The HEART of the Matter

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celebrations, Christmas, dingy manger, Expectations, family, Hanukkuh, heart, LONELINESS, meaning, The HEART of the matter

Have you been to the mall? Are your decorations up? Is your baking done? Did you get your Christmas or Hanukkah cards in the mail? How about all the Christmas music on the radio, tired of it yet?

Last weekend, I had to pick up some chocolate chips for my daughter. She wanted to make some fudge. I stopped at the local grocery store and went directly to the baking aisle. It was overwhelming!(I am NOT one who enjoys the art of shopping, so I am typically in and out within 15 minutes!) I headed down the baking aisle in search of a deal on what I needed, spotted the rascals on the left side of the aisle, and stopped momentarily to compare prices. A young woman with long black hair, glasses, and a scowl was behind me where I stopped. She looked up at me (and I’m only 5’5″) and with a sardonic smile said, “Yes, every time you stop, the whole line has to stop!”

Well, I only had stopped ONCE! I kind of looked at her in disbelief, and looked back at the shelf. When she didn’t make a move to circumvent me, I looked back at her and she told me to, “get f*’d!” I smiled politely and said, “same to you!”

As I finished my shopping, though, my heart broke for her and the thousands like her who have been totally engulfed by our secular, anti-goodness society. It’s not a new thing entirely, but godlessness has become a national past time in OUR time. Only recently, has it become socially acceptable to be selfish, self-centered, and unkind. It is everywhere now. (Watch drivers, if you have any doubt.) People think only of themselves, their agenda, their needs and are completely unaware? or unconcerned? with others. “Screw you, lady! You’re in MY way!”

The HEART of the matter is GOD! Many people, whether alone or surrounded by others, are lonely these days. GOD, whomever we understand Him to be, is relegated to a distant dark corner of our pseudo-sophisticated society only to be recognized as the source of some fringe lunatic. Darkness increases while those holding the Light remain well shielded by the protective bushel of their/our choosing, and we wonder why society is breaking down.

The attitude of this one young woman shocked my heart, my reality. She was not suffering from some obvious disease, but her heart is sick. Mine, too, struggles under the burden of perfection portrayed by TV and movies … the perfect Christmas or Hanukkah celebrations always show scores of happy family members laughing and embracing one another with tables loaded with boundless delicacies and truckloads of gifts for everyone. I don’t live there, do you?

• But the dingy manger? THAT I can relate to! Our best laid plans sometimes fail.
• The hardship of that journey to Bethlehem with Mary at 9 months pregnant? THAT I can relate to … discomfort is a big part of life!
• Alone in a strange town, crowds of people milling around yet, no place just for them. THAT I can relate to! Surprises! Unexpected journeys!
• Supplies insufficient to the task at hand? THAT I can relate to! Making due with what’s on hand is daily life, and it requires faith in something or Someone bigger than me!

At this point in time, the media (TV, movies, magazines, etc) sets our expectations for more than any of us realize. Today’s movies always show the various holidays … PERFECT! There may be a bit of a struggle to get there, but perfection always arrives. LIFE is not perfect! It is not orderly or predictable. It is our daily challenge to make order out of chaos.

The moral of this story? When the Christmas lights are unplugged, when the Hanukkah gifts are given, when the parties are over and the cookies are eaten, what is left? GOD is there in my emptiness and unfulfilled expectations, and He’s there in yours, too! He didn’t stay in that dingy manger, and the oil has still never run dry! He is not necessarily where we expect Him to be, that’s all. Though we have tried for centuries to package Him and present Him all neat and tidy, He reminds us constantly that HE is GOD, and we are not!

Look for HIM as you celebrate … or as you endure whatever hardships and discomfort is your life. He is THERE!

Paranoia Strikes Deep, Into Your Heart it will Creep

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"life lessons", character training, fear, heart, history, Homeland Security, Human nature, lies, media, Military appreciation, paranoia, spiritual, terror, terrorist, truth, WE THE PEOPLE

N.Korea threatens “physical response” to U.S. moves

OLD NEWS: About a year ago, Americans were battered by news and threats of an eminent confrontation with North Korea, remember? The networks, cable, and talk shows analyzed and over-analyzed the situation up one side and down the other. War was coming … they were sure. The sky was falling, they were convinced and they told us repeatedly until the issue just faded into news oblivion.

Paranoia strikes deep,
Into your heart it will creep.
It happens when you’re always afraid,
Step out of line, and the man come to take you away.

Fear of Islamic Militant Attacks in Nigeria Spreads to Lagos

EVERYDAY NEWS: “The fear of attacks by Islamic militants in Nigeria is spreading south to the commercial capital, Lagos, where city buses are being checked for bombs. A group that says it is fighting for a separate Islamic state is thought responsible for a series of attacks across the north.

“Bomb attacks and ambushes in the northern city of Maiduguri have indefinitely closed the university there and led to an exodus of civilians, some of whom are newly unemployed motorbike taxi drivers after all motorbikes were banned in Maiduguri because Islamic militants were using them to throw bombs.

Courage is resistance to fear,
mastery of fear,
not absence of fear.

Mark Twain

Obama: No guarantee for Social Security checks

TODAY’S NEWS: “It was a striking thing today to see the President of the United States say that he cannot guarantee the 27 million Social Security checks that are due to be mailed on August 3rd.”

Striking, indeed! Words cannot express the outrage, the frustration, the offense perpetrated by the President’s remarks. This is a bold face LIE!

A BOLD-FACE LIE!

One of many lies oozing from the White House these days. To intentionally terrify our Seniors by intimating insufficient funds for their Social Security checks is beyond reprehensible! The many thousands of Seniors who rely on those checks to pay their everyday living expenses need to be assured THEIR money is safe and will be in the mail as its usual time regardless of a deal on the budget/debt ceiling. Confusion breeds fear, and truth dispels it. Simple as that!

“This debt limit increase is his [President Obama’s] problem,” Rep. Boehner said. “And I think it’s time for him to lead by putting his plan on the table something that the Congress can pass.” AMEN!

FEAR is terror. Terrorists breed terror! Are you following my thinking? Where is Homeland Security? I have a complaint!

Are WE THE PEOPLE getting tired of this yet? Had enough lies, yet? Had enough manipulation of the masses yet? How ’bout that Executive Order today taking away the 2nd Amendment rights of those living along the border. First the stimulus money pays for the whole “GUNRUNNER” scheme which then backfires, so now ya, let’s disarm the American people so they can’t protect themselves. Sure! That makes sense! Let those drug cartels and Islamic terrorists freely come and go. No need for borders, right?

“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

More and more it seems this administration, and the powers that be behind him, intends nothing good for America. That’s a very hard thing to fathom, but the evidence is mounting. Martin Luther King, Jr. understood fear. He understood the power of fear. Today, WE THE PEOPLE are challenged by fear all around us. The America we have known is quickly falling into corruption beyond anything we have seen before.

WE THE PEOPLE …

• must remember who we are and our noble heritage.

WE THE PEOPLE …

• must remember what we have known, what we have seen, what we have loved about America.

WE THE PEOPLE …

• must remember how we were thrust into this “War on Terror!” We must remember 9/11 and the unity that ensued!

WE THE PEOPLE …

• must resolve to do our part to reclaim America and restore her liberties, for all law-abiding Americans!

Generation Fear: Life after Sept. 11 for those who grew up with terror
“The fleeting seconds that changed the world began with a whisper in the ear from a White House aide.

“And though George W. Bush somehow retained his composure in that Florida classroom — the weight of history settling on his shoulders, a copy of The Pet Goat in his hands — what the children remember most is how his face turned red.

“Deep red. Angry red. Not a face for reading gentle morality tales with moon-faced second-graders at Sarasota’s Emma E. Booker Elementary School.” READ MORE

The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.

Franklin D. Roosevelt