense the hand of God leading you this way, go another way. What matters is seeking to know what He wants from you. No two answers will be precisely the same.

Posted in prophecy | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Life: Quality over Quantity

No Target

Posted on August 9, 2012 by ehurst

If you bothered to read all the plans and scenarios produced by government agencies, regarding their concerns with resistance and revolts, you’ll see the same broad mistakes which characterize everything our troops do wrong in other countries.
I’m no big fan of Bill Lind, but his basic concept of Fourth Generation Warfare is accurate. He simply carries it too far with too many details and not enough flexibility, which is ironically the very basis of the thing he seeks to describe. He falls into the same trap as many other geniuses of trying too hard to build a narrow franchise when his brilliance could easily range far wider and serve human learning better. However, his strongest point is the US government and military planners have no clue on how to fight the modern resistance forces against which it is now engaged.
So what you read in those government scenarios of future problems for the ruling class here in the US will always focus on the kind of activities least likely to succeed in the first place. It’s similar to bullies always picking on smaller kids, because it’s no fun going after real enemies. They have no plans for dealing with a real resistance because their imagination stops at the border of reality, never crossing over into it. Yes, we are sure to see some silly groups try things such as the scenarios suggest, but those are doomed before they start. Look for them when the time comes; we’ve already seen similar things and likely didn’t recognize them for what they were. A genuine resistance knows better than to try holding turf and asserting an alternative government control.
We as Christians need to get a grip. If we continue holding to any vestige of political vision for the Kingdom of Heaven, we will never understand Christ’s teaching. He pointedly avoided politics, and simply talked about the truth of things to emphasize His claim this world cannot contain the Truth, cannot participate beyond a very small scale, and then only poorly. That is, you can properly organize a church body following God’s principles of just government in this fallen world, but don’t ever expect to see it on any larger scale for the rest of Time. That scale ends at something around 75 people before it requires a division under more elders. That number is not offered in Scripture any where, but it’s not hard to figure out an average based on observed human behavior as a whole. Purity of vision does not apply to what man can accomplish on the earth, but of what souls can do to begin the process of migration to the Realm Above.
That migration begins with a loyalty and commitment (aka “faith”) to living as Above, which is guaranteed to offer precious little worldly success, since such success is pointedly rejected.
In the coming oppression and tribulation, the churches which remain intact are those who cannot be hit by what the government does. Whatever worldly possessions might be under such a church’s control are held in a very light grasp. We are always prepared to let this whole world go, so a chunk of real estate and buildings are simply a tool we should expect to lose before we start buying and building. What matters is the shared love and heart of the people. The strongest fellowships I’ve ever seen were in the military, of all places, because the people gathering for worship were the people who worked together and brushed against each other all day long. That churches seldom comprise such community today is why they work so poorly when compared to the New Testament ideals.
For myself, even the whole collection of my writings aren’t all the critical to moving forward as things get uglier. The whole point in writing them was to organize and internalize the thinking so I could move forward to the next weakness in my understanding. At some point I will forget what I wrote which may be stirring to readers, but I won’t forget the meaning of it burned into my soul. I’ll be using it and trying to conquer the next demon. I don’t have any broad goal or plan here, because the boundaries are invisible to me. I’m working until the Lord is ready to take me Home, and what a relief it will be. I’d like to share some of what I’m learning, but there is really nothing I can do for you beyond that.
I’m not a leader, just a commentator. In the process I’m sure to build strong bonds which belong in another world, bonds which offer no great substance here. What matters is not the stuff I use, and I don’t assert control over significant resources such as interests any human government. All I really have is what’s inside of me. Beyond the entertainment angle, I have no real interest in what such governments do or demand. They can have it all, because none of it really matters. What is necessary for my mission, so long as it endures, has always been provided by a much higher power, a power the world as a whole is powerless to resist.
I am hardly a target of the regime. How about you?

Posted in prophecy | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on No Target

Most Not Ready

Posted on August 8, 2012 by ehurst

So there’s a lot of folks gearing up the rhetoric about martial law.
Maybe it’s close. The folks who actually know aren’t talking, and everyone talking is unlikely to actually know. But it could be.
First of all, I’m pretty sure the government itself isn’t ready. When you think about all the frenzied buying they’ve been doing to gear up for trouble, it’s not enough. Even if they have twice what I’ve seen reported, it’s not enough. I believe they completely underestimate what crazies can do with simple hand tools and stuff you can pick up off the ground. Despite my statements most Americans will cow down and do what they’re told, I believe the Feds are underestimating the resistance.
Second, I doubt the self-styled resistance is as ready as they believe. They’ve been buying up all sorts of things and making some folks very rich. Meanwhile, everything they’ve done has been recorded and traced, for the most part. While the government may not be able to confiscate that stuff, they are aware of it and can counter the effects of some of it. Hey, Oklahoma wildfires can consume a lot of prepper stuff. But truly, most of them simply don’t understand genuine independence in the sense required, simply because they don’t even have the most basic emotional independence. Most of them aren’t prepared for the amazing duplicity they’ll encounter. They aren’t ready to do what it takes. But they’ll probably learn if they survive the first little bit of trouble.
The Christians are most definitely not ready. Most of them will not be able to process what their eyes will see. They don’t realize they will be drafted to support martial law, or lose all their tax exempt facilities and property. That will keep most of them under control, because they can’t imagine operating without it. They already support the most awful oppression and slaughter of their fellow Christians in the Middle East, and refuse to hear when you tell them. Most of them will stoutly defend the government, for all the wrong reasons, convinced God has registered to vote in the elections coming up.
And maybe I’m just a crazy fool, but I figure a tiny handful are ready to do what the Bible actually teaches. That starts with deciding you really don’t care that much about stuff, about life here on this fallen plane, which is all one big lie. Then you go on to offer your life and all you control as a sacrifice for the sake of living Christ’s love. And you realize politics don’t mean much, but they can be entertaining if you observe with detachment.
Yes, tribulation is surely here, even now, and getting worse by the day. It’s our natural element, and we should welcome this opportunity to test our resolve to walk in the footsteps of the One who carried His Cross.
Addenda: In response to an off-line question I should note something wise eyes can detect. You have to understand the US government is a terrorist organization on a large scale. That is, they use terrorist tactics to steer people. So, for example, they’ve been baiting the “real heroes” for quite some time. These are the people they’ll arrest or kill first.
You may recall an infamous aircraft hijacking some decades ago. The terrorists’ first act was beating up on some old granny. That’s because anyone with a will and some skill to rescue abused grannies would jump up right away. It’s never very many, usually young and not so wise. In this case, it was a US military man. He was savagely beaten even worse than the granny, tortured a good bit, then murdered as an object lesson to any other heroes among the passengers.
So the first people who bravely resist martial law imposition or any similar measures will die horribly and very publicly (because previous efforts didn’t have the desired effect), and those captured alive will be tortured for information about other “patriots”. Anyone who has been posting vitriol, threats and discussing resistance tactics online will be watched, at the least. People who have invested in guns and ammo, and any prepper stuff, will also be watched. Any sign of independence is already being punished in very loud and public displays of crushing oppression. I’m surprised it’s currently the FDA leading so much of it, going after folks who dare to promote food contrary to FDA guidelines — raw dairy, home grown vegetables, free range animals, organic and natural remedies, etc. Of course, anyone daring to suggest police activities might not be right in all cases are harassed at the very least, with some arrested, tasered (tortured), and/or killed.
They want you dependent and cowering in fear. Keep your eyes on that.

Posted in prophecy | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Fires Not So Wild

Posted on August 7, 2012 by ehurst

The recent spate of wildfires appear to include more arson than was first believed.
Today the news outlets in our area are saying the state fire marshal, after inspecting the burned areas across the state, believes some of them were arson. The big fire south of here near Slaughterville was actually three fires all started at once. The fire near Cushing seems arson, but they stomped that down before it did much damage. We already knew the one in Luther was considered arson, and that one took out roughly 60 structures.
The one nearest us here in the trailer park last year was probably arson, as was the one before it which took out so many homes just within a few miles. Perhaps the firebugs didn’t intend to burn as much as went up in flames, but they did intend mischief and harm.
What makes it difficult is how very many of them over the years here in Oklahoma are unsolved. When they start all over the place on the same day, it’s more than merely suspicious. Copycats? Maybe. I have to wonder, simply because it’s not the first time a coordinated effort was made to burn down a lot of stuff over a wide area for malicious reasons. Among other things, it’s a quick and cheap way to bankrupt a whole state at once. Our economy is very strong compared to the rest of the country, and I’m sure lots of people know that and aren’t happy about it.
At the same time, the sort of folks who would engage in such schemes aren’t so interested in actual damage as fear. You’ll hear plenty of folks talking about bucking up and rebuilding, or how they are just happy everyone got out alive, but that can’t hide the broad fearfulness promoted by the mainstream media. Not only does this sell air time and papers, but it serves to keep people dependent. I’m pretty sure this is what matters most of all, regardless whether any of it was arson.

Posted in social sciences | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Empty Noise Less Useful Than Wind

Posted on August 6, 2012 by ehurst

If it were merely the wind, it would at least serve a healthful purpose, but the world is full of noise which is less than useless.
When I pass through the public sphere, listening to people yakking on cellphones, the vast majority of it is recounting yet another conversation with someone else. And the next call recounts that one, and I could swear lying about most of it. Do these people even really know each other? They slurp up great measures of each other’s lives, yet they hardly know themselves.
It seems we have no end of shortages of this and that, and the whole world cries out for more of one thing or another. I’ve often said the primary problem is emptiness of soul. The real problem is not lack of productivity of hands, but an unproductive soul.
What does it really take to live? Not nearly so much as most whine for, but the real emptiness is not of the hands. People want stuff as an alternative form of entertainment. Entertainment which builds is almost impossible to find these days; all of it seems merely to divert, if not destroy. God gave entertainment as a means to refill the creativity. We consume it in place of creativity.
When you consider something so horrific as the vast and unbearable debt load on national economies, you can be sure some major portion of that was the result of seeking various forms of entertainment. Very little of it was spent on actual life support. When your soul is full and ready to pour out, you hardly care very much about all that stuff people spend money and mortgages on.
I was once a member of the could-not-possibly-shut-up crowd as a child. At some point, after constant emotional bruising, I realized few people actually cared a whit about me (if only perhaps they simply didn’t know how). It wasn’t about me at all. It’s not they were filled souls, but they were just as self-absorbed as I. Until I was able to pour my useless self out, nothing good could fill the space. No, it was hardly a single event in time and space, but a long process.
Part of the process was making those long lonely walks and running long distances. Being alone with myself became pretty comfortable. Now it is downright essential. Even during my thirties, I noted it was a blessing to be able to close out the world every once in awhile and be alone. In reality, I was never really alone, but alone with God.
It’s not a discipline to pray two or three hours at a time; it’s a necessity of aching desire. There is so very much wrong with me it takes God hours to fix the smallest things so I can present a new sliver of His truth to the world. I’m not exactly fond of isolation, but it beats the quality of fellowship I find in a world where Satan has very nearly succeeded in destroying the concept of contemplation. I don’t begrudge the noisy brats people bring across my path, but the reason for, and flavor of, their noise. They are so dependent on TV, movies and games as drugs, they can’t imagine. That is, their imagination is constrained by what has been fed them through a semi-hypnotic medium and all that rich creativity is already withered. I don’t dislike children at all, but I prefer being alone than with a dozen different copies of what’s on TV for kids, personified in the kids who watch it endlessly.
You know, I won’t miss this “civilization” at all when it dies.

Posted in prophecy | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Empty Noise Less Useful Than Wind

Ideals and Norms in Micah

Posted on August 5, 2012 by ehurst

The study in Micah 4 touches on a couple of connected issues.

First is ideals. We should have ideals, in the sense of something unreachable on this plane. Society needs something out of reach to which people aspire. People who give up because it is out of reach are wrong people; they need fixing or marginalizing so they don’t hurt the rest of us. We need a vision of what could be, in theory. The problem is we keep ginning up our own theories. Not only to do we ignore the image granted by the Creator of all things, but we see humanity fighting it tooth and nail. This is the part which makes it out of reach, makes it an aspiration.

We know humanity, granted a near perfect setting with all the proper intellectual background and cultural experience necessary to understand God’s Laws, will still turn away from it. Some nations do so more readily than others, and God’s prophets indicated Israel was probably the worst. They had the truth, exclusively granted by God Himself into their hands, and kept trying to bury it so they could ignore it. Even with all the best humanity could know and understand, forcing them to see it won’t change a thing. Truth by itself is simply not enough. It requires something mankind cannot obtain without divine help.

So we learn the prophets like Micah raised a standard literally beyond human reach in order to make it clear it has to come from God, not from us. Sure, we could approach it, and probably gain quite a bit, but we’ll never actually get there on this fallen plane. We have to obtain it on a different level. So the prophets promised this thing would surely come, but they knew better in their own hearts than to expect a literal fulfillment.

Still, the issue is not fixing problems, but building a proper norm. This is the second thing Micah raises. Man’s instinct is to wait until something comes up, then react. This is simply backwards, a perversion of what God revealed. We have to be proactive in grasping His Laws with our minds and hearts, then proactive in building a normal society as He defines it. Again, we know we will never actually arrive there on this earth, but we also know we can aim for it and keep trying. God promises to fill in the rest inasmuch as He demonstrated with Israel when they were faithful. All those grand miracles were part of His promises to any person or group who embraces His ways.

In a microcosm, we might mention something so simple as stomach flora. Only recently has Western medicine begun realizing the necessity of giving patients on antibiotics treatment at the same time a probiotics treatment. That is, instead of thinking in terms of killing germs, we should have been creating an atmosphere in our stomachs which would have resisted the invasion in the first place. A whole raft of modern health issues would disappear in three months if everyone stopped destroying their stomachs and made choices which promoted the health of stomach flora.

If you were to survey the flora content of most Western stomachs, you would have what’s typical, but we now realize that would hardly qualify as normal. That’s because normal reflects what ought to be, not what is. Our intellectual instincts don’t go that way in the West. We are all keyed to examine what is and consider that normal. We aren’t willing to accept input from a higher source; we hate it so much we invent weird terms like “holistic medicine” instead of calling it simply good medical practice. Because we cannot detect and measure a direct link between, say, stomach health and depression, we refuse to consider it possible. In contrast to this, Eastern medicine means you contract with a doctor to keep you healthy, and the need for intervention is his fault, and comes at his expense because he failed. I guarantee you those Eastern doctors knew about stomach flora a long time ago, if not directly via science, then indirectly via centuries of observation with an open mind eschewed and dismissed by Western medicine.

The same kind of Eastern approach is necessary for social health, too. If we don’t take the ancient wisdom of what makes for a stable and peaceful society, we cannot have one. If we reach for it with our broken understanding and our weak hands, that alone brings us over to God’s side, aligning us with how Creation actually works. Western intellectual assumptions are hostile to truth, so we can’t possibly figure it out because we start from the ground of dismissing the ancient truths.

Posted in prophecy | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment