THE AUTHOR'S RELAXING SUNDAY, to be soon remembered as the "good old days"

My wonderful husband and I, taking a pic of ourselves with the new camera.  He was trying to get the shot just right and therefore did not think to strike a charming pose, haha.

Yesterday was a pleasant Sunday for us. After church we had a nice lunch and since the other household members were out and about, we relaxed and amused ourselves with his new camera and got to chat for awhile. After that, I had a little favor to do for my neighbor and by then it was evening.

The dog was relaxing on the floor.

This white mountain of fur is one of the cats, grooming herself in the sun.

Princess, our 17 year old kitty, decided to occupy the love-seat.

For once I sat and watched the Academy Awards, as I was interested in how well "The King's Speech" would fare. Indeed, it garnered several awards, including the big ones; Best Director, Best Actor, Best Picture. I had quit watching much of these awards shows years ago, since they had become so decadent and politically radical.

You can imagine how surprised I was to see that this one was pretty tame. The lovely Anne Hathaway hosted with another young actor, James Franco, and absolutely nothing dirty or cruel was said, with the exception of the one of the winners (a woman, of course) dropping the "F-bomb" onstage. The gowns were by and large lovely, feminine and tasteful, and the movies all looked to be pretty mild, compared to what we have been subjected to in the past. So a day of respite was well appreciated, but now onto some practical matters.

If you have been reading this blog before, you know that I am aware of and concerned about the unfolding of events abroad and here in this country. I was therefore dismayed to see the continuing harassment of the Fox News reporters covering the seemingly intractable situation in Wisconsin. The protesters have gone from chanting that Fox News "lies" in the background to now getting in the reporter's face, shouting in his ear, blocking him or the camera with their signs, and yesterday, they actually hit the man. Someone has pointed out that this reporter, Mike Tobin, has covered events in the war zones of the Middle East, including the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, all without being assaulted. In this country, however, those occupying the Wisconsin statehouse have become violent toward this man, attempting to keep him from reporting by interfering with his first amendments rights, and now physically assaulting him.

Please be aware of the times we live in. Even more shocking was when an angry mob surrounded the car of the crowned prince of the British throne and attempted to do bodily harm to him and his wife. This kind of thing is unheard of in that country, as far as I know. And what happened in Wisconsin is also breaking new ground in our country.

But it should not be surprising, given the progression of Western society from law and decency to lawlessness and depravity. We have to have known it would come to this, and should have taken steps to guard against it when there was still a bulwark of moral authority in government, church and community.

I am climbing up the cyber tower and ringing an alarm bell this morning.  Please be forewarned that the spirit of protest in this country is turning into a spirit of insurrection and rebellion.  This will lead to something which looks less like a tea party and more like the French Revolution.  If you are unfamiliar with this dark period in history, please go and do a bit of reading on the subject.  What might have started out with legitimate grievances turned into a bloodbath which even turned on itself.  Someone has said that those who start the revolution are rarely still there when it ends.  Such was the case in that bloody, hateful time and that is the normal progression in insurrections and rebellions. It becomes so ruthless that eventually the corruption, mistrust and lust for power becomes so overwhelming that the revolutionaries turn on one another.

I do not pretend to know why, all of a sudden, the fire of revolution is flaring up in all these countries at once. Some have suggested that it has to do, overseas at least, with food prices steeply rising.  Others point to the influx into these countries of the new communications technologies. They are showing folks that people elsewhere have it a lot better.  So it is probably fair to implicate the Internet and Google in fomenting revolutionary ideas among the young masses. Again, we take for granted the freedoms we have here that have been denied to those in totalitarian regimes. Of course, they have legitimate grievances which deserve redress.  Some of the trouble, though, lies with people refusing to take any cut in their standard of living, even though their countries are broke (think Greece and the UK) and so they take their anger to the streets.  This is what is happening in Wisconsin and getting ready to happen in several other states.  In any event, they will likely end up consumed by the fire they have started.  There are always wolves waiting in the shadows to infiltrate and subvert the ranks of the original protesters, in order to wrest control and proceed with their own agenda.  Typically the new regime will make the old one look like a Sunday School picnic.  Think Russia, Cuba and China.

Realize that this is beginning here.  Those puffy, middle-aged schoolteachers are being manipulated right now.  There are other forces at work here, in collusion.  Am I taking this too far?  If lawlessness is allowed to increase, and if there are wolves in and out of government who wish to destroy our current society in order to turn it into something else, then expect to see more protests, more disruption of the civil order, and increasing violence against opposing viewpoints and those who hold them.  If you see this happening, and I believe that with the harassment and assault on Fox News that you have just witnessed this thing beginning to move, then please heed the warnings and be proactive.

 I am writing to those who are ripe for victim-hood.  The people who go to work, and mind their own business, enjoy a pretty decent standard of living.  These are the sheep who are ready for the shearing. First off, I think Fox should file assault charges against that person or people involved in yesterday's incident.

I also  believe it is time to flood our local, state and federal government with calls for action to be taken, through existing law, against mob rule.  I think people should demand that legislators show up and do their jobs, and that crowds of people not be allowed to just take over government buildings or any other public property.

It is crucial that we vote in every election and make it our business to thoroughly investigate the candidates and understand the issues.  We need God's help and guidance and we should be taking all this to Him every day.

Of course it is vital that we not become a mob ourselves.  We must not retaliate in the same vulgar, lawless
manner as the revolutionaries.  But we must be astute.  Please refrain from getting into useless arguments with people.  State what you believe, in as civil and loving way as possible, and don't let it keep going back and forth.  But rest assured, we must stand up, within the confines of the rule of law, to these anarchistic forces and fight them with words and the law, in order to avoid having to fight them with anything stronger.

The best case scenario is that I am blowing things way out of proportion.  Wonderful.  But that will not keep the price of fuel and food from rising.  (And that puts pressure on people). It is doing that and will continue until we enact changes in how we get energy and what we import and manufacture ourselves.  We have enough oil here to keep us going for 200 years, but for some reason the powers that be are discouraging what little we drill for here, as it is.  I will leave you to speculate on the reasons for that.

I am writing today to the keepers at home.  I urge you to reign in your own spending, and concentrate on conserving your resources, monetary and physical.  This is probably not the time to be planning a big vacation, making major non-essential renovations or making any non-essential purchases.  Take what you can afford to, and stock up on food, household essentials and durable clothing.  I covered this in earlier posts, but I am imploring folks to really do it now.  Tools and the means to maintain and repair things at home are also of utmost importance. Buy some extra gas cans and fill them up.  If you use propane or kerosene for anything, get some more. Things are not going to get cheaper, so if you can stock up on things now, do it.  Just for fun, we took pictures of our pantry and freezers:

When I see a good sale (e.g. $1.97 butter) I stock up.

 A little bit messy, sorry.

There is yet a little more to the idea of conserving physical resources than the ones I have mentioned above.  When you go shopping, if you are home during the day, make it your business to go in the morning if you can, after everyone is at work.  You will find the stores almost empty and you can go about your shopping in a relaxed and thoughtful manner.  I find that the Lord is very helpful to point out things to us when we shop, if we remember to keep a prayerful stance as we go through the aisles.

Try to be home when most folks are getting out of work and rushing about, tired and harried.  This gets you out of their way and home maintaining a peaceful atmosphere for your own family.  Leave the late afternoon, evenings and weekends to the workers and the teenagers if you can, for both your sakes.

Physically conserving also refers to your health and your own energy.  Plan ahead to take care of activities when you know you are usually at your best.  For most people, morning is when they have the best mental capacity for office work and solving problems, as well as physical strength.  If that is you, then plan to do the "heavy lifting" of your day early on.  Many people feel that is not the best time, and for some that may be true.

I have found, however, that what I thought of as "energy" later in the day, was simply an over-stimulated nervous system, fueled by too much caffeine, too late in the day, and a build-up of anxiety that followed.  I then found myself wide awake into the wee hours of the morning with my heart pounding it's way out of my chest, it seemed.  What do you think the next morning was always like for me?  I would definitely feel that I was not a "morning person", that's for sure. I was invariably light-headed throughout the day.  Well, after I took the doctor's suggestion to limit my coffee to the morning (and not drink so much of it then!), and to keep hydrated and go to bed on time, the palpitations and dizziness subsided.  Now morning is a good time!

I also believe in taking breaks throughout the day or even a short nap.  We have to get to the point where we realize that not taking care of ourselves impacts the very people we are trying to bless. Plus, God loves us, He made us, and we are His temple.  Got to take care of that temple!

I sub-titled this post, "soon to be remembered as the good old days."  I really hope that is not true, and that our society's best days are ahead of us, as indeed they could and should be.  We have in this country, everything it takes to be that shining city on a hill once again, but first we need a revival, personally and corporately.  And also in our churches.  The Lord says, in 1 Peter 4:17:

"For the time [is come] that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if [it] first [begin] at us, what shall the end [be] of them that obey not the gospel of God?"

Please ask the Lord to make you to be right with Him, and let us strengthen our arms with the work He has given us to do.