All the Eggs in One Basket

     The CDC's handling of Covid 19 has leapt over logic so many times, they should compete in the next Olympics. First, there were as many gaps in the mask justifications as in the masks themselves. Then the vaccine they promised would turn the tide of virus turned out to only be able to water down the variant. Now the two wrongs make a right recommendation is that if more people get the ineffective vaccine, less people will get the virus. In other words, the vaccine only works if you don't get exposed to Covid. This hail Mary play became necessary because the theories that a) the vaccine will protect you from the variant b) okay, you'll still get it, but you won't spread it c) okay, so you're a germ factory, but the infection will be milder d) okay, you may still wind up in the hospital, but you won't die e) okay, you may die but only 1%, or 15%, or 35% . . . 

     But the overriding error is that the CDC has put all their eggs in the prevention basket. Where is the--okay, since you're getting it anyway, here are some recommendations on medications shown to decrease the symptoms, shorten the course, or prevent long term effects of the disease? I can think of three reasons for withholding this information: 1) The public might ignore their prevention measures if they knew there were effective means of treatment 2) They don't want to endorse anything Trump said, even if it kills US 3) They haven't bothered to find out. Fortunately, some doctors have and some of their research has not yet been removed from the internet. 

    If the CDC is really concerned about deaths and overcrowded hospitals, they would tell us all the treatments available to prevent Covid from getting to that stage. A friend told me that she was very sick until her doctor prescribed hydroxychloroquine which helped immediately and immensely. But when her daughter got Covid and asked for the same medication, her daughter's doctor refused. Fortunately, she found a provider that does not base medical practice on party politics, and she wrote her a prescription. 

   Prevention is the key--but it is the key to a closet. We cannot live there. Let's move the eggs to the reality basket. Better to break a few than leave them with the chickens at the CDC. None of the ones they counted on have hatched.

When God Moves the Chess Pieces

     It is a wonderful thing to be moved by the hand of God. Most of the time when He puts us in the right place at the right time, we are doing something quite ordinary and are often unaware of his divine intervention. Aware or not, God sometimes moves us like chess pieces in the long, complex strategy in which he works his will. Like chess pieces, some people play roles of more power and influence than others but, also like chess pieces, we have no power at all unless He moves us.

    Today was our turn to be moved. My husband decided we should invite a couple from our church that we barely knew to go out for lunch with us. We wanted to get to know them better, but what we did not know is that 13 years ago today, their son committed suicide. Although they seemed to be coping well, especially considering it happened in their home and his mother was the one who found him, God must have known they needed some extra encouragement and someone to share with.

    Last weekend it was my turn to be encouraged, when God led my new BSF leader to call unusually early, weeks before class starts. Just minutes before I had been praying--if a loud, demanding tirade can be considered prayer--practically daring God to DO something for my son and for me. My new leader called when I was beyond "fine". Didn't feel it. Couldn't fake it. Told her so. By coincidence of Big Bang proportions, she also has an alcoholic son, five years sober, who happens to live in Helena. She prayed with me on the phone. God nailed me in my mind, "I AM doing something." I apologized for my ugly prayer and realized that, if God sent help for me, when my life and future were not in peril, He was certainly doing something for my son. Sometimes encouragement stings a bit.

   Our most powerful divine intervention was when God moved Ryan (our human angel) to turn his car around and go talk to us, parked by the side of the highway as we were taking our son to Rimrock for rehab. He had just said, "I will never believe in God because I can't see Him and He can't see me." I silently prayed, "Lord, show him that you are real and that you are good". At that very moment, Ryan pulled up behind us. Since Ryan (the reluctant chess piece) had spent several miles arguing with God about the importance of his meeting in Helena, God was answering my son's doubt and my prayer before either of us spoke them.

    My first experience with being in God's right place at the right time was over 30 years ago when I dropped in on a new widow in our church just when despair hit her hard. At that moment, she needed someone to hold her while she cried. I had not felt led to go to her, I (clueless Connie chess piece) just decided to stop there on my way home. That was my first realization that God uses us even when we have no idea He is doing it. But today, we knew. At last week's phone call, I knew. On the road to Rimrock, all of us knew. God is the one who moves us.

The Stars Are There

     I am studying Psalms this summer and many of them contain a "but". I love the buts because they  represent a turning point, usually from bad to good. I am going to share just the what, not the why of this poem, however, you would not have to be psychic to tell that last week was hard for reasons besides the news. But yesterday God gifted me with a perfect combination of sunny skies and cool weather, accomplishment and rest--a spa day for my soul.

   The Stars Are There

 The stars are there, even when you don’t see them, 

God told me in the stillness of the night

when I looked to the heavens for comfort

in the vast and powerful works of God,

but wildfire smoke obscured the sky

and I could not find their light.

 

 I thought the words He gave me then

concerned sad world events

in Haiti and Afghanistan, 

shaken by storms and the Taliban.

But those words were also intended for

our impending private storm.

 

 After years of shining steadily, then brightly

came days of darkness, silence, desperation.

I called for reinforcements, prayer warriors.

We linked faith shields around the fallen

while we waited for the battle to end,

the smoke to clear, and any sign of light. 

 

 Chaos turned to calm, mayhem to mercy.

The forgiven scoured the battlefield

for shields and weapons to begin again.

Flickering faith rekindled, remembered-- 

The stars are there, and just as bright 

when they are hidden from my sight.

  8/24/21

Prayer Alone

     Last weekend I attended a memorial service for an older friend. For me, it was a combination memorial gathering and memory test, since most of the attendees were college friends and I had not seen some of them for decades. On the row in front of me was a woman I had met only once, she had married and moved before I met other members of the Hanson family. Her mother, Tana, had been exceptionally kind to Robyn and I when we started attending Faith Baptist, our church when we lived in Missoula, the one where the memorial was being held. Despite being virtual strangers, she was excited to tell me something in a way I recognized because it was the excitement I felt after our God encounter on the road to Rimrock.  

   Diane told me that her 46 year old daughter had recently trusted Christ as her Savior. She had been raised in a Christian home, even a pastor's home, but was unreceptive to Christ early on and, in later life, heavily into New Age beliefs. But God intervened and she woke up one night feeling as if the tumblers clicked into place and her mind opened to the truth of the Gospel. After 46 years, she trusted Christ as her Savior. She shared the good news with her mother. And her brothers were so excited about her newfound faith that they offered to help her move from Portland, which is steeped in New Age, to Salem, where her mother lives. For a few nights, she was so aware of demonic activity around her, that she slept with her mom. Through the Bible she learned that, redeemed by Christ, she no longer needed to fear demons. Together she and her mother burned hundreds of dollars worth of New Age materials. She plans to reach out to her own daughter when she has grown a little stronger spiritually.

   What Diane emphasized over and over is that she didn't DO anything. But pray. She prayed for 46 years, and God opened a hardened heart. There was a reason Diane shared with me besides her own excitement. A divine reason. I pray every Monday with moms of prodigals. We have had some wonderful answers to prayer in the sobriety and spiritual growth of my son and another member's daughter, but some of our prodigals seem to have made little progress. What an encouragement to hear about an answer so many years in the making. When we do not see answers, we want to DO something, forgetting that praying is doing something. It is connecting all the resources of the God of the universe to the needs of our loved ones. He must laugh at our efforts to help him out, the way I do when my preschool granddaughter offers to assist me with household chores. I let her help and then I clean up the mess she made "helping". Diane said her mother was the one who taught her the power of prayer alone. That sounds like the Tana I knew. Diane's husband died four years before his daughter became Christ's, but I am sure he knows now. That does not seem like the sort of news they would keep quiet in heaven. And there they know about the unseen spiritual war waged for her soul and finally won, in part, through prayer.

    I told the group if I were involved, the biggest miracle would not be that my loved one got saved after so many years, but that I managed to keep my mouth shut so God could speak to them. Prayer alone is not giving up, it is linking up to the only one who can reach those we love. It is growing our faith by believing God is working even when we cannot see it. Even if it takes 46 years. Even if we die before we see the answer. Our Savior will supply the but God, we supply the prayer.

5 Reasons Why Connie Doesn't 'Spiracy

    This may cost me both my followers but:

1. I do not have the required high view of human nature. I think most people who believe in conspiracies are pessimists--people are not only bad, but THEY (conspiracies require a THEY) all get together to organize bad things--although that shows pessimism on my part. I am actually an optimist, but I do not think most unsaved people are capable of the selfless devotion it requires to pull off a conspiracy. Military operations excepted. Not to equate them by putting them together, but both Christians and terrorists believe their unselfish devotion will be rewarded in the afterlife--terrorists by selfish rewards, Christians by rewards to give back to Christ. But the faithless are trying to get their reward here on earth. Most people, if given an opportunity to support self interest or a cause, eventually choose self. 
2. I do not have enough imagination to see order in chaos of events like the current Covid crisis. Does this look organized to you? Did the CDC plan to inspire obedience from the populace by contradicting their own recommendations numerous times? Did they think people would accept a vaccine (with implanted tracking devices, sterilizers, cancer causers, _______) by protocols that imply it doesn't even work? If the Left developed Covid to force everyone to unquestioningly obey the government, it isn't working. If there is a conspiracy to hide Chinese responsibility for Covid, it isn't working either. If the liberals hope the virus will kill off the conservatives, why are they complaining that we are not getting vaccinated? If Trump supported the vaccine, why would the people who hate him get it and his followers refuse it? Do skeptics who won't take an "experimental" vaccine really place that much confidence in the FDA approval process?  
3. Conclusions usually support the premise they started out with. We filter our observations through a paradigm. People whose paradigm is plots and conspiracies will always find them. My mother was a schizophrenic, which is like having a Master's Degree in conspiracies. Since I was a child when her mental illness began, I needed an objective standard by which to evaluate whether the things she said were true. The paradigm I chose was logic. Star Trek's Mr. Spock was my childhood hero. When evaluated by questions like those above, most conspiracies cannot make it through my logic filter. I would, however, have great respect for a speaker/program that admitted, okay we were wrong about that, WITHOUT launching into the next conspiracy.
   
4. I am not old enough yet. Although there are many exceptions (I married one and gave birth to another) I have found older people are more likely to believe in conspiracies, maybe because the world they knew has changed so much. Even my Dad, who held out for more than 90 years, is now using the "C" word. Most 70-80 year old saints also believe the Lord is coming back any minute, probably because most of us fear, not death, but the process of dying. However, looking for that blessed hope is good thing. But I gave my kids permission to call me on it later in life if I drift into the "C" section.
5. God is sovereign. Not semi-sovereign. Not sorta sovereign. Not sovereign-ish. Men may be evil and have evil plans ultimately inspired by the Evil One, but they will not succeed. It is good to know our enemy and what believers are up against, but God does not want his people to be well informed fear mongers. Why do the Devil's job for him? If believing in conspiracies causes someone to trust God more, that is wonderful, but that is not the emphasis of the conspiracy programs I have heard. It is easier to attract followers (and funds) by fear than faith. Pessimistic, but true. Covid coverage capitalizes on that. If what I am listening to leads me to doubt God, it is sin for me. (Rom. 14:23) I am not focusing on the fearful things happening around me because I have read to the end of the book. John did not write it in pencil in case God's plan doesn't work out. God is not biting his anthropomorphic fingernails worrying about the schemes of man, He is laughing at them. (See Ps. 2) There are no alternate endings for Revelation. Conspiracies notwithstanding (a very fitting description), our side wins.
   

Magical Thinking

    Thirty years ago, in counseling for depression, I learned about magical thinking. Here is a dumbed down definition:

Magical thinking, the belief that one’s ideas, thoughts, actions, words, or use of symbols can influence the course of events in the material world. Magical thinking presumes a causal link between one’s inner, personal experience and the external physical world. 

 

     From a child's perspective it could be superstition like, step on a crack, and you'll break your mother's back. Jinx! In the adult world it might take the form of wearing a lucky fishing hat or using certain lottery numbers. Shazam! A psychiatric patient I met believed that her worry for her family actually produced some beneficial outcome for them. Voila! Since her therapist could not persuade her otherwise, he advised her to limit herself to one hour a day of worry, her own private magic show.

   To an atheist, the idea that prayer affects things in the real world might seem like magical thinking. Bibbidi-bobbidi-boo! In Judaism, an example might be inserting prayer slips in the wailing wall. Tada! Catholicism attaches special power to certain rites, objects or repetition of prayers. A corruption of words in Catholic communion, corpus cristus, actually gave us the words--Hocus pocus! Magical thinking has crept into evangelicalism in the form of "name it and claim it" which teaches that prayer plus faith obligates God to grant our wishes. Open sesame! And even conservative Christians like myself can fall into thinking that if we could just get our loved ones to hear the right message, read the right book, or come to our church, their spirits will respond whether they are prompted by the Holy Spirit or just us. Presto chango!

     But the above examples are mere parlor tricks compared to the David Copperfield (the magician, not the Dicken's character) disappearing-elephant-sized, misdirection in America's magical phrase I identify. This phrase makes both medical science and physiological evidence of the differences between the sexes disappear. Be advised, the magic only works on gender. It is still not acceptable to identify as a different race, age, height etc. A waiter will not get a job as a nuclear physicist by identifying as one. I will never earn my living as a fashion model. Even in post modern America, numbers are still numbers, money is still money. You can't identify unpaid taxes as paid or a postage stamp as a driver's license. But if a little boy who identifies as a girl gets to wear dresses, take transition hormones, even have surgical alteration, what should we do for a child who identifies as a puppy? Someday the curtain will come down, the tragic trick of performing gender experiments on volunteers and children will be revealed, and the show will be over. At least, that is the future I identify. Abrakadabra!

The Wrong Window

      When I wrote this it was winter and a glimpse of the sun was a rare pleasure. It is now summer and the glare of the sun can be a real pain. The main reason I did not post this at the time is because I could not come up with a title. Then, in a senior moment that lasted months, I forgot all about it. But when I happened upon it recently while scrolling through other documents, the title seemed glaringly obvious. The political unrest now is not as glaringly obvious as it was during the capitol riots, but I doubt if future readers will wonder what I meant by discontent and conflict. So now, sealed in the smoke of summer forest fire season, a glimpse of the sun might again be a welcome sight. Anyway, the season should not matter because it is not a poem about the sun, it is about perspective. It is about the Son.

Wrong Window

It has been cloudy most of the day but,

 just before the sun went down,

it stopped to caress the mountaintops.

And I would have missed that much needed comfort

if I had been looking out the wrong window.

 

There is much to be discouraged about

looking at the news about our country,

stirring up clouds of discontent and conflict.

For my caress of comfort, I must look up

to see where the Son touches still.

1/8/21

 

Two Mistakes

    I heard an interesting speaker on the radio last weekend. He was teaching some basics about understanding prophecy. Most of the prophecy sermons I have heard pick apart the details of the verses, research current world events, and speculate about how they might fit together. This speaker put the verses back in context, which most Christians know is the number one rule of understanding the Bible. He said there are two main errors believers make regarding Christ's return, date setting and denying imminence.

    Date setting:  Why Christians who believe the Bible and the literal fulfillment of prophecy have such a hard time believing what it says regarding the date is a mystery to me. Mt. 24:36 is very plain, "No one knows the day or the hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." A prophecy speaker at the church we attended in the late 70's taught that since Jesus said day and hour, it meant we could know the month and the year of the return. I don't remember what date he set, probably 1978 since the nation of Israel turned 30 that year, and he interpreted "this generation" in 24:34 to mean 30 years. Besides knowing that this was fulfilled in part by the fall of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., what I should have realized, even as a new believer, is that Jesus was not leaving verbal loopholes, as if He was a lawyer or tax accountant. The obvious meaning is no one knows when. Not the angels, who are privy to heavenly happenings, and even Himself, God's Son. Presuming to set dates implies knowing more than Christ. And since Mt. 24:44 and Lk. 12:40 both say "the Son of Man will come at an hour you do not expect him", trying to schedule His ETA would be counterproductive. Not, in this case, means not.

     Denying imminence:  That one hit closer to home for me. I have a hard time harmonizing the Antichrist desecrating the temple altar in the middle of the tribulation with Christ's imminent return because, even if the temple mount was reclaimed by the Jews and the temple rebuilt tomorrow, it is hard to imagine that the secular, animal loving culture in which I live, would accept Jews practicing animal sacrifice. God does not brain wash people to get them to do what He wants, He changes circumstances until people's wants align with His. (Some examples:  Pharaoh, Jonah, Paul) The speaker also explained that what Paul writes in 2 Thess. 2:3-7 is based, in part, on teaching he gave verbally that we don't have access to.

  "Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness ^a is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. 4He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 5Don’t you remember that when I was with you I used to tell you these things? 6And now you know what is holding him back, so that he may be revealed at the proper time. 7For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who now holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way". 

There is a lot of speculation about who the man of lawlessness is and what needs to occur before Christ's return, but the only ones who really get it are the Thessalonians who heard Paul's prequel and the believers who will be alive when it is fulfilled.

    The purpose of studying prophecy is to validate the omniscience of God, the truth of scripture, to encourage believers to serve faithfully now and trust God with the future. The pitfalls of studying prophecy are believers making the above errors and our natural bent to possess secret knowledge others do not. Some spiritual sounding version of a child's "I know something you don't know". The internet age has given Christians unprecedented access to information about political and spiritual happenings that relate to prophecy. Unfortunately, it also provides unchecked access to false teaching, rumors and outright lies. And our best protection against erroneous interpretation of prophecy, or any other scripture, has always been available to anyone with access to a Bible--context.

A Psalm a Day

      My Bible reading project this summer has been to study a Psalm a day using the three question method. First, and by far the easiest, Who wrote it? Most psalms list that in the heading. Although I am not sure if Korah and Asaph mean those individuals or one of their descendants since David appointed musicians by family. Second question--What is it about? That is where I list verses by groups with a short phrase describing content. Number 3--Why? Is where I sum up what I think the author is trying to express. Then I hammer the meaning home by considering the Aim--what God would have me learn from the psalm. And, most importantly, Apply it to some area of my life. Before I understood this part, Bible study was more of an intellectual exercise than a life changer.

     Because God seems to think I need the repetition, there is usually an underlying theme to whatever I am studying. What I am learning from Psalms is, modern conspiracies do not hold a candle to those of David's time. Those conspirators were not just trying to overthrow or undermine David's rule, they were trying to kill him. Not in the social media, cancel culture sense, but the old fashioned dead-and-buried way. The social media of David's time consisted of gossip and rumors spread person to person and there was no Snopes.com to fact check them.

     What they did not have in David's time was 24 hour news channels to broadcast those rumors. Which is good, because the penalty for revealing conspiracies back then was death. That is why I cannot take seriously radio/TV personalities who, using their actual names, make regularly scheduled broadcasts or public appearances exposing "conspiracies". Those are agendas. They are not even secret agendas because most groups, publicize their beliefs to get more followers and funds. People who reveal actual conspiracies have to do so much like a missionary reporting from a closed country--using aliases, initials or code words for the individuals and locations involved. If the conspirators do not have the power to silence/kill people who reveal their secrets, their plot, however well organized, is only an agenda.

    The other really convicting truth came from my study of Psalm 82. It includes the confusing verse Jesus quoted to the Jewish leadership, "Are you not all gods?" The Amplified version of Ps. 82 explains that the magistrates or judges, because they had God's word, acted on God's behalf. That delegated responsibility obligated them to uphold the weak, needy and oppressed as God would. But they did not, and no earthly position would spare them from judgement by their just Judge. The Bible says judgement belongs to the Lord, so when I make judging others a regular pastime, especially in a culture that says it is okay to disrespect those who disagree with you, I am putting myself in God's place and that, frankly, scares me. I will have to find a less harmful hobby, but that will require a lot of conscious mental discipline. And the temptation to add my own clever comments when my fellow Christians attack causes, groups and individuals with whom we differ, is almost irresistible. Even when I manage to suppress my judgement verbally or online, those retorts rocket around my brain for hours. 

     There are, of course, many more praises, prayers, prophecies and teachings in the Psalms, but the above areas are what the Holy Spirit seems to think I need to work on now. If an apple a day keeps the doctor away, a Psalm a day keeps the Spirit nearby. And He assures me, no matter how much my world has changed, there is nothing new under the Son.

    

 

Connie's Couple's Compatibility Test

   It has been a long time since I have looked at a compatibility test. They can be useful for dating couples to evaluate their long term prospects, but they are of no help to married people. You do not have to be married long to realize you and your spouse are incompatible. Taking the test is like rubbing salt in a wound. The real test is finding out how to handle those incompatibilities. I knew from the beginning that Reed and I have different outlooks on life (Reed--pessimist, Connie--optimist). Although we both like to read, we do not like the same kind of books, nor do we share the same taste in music, clothes, hobbies or any of the other things compatibility surveys usually ask. Our fellow students at the Bible college where we got together would probably have voted us "Least Likely Couple". Forty four years of marriage should be enough to prove them wrong. Nevertheless, there are a few questions it would have been good to settle at the outset, such as the following:

1. When picking up a Costco sized container of Nestles Quik, you should: 

A.  Grab the lid held on by 1 1/2 twists of plastic. 

B.  Use the large hand grip molded into the back of the container.

C.  Support it from the bottom.

2. The best way to pick up glass or plastic jars or bottles is:

A. By the lid.

B. By the body of the container.

C. Anything but A.

 

3. When placing prepared food, such as a juicy casserole or garnished dessert in the car, you should:

 

A.  Set it on the sloping car seat.

B.  Place it on the flat car floor and/or mat. 

C.  Hold it in your lap.

4. After removing a wet, sweaty hat from your head, you should:

 

A.  Lay it on a microfiber couch, chair pads or tablecloth.

B.  Place it on a non-porous surface like a counter, hearth or vinyl furniture.

C.  Hang it on the chair back where you hang shirts.

5. When descaling a tea kettle with CLR, which may cause leaking, it is best to place it:

A.  On a faux granite tile countertop.

B.  On a metal stove top, stained cookie sheet or scrub sink.

C.  In an old bucket where CLR can do double duty.

6. The best place to empty 2 gallons of dehumidifier water is:

A.  The shallow bathroom sink with a small drain.

B.  The toilet.

C.  The yard.

7. When asked to grill fish on the barbecue, you should:

A.  Assume that, for the first time ever, it should grill on a new cookie sheet.

B.  Cook it on the foil it is setting on, not the cookie sheet.

C.  Cook it on one of the silicone mats, made for grilling.

8. When reheating leftovers in the microwave:

A.  Use a serving spoon to move them from the microwavable container they are in to another of the same size before heating and eating all of it.

B.  Heat them in the microwavable container they are in, unless you don't plan to eat all of it.

C.  Use a paper plate.

 

9.  When blowing dust off the vacuum filter with an air compressor, stand:

A.  Next to the cleanest car.

B.  By the dumpster.

C.  Next to the dirtiest car.

 

10.  The best place to remove shoelaces from old shoes is:

 

A.  The dining room tablecloth, no bending over, table stays clean. 

B.  The floor, hearth, washer/dryer top, chair, stool etc.

C.  The table, if needed, can be easily wiped off.

    If these examples seem a little specific, it is because they are a few of the real life compatibility issues we have had through the years. Reed is all A's, I prefer B's, but will settle for C's. They could title my test "Why would you even think that?" These differences would not have been deal breakers on our future as a couple, but it might have headed off a lot of head scratching over, what I call, Placement Dyslexia. But the most important answer is that God has placed us together and, side by side, we face the tests of life. That is the only kind of compatibility that truly matters.

The Most Fun I Ever Had at the DMV

    That's easy. It only happened once. Although, I recall getting some pleasure from letting my kids misbehave, just a bit, at the DMV in hopes the staff would be motivated to get us out of there sooner. But the only time I really had fun was when I got the title for my Honda. As I sat holding my little numbered slip, a father with two young children, a boy of about six and a girl around 4, got called up to the service counter. His son stood next to him and, in a very familiar parenting technique, his daughter held onto his pants pocket. As they waited for the sloths at the service counter, the children grew restless and, eventually started throwing an invisible ball to one another. Since I find children, and invisible balls, far more interesting than my phone, they noticed my attention and started throwing the invisible ball to me. We had a pretty good game of it, seldom missed a catch, but eventually the father's title transaction finished and so did our game.

    I wondered what would become of our beloved ball. On the way out, the boy carefully placed it in my hand--followed immediately by returning to hold out his hand so I could give it back. That is my one fun trip to the DMV. The time I had a ball.