Fear Not.

The whole "fear not" concept is a bit hard for me to grasp. There are so many things to fear; death, life, loosing sleep, torture, murder, houses burning down, car wrecks, gaining weight, cancer, drowning, and the list goes on.

But one of the big ones right now is the fear that the life as we know it is passing away, our economy is going down the tubes, the USA is going to hell is a dump truck and soon "tortured for Christ Jesus" might be a true statement to make about many Christians in the US. And boy if only we could get back to the old days it would be better, way back in the fifties, yeah back then when.....the stage for the sixties was being set, unjust wars were being fought, peopled divorced one another, murder, rape and car wrecks were happening. Well perhaps even further back would fix it, past the Civil War and back to when our country began, everything was perfect then right? Well at least car wrecks weren't a big deal but all the other horrible things were still happening, our founders weren't perfect and nor were the rest of the people.

So is there a time period that I should look at and wish I lived "back then"? Is there a time when people were, as a whole, more holy or righteous? Well I submit that there is not. Perhaps there was a time when justice system was run more correctly, or the leaders had an upright and godly view of life and their part in it. But was that real peace or holiness? Or just a slightly more buttoned down society? Has the intrinsically being of man changed? No, it hasn't and nor has the way of life or the horribleness sin and it's effect on people. So if Bible speaks true to every generation from Adam to mine and they were told not to fear with the same things going on in their world, then I too should be able to cling to that and take strength in it.

Also even if our world collapses, shifts and changes MY JOB DESCRIPTION DOESN'T CHANGE!

I am to act as an ambassador for Christ, as if God were making his plea through me.

I am to shine the light of Christ.

I am to work with my hands and have something to share.

I am to take care of the widows and the orphans.

And I am to glorify God in all I do or say.

So there is hope for our nation, and it is the true hope, the hope of a new life in Jesus Christ. Sure if our world was more under control, abortion wasn't rampant, and crimes were punished, it would be nice. But if it isn't because people are controlled by the Holy Spirit, but by good laws well executed, the battle is still being lost, because that means people are still going to hell. The goal is salvation, not a perfect government. And the way only thing that can change a nation is the individuals heart being made new.

Also I as a twenty five year old shouldn't curl up in my shell and hide, and dream just doom and gloom and assume that life is over. No, take hope, trust in God, marry, have kids, and rejoice.

I will be honest....

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

With your fat hanging out, you are ugly. With pants that are to tight or to low, you are ugly. By wearing your PJ's in public you are ugly. By not washing your hair or taking a bath you are ugly. Through wearing a shirt that is to low you are ugly. With a sculptured shirt that shows every bulge you are ugly.

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

You are ugly.

Don't get me wrong I want to be loving to you, so that is why I'm telling you the truth. Dressing slutty or in an extremely tacky manner doesn't make one lovely, in fact it does the apposite, causing you to look cheap and (perhaps worse is most girl's minds) fatter then you actually are. So please don't be a sheep, ignore the poptarts, the glitzy stars, instead dress to suit your body type, dress with quite style, with restraint, with true fashion. Wear things that aren't to tight, to low and just plain ugly, just because it is the fashion doesn't mean it's smart or lovely.

But.

Perhaps your heart is ugly as well. That is something to think about. Have you ever? If you are beautiful on the outside but black and diseased within what use is the outside? What about when you walk into eternity, will it do you much good if you are perfect as a model? What, or who, will help you?

I have the answer.

But it isn't one for those who don't want to give their lives away, who don't want to give up "me" and give in to Him. Who wish to save their lives but in the end will loose them.

Sooner or later death comes to us all, if he is coming for you now are you prepared to meet him? Are you ready to stand in God's presence (because you surely will) and be called to account? Who will you call upon to stand before you so God's righteous wrath isn't poured out on your head? Is Jesus Christ, the Lord of Heaven and Earth, your defender and cleanser?

Be honest, are you a "good" person? A holy person? A clean and pure person? These are the most important questions so, please don't lie....ooops....right there is sin sneaking out. If you aren't fully honest in answering these questions you are already sunk. Have you ever lied? Stolen (a pen, a paper clip...a cookie)? Lusted? .... .... .... ... ... ... ... ...

If you have done any of these things then you are a Grade A sinner, committed to eternity in hell unless otherwise reprieved. And that reprieve can only come through Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God, who came to earth as a man, lived a sinless life, was crucified on the cross, died and rose again three days. He lives on in heaven and offers salvation to all who call on His name and confess their need for a savior.

Salvation, now isn't that a beautiful word?

If you want to know more about Jesus Christ and His love for you read the book of John in the New Testament. It is worth taking a few hours over.

The Scarlett Letter

WARNING, these are semi-unpolished thoughts, and if you love this book I would ask that you explain why if you feel led to make a comment.

Hawthorn created two of the most benightedly annoying people in the characters of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Or possibly two of the most sadly confused and blinded people as to the God both are supposedly serving. They both sin, and one is discovered and one not. The whole story is built around this theme, one is in the open, accused and confessed, the other hidden, un-accused and unconfessed.

Hawthorn gets right the need for confession and repentance, perhaps even public repentance, but he misses (purposefully?) the wonderful truth of God, that once you have confessed and repented, you are forgiven. If it is true Godly repentance that is. And from there it is not a static existence but a moving forward away from the sin, if it is something you have cast aside, then it is behind you, and ever further behind.

Hester’s remorse seems to me to have been real, she is deeply pained by what she did, and is determined to bear quietly and with patience the punishment that is dealt out to her by the City Fathers. Although she is at a loss to whom she should turn to for comfort, seeking not the Cross, but the brand on her chest to bear her up. And (graciously) she is also determined to suffer silently, she does not disclose the one who was her partner in sin but leaves it up to him to confess. Which he does not.

As for Arthur his self punishment leans on the physical, beatings and long nights spent in anguish. But he will not step forward and acknowledge his part in the adultery, he loves himself to much and her to little. Thinking of his position in the community, and having to great a pride to admit to sin, he is silent while she suffers.

Hawthorn speaks of Arthur's abilities to preach to, and have sympathy with, the common man, due somehow to his sin. As if this was his first and only sin, and that it gives him the power to teach eloquently and with passion.

However can powerful and great teaching come out of bad fruit? Can unconfused sin give birth to good fruit?

There is another twisted person in this tale, the husband of Hester, Roger Chillingworth. This gentleman has no compunction to help Hester or even forgive her. Angry and bitter, he admits in a moment of self-truth that he should not have married her, since she is so much younger then he. And neither does he look with pity on her for having to live with the uncertainty of his death, due to not arriving in America after he sent her ahead from England, and then getting captured by Indians when he does arrive. He is only angry and determined to exact revenge on the man who got her pregnant. Forgoing his marriage vows he repudiates her, denying the relationship between them.

Discovering that it is Arthur he worms his way into Arthur’s life and then sneakily and nastily he turns up the heat of the self torment. Now I have to admit that this really didn’t bother me. In my opinion, that little snake deserved a good raking in private for what he wouldn’t take in public, and who better to not let Arthur get away with it then Hester’s husband? Except that he doesn’t do it out of love or a desire to right a wrong or turn someone from a crooked way, he does it retaliate. In a gruesome way he hides Arthur’s sin as well, and enjoys hiding it.

I find it bizarre that Hester at the end of the book actually considers running away with Arthur, what is up with that? The little runt lets her suffer for seven years alone....and when she tells him that Roger is her husband and is his tormenter, he is angry with her! Saying he will never forgive her for wronging him....WHAT? This is where you deck him and say, actually you’ll forgive HIM and walk away from his sniveling, blubbering form. But alas this is not what Hester does, they book a passage on a ship and agree to leave the next day, after he preaches one more time. But on his way out of the church he realizes he is dying, and in a belated attempt to rectify matters he climbs up on the scaffolding and admits to being Hester’s lover, then clutching his chest he dies, leaving Hester once again alone.

Maybe the point of Hawthorns book has escaped me, perhaps it was to show the sinfulness of man and that sin that can be hidden under a white washed wall, but inside are dead men’s bones. Or possibly he was trying to point out that self imposed punishment doesn’t cleans, or “be sure your sin will find you out...” or even “it is mine to avenge”.

But I find it frustrating that his characters talk the prettiest Bible language but don’t ever read the Bible, or finish the story. Yes there is sin, yes we all have sinned, but the Cross was for just such as these. Hawthorn draws people who “know” God, but then misrepresent His power. I know that not all come to know the Lord, not all are saved, this is reality, but for pities sake if you put Him in a book at least show one person meeting the life changing power of Jesus Christ crucified...unless of course you don’t believe in the cross, then by all means leave it out, but please leave out God as well, for you don’t rightfully know Him, and you should not speak of what you do not know.

Work

I have learned things since starting work at the hardware store.

A: Guys do gossip, they just do it at the store while buying tools, or leaning against a truck.

B: If you sweep the store, for sure in two minutes a logger will come in with mud on his boots.

C: There are small yellow panic aliens that live in the YOX colorant, and they come out when things get rough.

D: At closing time someone will come in for either paint or plumbing.

E: I hate the screw and nail department, the most annoying things to look up in the computer.

F: You don't clean by "dusting" a hardware store, because that is just displacing it.

G: The overstocked plumbing parts get married and start having kids, if left alone in the back room.

H: Filing can be a soothing and comforting thing to do, it gives one a place to hide if one sold some guy the wrong things.

I: While waiting for the paint shaker to finish you can take a short nap or write a text.

J: The guys will grouch about cool coffee but not bad coffee....go figure.

Maybe I'll have a few more observations in a the next weeks, I'll keep going through the alphabet, kinda like those books about murders...eeeeekkkk....

I'm an Aunt....of sorts...

A dear friend from Germany just gave birth to a little girl! Her name is Johanna Frieda Muller, and she is so CUTE....at least her adoring adopted Aunt thinks so. Just ignore the freakish yellow blanket and the fact that she is a wee bit red still....

Who are you?

1. Who are the people who drive five miles below the speed limit (causing you in to pass them) while out of town..but when in town will go ten over the limit, and pass you?

2. Who are the people that dink through stop lights? What is the goal in giving the car in front of them fifty feet of room and making it so only two people make it through? Why do you do this to us?

3. Who are the people who think when at a four way stop they don't have to follow the rules?

4. Who are you that putter along but at 50 or 55 but as soon as a passing lane shows up you speed up to 65?

5. Who are you that ignore the lanes in parking lots, whipping around cars and driving across the lines, almost giving me a heart attack and smacking me?

6. Who are you that park lazy like, so as to take up two spots instead of one?

Would the people who do these things please stand up........thank you.....Now in view of our tolerant way of doing things these days, I'm not going to be to mean. I'm only going to take away your drivers license, break your keys, remove the transmission from your car, shave your head and tattoo on the back "I'm a road jerk" and give you a pass to the Grayhound Bus.

What can I say...

Well there is no excuse except Facebook has stolen my life and I can't get out. The blame goes to J-girl she started it and tempted me to get on that time wasting site.

Rather like in the Fellowship, when they are stuck in the mines of Moria...and they can't get out...I too am stuck in Facebook, but that is more of my own desires and not the orks that are keeping me there.

So perhaps I need to take a break from all computer things, could I live without bloging, posting,wall writting, poking, skyping, emailing, downloading, chatting ext? Well, actually I did just that while staying with my Aunt for two weeks, however she didn't HAVE the internet so that can't count since there was no temptation.

But now I will challenge myself, starting on Monday no internetting will I do for one week. And Tiv will be my acounter and smack my hand if I slip.

Sigh, there won't be any excuse even for banking because I did that yesterday....