The Trans Tragedy

    This week there was another mass shooting, a literal mass shooting, Catholic school students at mass in Minneapolis. Fourteen people were injured, two children were killed, but the relatively low number was not due to lack of effort on the shooter's part. Although it is not mentioned in mainstream media, the shooter was transgender. One of seven trans mass shooters across the U.S. between January 2024 and now. In many ways all such tragedies could be considered by products of decades of our nation turning its back on God. If there is no God, or if we each get to create our own god, then there is no objective standard of right and wrong. Even though most Americans still think murder is wrong, if all truth is relative, murderers' viewpoints are as valid as anyone else's. So moral relativity is part of the problem, but what is triggering the transgenders?

    One of the prevailing lies perpetuated by the gender fluid crowd is that if you feel like you don't fit in, if you are uncomfortable in your own skin, the problem is that you are trapped in the wrong body. Even leaving God out of the equation, medically and scientifically, the same flood of hormones that creates the genitals hardwires the body and brain to that sex. As a Christian, the more significant implication of transgender is that, since there are hundreds of biological differences between males and females, not the half dozen that can be addressed medically, that would mean God made hundreds of mistakes on each individual who feels trapped in the wrong body. Why God has suddenly lost quality control in his people manufacturing process at this particular time is a mystery. Either our culture is mistaken, or God is.

    One of the other lies doctors and counselors promote to coerce parents into allowing what is called gender affirming (actually altering) care on their minor children, is that they will commit suicide otherwise. However, studies in England have shown that not only are gender dysphoric teens not likely to kill themselves, they are more likely to commit suicide after transitioning. If left alone, they usually return to their birth gender by age 19. When those who believe the lie and transition realize they are just as miserable, and even more uncomfortable in their own skin, it leads to suicidal despair. When a suicidal person does not fear God or believe they will face judgment for their sins, that the worst thing that can happen to them is death, and they are willing to die, then why not take a few people with you? The trans tragedy traps far more than those who choose to believe it. And like all Satan's lies, it is a death trap. 

The Words that Fill the Gap

     A Facebook friend who lost her three year old son to cancer not long after we lost our son, recently posted a song that helped her. I shared that on the days when the gap between what my mind and spirit know about God and what my heart feels is bigger, I use words to fill the gap. This poem came from that thought.

 

The Words that Fill the Gap 

 

There are days when the gap

between what my mind knows

and what my heart feels

is bigger than others. 

Some pour tears into the gap,

some art or music. I pour poems.

I swaddle my sorrow with words. 

God calls parents--  

To teach our children wisely.

To mentor them spiritually. 

To care for them wholly. 

To protect them fiercely.

To love them unconditionally, 

but to hold them loosely.

 

Because our children

belong to another Father.

He alone plans the time 

to call them home to heaven.

And we are called to fill the gap 

between trusting minds and troubled hearts

with whatever grace God pours in. 

 

8/27/25 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Courage In, Courage Out

    The diarrhea of the brain that I contracted on our trip to Wichita must be ongoing because pastor's sermon Sunday actually inspired two blogs. The first one was about prepping, this one is about Barnabas. I was pondering how brave it was for Barnabas to seek out Saul when so many believers suspected his "conversion" was a trick to infiltrate and persecute the church. But not Barnabas, son of encouragement. Of course he was brave, the core of the word encouragement is courage. It took great courage to trust Saul, whose persecution roadshow had caused so much suffering to the early church. But it also takes courage to give encouragement when circumstances seem bleak. It takes courage to believe God has really changed a heart. It takes courage to see the spiritual potential in struggling saints, and to help them see it. We cannot give out encouragement if the courage it comes from is not inside us.

    If Barnabas was wrong about some of the people he believed in, the Bible does not see fit to record it, and that in itself is significant. But it does record that he was right about Paul, and he was right about John Mark, even when Paul was not. It also takes courage to be willing to be wrong about believing in someone. Courage can be given out, but there is no guarantee it will be taken in. Still, I would rather give encouragement to a Christian whose faith falters than to withhold it until I am sure they will succeed. The Bible contains, among other things, biographies of flawed individuals appointed by the Lord to play a part in His infallible plans. At least our failures will not show up in the pages of the Bible. And that should be an encouragement for all of us.

 

 

Not a Prepper

   I am not a prepper, but I love the sound of the word. Mostly because of the 1970's Dr. Pepper commercials--I'm a pepper, he's a pepper, she's a pepper, we're a pepper. Wouldn't you like to be a pepper too? Catchy commercial, I remember it after 50 years even though I do not like the taste of Dr. Pepper. I might be considered a prepper in the sense that I like to plan things in advance--I buy steak for future special occasion dinners whenever it goes on sale, we have had retirement investments and life insurance since our 30's, we both have wills, my burial wishes are on file in our pastor's office. So yes, I like to be prepared, but I am not a prepper in the way in which it is used now:  someone who expects

 a future catastrophic disaster and prepares for it by stockpiling food, ammunition, and other supplies.

 Ironically, preppers have even revealed their secret stashes on TV reality shows. Let's hope  desperate food seekers do not remember where they live when the apocalypse arrives.

     Prepping came to mind because of our pastor's message on Sunday from the last verses of Acts 11. Agabus, a prophet in the Antioch church, predicted a severe famine for the entire Roman world. The church members there responded by taking an offering for the Jerusalem church and, since Western Union was unreliable at that time, they sent the money with Saul and Barnabas. That is what they did. Here is what they did not do: hoard their money since food would be expensive during the famine, stock up on Patriot emergency food kits, or buy weapons to protect their food kits. They would suffer in the famine too, but they knew Jerusalem Christians, who had lost jobs and family support because of their faith, would suffer worse. 

    Christians are called to give generously to those in need--brothers in Christ, strangers, even enemies. The point of turning the other cheek is not so you can draw your gun. There is nothing wrong with preparing ahead of time for disasters like earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires and floods. We have had a lot of those lately. However, the house the supplies are stored in might not be there for the disaster after party, and 100 pounds of rice does not keep well in a flood. The Tribulation will have not only natural disasters, but supernatural disasters, demonic attacks and world war, yet there are no verses in the Bible about prepping for it. Mid-tribbers might give that some thought. The disaster Jesus spent a lot of the book of Matthew warning about was the coming siege of Jerusalem and his main message was not buy gold or extra provisions, it was do not take anything with you, run! 

    Like most things, whether prepping is good or bad is revealed by the Why. Do I think God cannot take care of me unless I handle it myself? Am I unwilling to suffer want like so much of the world does on a daily basis? Am I willing to kill people to keep provisions? And what would the Antioch Christians think of American Christians, most of whom would be ultra rich by their standards, living in fear of the future? As for me, I guess I do not like the taste of Dr. Prepper either.

     

Nothing on Earth

      Before the leisure time in Wichita that gave me so many opportunities to write ended, I wrote one more poem. I decided not to put Tracy's name in it because it would fit many losses.

Nothing on Earth

There are some days when,

 despite the comfort and blessings

 the Lord has given me,

 I feel like nothing on earth

 will make up for losing you.

  

But then I remember,

 nothing on earth has to.

 That particular blessing

 is not found on earth.

 That is what heaven is for. 

8/9/25

 

 

The Things I Bring

    Reed and I have been traveling together for a long time, mostly on work related trips where the hotel stays tend to be longer--one, two, even three weeks, like this one. Thankfully, though I told Reed if I could travel with him, he did not need to worry about feeding me, most of the hotels we stay in offer a free breakfast. Sometimes I contemplate how things have changed over the years through the lens of what I bring with me when I head to the breakfast room.

In my 40's--room key, pen to do crossword puzzles in the free lobby                          newspapers

          50's--room key, reading glasses, cellphone, pen for crosswords

          60's--room key, bifocals, smartphone, no pen  Newspapers are no longer offered, assuming everyone gets their news online. (Crossword puzzles on a cell phone?)

 

    Of course, Covid changed hotel stays far more than my age, vision, or smart phone. Breakfast rooms sat empty except for a pile of paper bags with granola bars, yogurt, etc. in them. Fortunately, hotel breakfasts are back to many options, which somehow still seem boring after the first week. Housekeeping at many hotels went from daily to do-it-yourself. That has since been upgraded to sporadic. The computers I used until I had my own laptop were removed from hotel business centers because of Covid. Some of them must have died of it because they never found their way back. Overzealous hotels even removed hairdryers temporarily, though everything but the air coming out of them could easily be wiped down with sanitizer. Covid gave service industries a great incentive not to serve and the down the line, downgrade diagnosis is long Covid. And though employees are no longer getting paid to stay home, the idea that filling your shift is optional was too popular a benefit for the lazy to let go of. 

    On this particular trip, a new essential for going to the lobby is my high top tennies, known as kicks to the younger crowd (who aren't wearing them for ankle support, like I am). Sporting kicks does not make me feel younger, more like the Beach Boys "Little Old Lady from Pasadena," Go granny, go granny, go granny, go! On a positive note, kicks are less cumbersome than the cane I used to need for travel after my knee replacements.

     I have savored every work trip, especially those we have taken as Reed nears retirement, knowing each could be our last. Although I have heard that retired people actually have more time to travel, Reed has not adjusted to the concept of paying all expenses ourselves. But the best trip of our lives is still ahead of us, it will be our last, is all expense paid, and I don't need to bring a thing.

      

 

 

 

Mirror, Mirror

     When Reed started traveling for work and I was able to go with him, I knew the Lord had fulfilled my, almost forgotten, childhood dream of travel. With upgrades, of course, he has always given me so much more than I wanted for myself. Growing up, staying at a hotel was based on Dad being too tired to drive any further on our trips to Missouri to see relatives. Always for one night. I hoped someday to stay in a hotel long enough to unpack into the dresser. Considering the low budget hotels we stayed in back then, that probably would not have been a good idea. In hygienic terms, the dresser might have had cooties. I am currently on a three week stay in the Wichita Springhill Suites. Not the fanciest hotel we have stayed in, but still well above my Super 8 expectations. 

    My main problem with hotel rooms is that they have too many mirrors, and they are positioned to show more of our aging bodies than we usually have to look at. I would pay extra for a one mirror room. This morning as I faced my futile habit of fixing my hair and putting on makeup, the Lord helped me realize he finds this stage of our aging bodies beautiful too. He is not bothered by the bags, sags, spots, and wrinkles. Our bodies are the wrapping paper that loosens as we enjoy God's gift of old age and tears away completely when we open his gift of heaven. 

    God does not see our bodies the way we do. They are merely the seeds of our resurrected ones. That is why it is only fitting that we plant them in the dirt. What God finds beautiful is faith, acceptance of all that he brings into our lives, and growing in grace to others. If we are walking in the Spirit, those are the things that mature as the wrinkles and age spots multiply. And the only mirror that matters is the one that reveals spiritual beauty--the Word of God. 

 

The Practical Atheist

     I was caught by an expression in an article I read by Paul David Tripp. He called that condition where our theology is dead on, but we live as if God does not exist, being a "practical atheist." It refers to that disconnect between our beliefs and our behavior. Ideally, the knowledge that God's word says to prefer others over ourselves should translate into our attitude in the store check out line or when we drive in traffic, but often it does not. In more familiar words, we do not practice what we preach.

    We have faith that God is in sovereign control of the world, then doomscroll political posts and worry as if he has no idea what is going on, much less has control. We can believe he appointed the length of our lives before we were born and yet get blown about by every wind of health doctrine trying to postpone our appointment. And when people ask us about the reason for our good health, finances and/or abilities, and we credit those gifts to our own efforts, we are being practical atheists. Besides that, we have traded an opportunity to give glory to God and turned it toward ourselves, carbs, kale and cardio.

    I recently finished a short study on Solomon, the wisest human who ever lived. He knew his gifts of wisdom, wealth, and long life came directly from God because God told him so, yet Solomon ignored God's commands about intermarriage with unbelievers hundreds of times. I know many of his marriages were to secure political alliances, and obviously marriage was not as serious a commitment as in our one-spouse-at-a-time culture. But he had 700 wives and 300 concubines, that adds up to 1000 missed opportunities to ask the Lord for pre-marital counseling.

    Here are a couple bits of wisdom I got out of the study:

True wisdom is displayed, not in those desperate circumstances when big decisions are needed, but in the daily, seemingly insignificant, choices we make when we think discernment is unnecessary. 

We seldom sin for lack of knowing better, we choose to sin because we think we know better than the Lord about how we should live. 

    It is impractical to be an atheist in Montana, where the Creator's fingerprint is everywhere. But God did not reveal himself to us so our theology would be sound, he did it so, through us, his reflection would be seen. And that takes lot of practice.