7 “Ask and it will be given to you;(B) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;(C) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts(D) to those who ask him!12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,(E) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.(F)
I asked God about hidden orange flowers and was lead to this one
Hello to you today. How are you? I’m feeling a bit rough after last night. I had a wonderful visit with my family here to celebrate the 4th and then Link and I came home…..ugh! For several hours we endured the sounds of fireworks all around us. They don’t seem to have any rules here about where and for how long you can detonate them. It sounded like a war zone to me. I could feel the explosions in my heart center. It sounded like this to me:
A lot of people, and I used to be one of those people, enjoy the experience of fireworks. It’s after having a dog and seeing what the experience did to them…. which lead to an expanded empathy and consciousness of what the experience does to all those not human, I stopped wanting the experience. Last night I couldn’t get away from it. With the decibel range of many of the things people were setting off, not much could block it. Some shook the house. People sharing with each other what they think freedom looks and sounds like at the expense of those who aren’t on the same page. Fireworks are dangerous, loud, harm wildlife, disturb the animals we live with and harm the environment – pollute the air we breathe. My “freedom” and that of many living around me collided last night. The world I grew up in and the one I am living in now are drastically different. There weren’t mass shootings on city streets, public events and schools. I didn’t know that the fireworks I enjoyed as a kid sounded like rapid gunfire you hear in a war zone.
My cousin, who served in the Navy and continues to serve in a different capacity, gave me this coin yesterday to commemorate the 2 year anniversary of him and his wife helping me leave Texas and come to Idaho. I served my country for 16 years in the United States Air Force. I have fired a gun once – the M-16 to qualify at Basic Training. Firing a gun in that way made sense to me. This kind of firepower in civilian hands does not. How many police stations in our country being put in really awful positions – outgunned by those they are sworn to protect? It’s Insanity.
https://youtu.be/wcnQJd_XRQQ – We haven’t got the country we had when I was raised – 100 year old veteran worried about America
One person got me through last night, representing very well the God I love. They kept me from doing what I wanted to do – go out to people and yell. I was in dark places last night:
“Even if just one seed takes root in fertile soil, there is hope. “.
There are many different kinds of seed known and in many cases estranged from our knowing. Life can be so cruel and harsh and appear to not care about us being or not being. So many lashing out or lashing in. Seeds sown from our early beginnings thriving or never seeing the light of day. Sometimes you have to be still , quiet….patient. Listen to the wind which carries the very essence of what animates you and gives you life. There are tiny seeds you can and cannot see in every breath you take. The gut….a highly evolved plant kingdom. We all share the essence of life. You can drink water but without breath there is no life. Remember the trees in your “plans.”
This was just down the street where I lived in Alvarado TX – a church I used to go to a lot! One of dear Yolie, our oak trees children Yolie made many of these as many trees do but only a few, with just right conditions, actually awoke from their hard seed casing. There is much trees and nature teaches about optimum conditions for life. One rose of the many at our house that made me happy back in Texas. “Seed money?” From the walk yesterday. I hope whomever claimed this will do something meaningful with it. I was tempted to take it myself but thought better of it.
Hello to you. How are you? I’m doing ok. Frustrated with myself. Tried to fit into a pair of jeans I’ve had for so many years this morning and nope! Too bloated. There is a Dr. Guidry and others that say the culprit is probably leaky gut syndrome. I am trying to eat better but still taking in too much processed food that is heavy on salt. It’s hard when your living alone to want to cook for yourself and if you do, avoid having a lot of waste. I am working with God about this and my body. Our microme- gut bacteria gets trained up early on in our lives. I notice for myself, that my body likes to eat a lot of protein. Much of the protein I ate as a young person came from meat. I want to change that. I am seeking a protein that does for me what meat does without involving the suffering and death of food animals. I have explored stuff like Quinoa and coconut milk. God and I will figure this out!
Yesterday I was looking into water filter technology and there is a lot of innovation out there. The Achilles heal to much of it – what to do with what is filtered out of water. The byproduct of most filtration tech is dirty filters and stuff you have to figure out what to do with. Desalinization – brine. What O read is a lot of the byproduct gets put back where the water came from! This doesn’t make any sense. It’s like seeing no trash someplace and forgetting there is a landfill somewhere brimming over with trash! Out of sight out of mind. If I have water delivered to my house it’s still not solving the problem. How about working on putting less crap in our drinking water to begin with? Will there ever be a day we feel safe drinking from the tap? Kind of felt like I was chasing my tail yesterday about this issue and so many others. Fix one thing, answer one question and there is something else to consider. Thinking something, a decision, all the way through isn’t easy but necessary. Making hasty decisions oftentimes is a catalyst for more problems to arise. Some enjoy that – profiting from making problems and then making more money coming up with solutions. I call that profit from misery. If problems are preventable then we should work on that. Doing what is right isn’t easy always but it can be rewarding!
Sometimes things are not what they seem – sometimes we have to look deeper than what the surface shows us. Flies are considered a pest but what I figured out is they are a lot like us. They get hungry , thirsty, want to reproduce and most of all are very curious. We are taught many things that just aren’t always true. Be willing and God will show you the truth of just about anything.
There are “churches” like this all over the earth We were not prepared for the environmental cost of a global pandemic – how many masks , gloves and wet wipes?
Something I enjoy is spending time in quiet and prayer near waterways. So much is going on – so much life happening. Such a variety of lives thriving in little pathways of water. Sometimes I think the lives we share earth with are taken for granted until they are gone.
There is only ever one of any kind. Take good care of them while they still remain. You can try to replicate….clone….mimic or copy but you only get one. Even bees, looking and behaving so much alike, are having a unique experience while here on earth. There was one Jesus Christ, Elvis Presley, Chris Cornell, David Bowie, Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Maya Angelou……so many I can’t even list them all and that’s just humans that have come to us with all that they were and now they are just little fragments….memories. People try to re-enact…re-create what they were but can never be what the original was. Even a clone or robot will still be a unique individual…not an exact copy. How many animals, insects, plants in all the habitats….vessels God has dwelled within? Each one a unique perspective on existence. They each left a legacy that either is cherished or has been lost in time….forgotten.
A question I ask a lot is “why am I here?” The conclusion is to be an observatory vessel for God. To try my best to see the world with a loving, caring mind, body and soul. I’m not just here for myself even though I do spend a lot of time alone. I am here to give all that I am to the God of my understanding. As I get older it’s tougher to do all the things I want to….that I should do but I’m trying. I’m still here so God must still need me here.
Why are you here? That was a question recently in the headlines and other headlines I’m seeing:
https://youtu.be/bDbOCI0s_VU – “why are you here?” Senator Murphy Begs Colleagues to Compromise on Gun Legislation
The study found that Flint water was “very corrosive” and “causing lead contamination in homes”. It concluded in its report that “Flint River water leaches more lead from plumbing than does Detroit water. This is creating a public health threat in some Flint homes that have lead pipe or lead solder.”
https://www.abc12.com/news/business/flint-plastics-recycler-expanding-adding-24-new-jobs/article_38e458cc-f96c-11ec-958c-cf53a4dfd54f.amp.html – 24 jobs?! Reminds me of what they said would happen with more gas pipelines. What was that like 30 jobs and not even permanent. Do the people of Flint want this? Their water is already messed up – is this company going to make a positive or negative environmental impact on this community? Seems predatory to me. Hope I’m wrong. I read that plastics is where fossil fuel investments are headed. Is that the best they can do ? Make more crap and we can’t even manage what we’ve already made! Why are these people, making these choices that affect us all, here?
What’s your individual power? How you spend your money. You can say “No!” If we don’t buy it, they don’t make money. Until such a day money is no longer currency, that’s what we have to do. Figuring out why you are here involves taking personal responsibility for the choices you make. I am trying to do this myself and it can be really tough! It’s so easy to succumb to the allure and ease of convenience.
There is one earth. All of those trying to build ships to leave need to remember that if you abandon earth without having done all you can to save her your just going to do it all again someplace else. Where you go – there you are. Even if you proclaim it will be different it won’t be because YOU are still the same. Look at how it is here at all levels. We run and take ourselves with us where we run to. The other thing to consider is whether or not God and the rest of the Universe is going to actually welcome us beyond earth? We are not alone – as time goes on I feel pretty certain it’s going to be made abundantly clear what God and the rest of creation thinks of us and what is happening to this planet. You get one.
Hello to you today. How are you? I hope you are well and if your not, believe me your not alone.
What’s up there? Crab apples growing all over and they don’t taste too bad! Part of the litter problem comes after trash day – getting out of the garbage trucks I think this is a Yucca plant – Yucca is a genus of perennial shrubs and trees in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Agavoideae. Its 40–50 species are notable for their rosettes of evergreen, tough, sword-shaped leaves and large terminal panicles of white or whitish flowers. They are native to the hot and dry parts of the Americas and the Caribbean. Wikipedia
This morning I got to thinking about a phrase I hear a lot, “Our thoughts and prayers are with you.” If so many thoughts and prayers are happening why does it seem like so little meaningful change has occurred? What came to me is if there is no conviction and intent on action behind the thoughts…the prayers…. so nothing changes. A lot of us say we care but are still firmly entrenched in our own way of things. Our thoughts remaining true to our own perception and desires and prayers empty rhetoric we are “expected” to say when tragedy befalls us, no matter what it is. Many sorry something bad is happening but unless it directly affects them – no intention of taking action to change. I’m not innocent in this but I am aware of my character defects and trying to follow up thoughts and prayers…words, with action. God provides but will not do it all for us – that’s in part why WE are here! Even doing just one small thing, starting today, can change the world. Open the eyes God placed in our hearts not just the ones in your head.
Matthew 5:8New International Version
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,(A) for they will see God.(B)
As I look back over my journey thus far and look at the landscape of the world, one of the biggest obstacles seems to be money. For what we need to happen and as fast as it needs to happen, what seems to be in the way is funds. I keep reading and hearing, “it costs too much.” An idea that came to mind was “blank check.” What would happen if we collaborated via teams of our best representing all the different crisis areas and said, all accountabilities in place, “do whatever it takes to fix this, we’ll get you whatever you need.” How fast could people like Boyan Slat from Ocean Cleanup get things done if the obstacle of financing was removed?
“(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace Love And Understanding”
As I walk on through this wicked world Searching for light in the darkness of insanity I ask myself, “Is all hope lost?” Is there only pain, and hatred, and misery?
And each time I feel like this inside There’s one thing I wanna know What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding? What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?
And as I walked on through troubled times My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony
‘Cause each time I feel it slipping away, just makes me wanna cry What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding? What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?
So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony
‘Cause each time I feel it slipping away, just makes me wanna cry What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding? What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding? What’s so funny ’bout peace, love, and understanding?
More and more science proves something extraordinary happened for us to have this today. They can’t replicate what it took to make this dimensional image appear on cloth
Hello to you. How are you? Lots going on everywhere these days. Lots of people expressing themselves, myself included, in a lot of words and feelings but little actual action. My Grandpa Becker was a man of God when he was here serving as a pastor and actively worked, along with my Grandma for civil rights….human rights. This morning I am remembering a little thing he used to say to me all the time, “put your money where your mouth is.” There are many who want to save unborn babies but when it comes to being willing to help take care of the children and adults they eventually become they aren’t as concerned. ALOT of charities all over the world trying to do things – lots of money changing hands and yet conditions are still horrible for many of our worlds people. I would like to see more collaboration of efforts – trying to decide which charity, how many charities is overwhelming. What I see coming for the United States, if states actually are serious about caring for life…quality of life in all aspects….there going to have to raise taxes. The money to raise the children you are demanding to be brought here has to come from somewhere. Are you prepared for what more life means? More mouths to feed, educate, clothe, shelter, provide proper healthcare, trash, clean drinkable water, food resources, safety, infrastructure like roads and energy suppliers, clean air….are you prepared to pay? Nothing is free. Nothing ultimately “cheap.” Look back and how well have we done so far? Are you ALL prepared? You want to protect life – prove it by your actions not just rhetoric and empty promises.
You can do your own research but what I see is fragmentation of a world with the same issues. A lot of redundancy in effort…finances going on. More “life”…more responsibility. We have the same basic needs the world over. For example water and food. Gotta have water to get the food. So many separate agencies trying to do the same missions – some trustworthy and some not making it a risky thing sometimes to try and donate money to help.
These links here are just a fraction of information available to help you see the big picture I’m trying to show you:
This from actor Jonathan Roumie, Jesus in The Chosen series, is some living water for these times. Like I asked you yesterday, what would Jesus do faced with the world of our times? I’m pretty certain he’d be praying about it all. It’s beautiful to hear Aramaic, Jesus’s primary language;
14 The Lord will fight(A) for you; you need only to be still.”(B). — is Jesus just a name? Is God just a word?
Last night before bed my thoughts and tear filled prayers went out to Jesus. Longing to hear him tell me what he thought of our times. Of course there were no words but I felt his presence and my tears dried…..I got a little sleep. This morning I found this article in answer to my question if Jesus was a feminist. In his time and stories of the Bible certainly suggest he might have been or he at least treated women as equals:
“Jesus had a radical approach for the times in which he lived 2,000 years ago. The culture of the Middle East then was male-dominated. Women were second-class citizens with very few rights. Jesus might not be seen as a feminist by some modern standards, but his attitude to women was revolutionary. He challenged the patriarchy repeatedly. He saw women as equal to men and treated them with equal respect. The Bible books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John document a range of encounters Jesus had with various women, which illustrate how he challenged the norms of the time and treated women with compassion and care.”
I like to think if he ever does come back home that what he might think, say and do might disappoint some. He didn’t have statistics to look at in his time…..evidence of the crimes of humanity against themselves, each other and the world often committed in his name or some other man-made God. Thinking of Mammon:
Matthew 6:24New International Version
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.(A)
The selective mind-set of being “pro-life” in this country and world. Read the other day capital punishment is still alive and well…prisoners requesting death by firing squads. We want the babies but discard the adults. How many neglected and abused children and adults? How many discarded pets? Forgotten elderly? You are either for all life or your not pro-life. It’s really hypocrisy how we pick and choose which life has more value or meaning. The Jesus I know didn’t do what we do and so many using his name to justify their hate of gays and minorities. Who made these babies that become targets of hate? With regards to gay people….straight people made them so that must mean , according to the logic I’ve been hearing especially right now with women’s reproductive rights under attack, that God wants them here. Contrary to what many want to comfort their hate with – being gay is not a choice. Can you just stop being heterosexual?
According to Bruce Bagemihl, same-sex behavior (comprising courtship, sexual, pair-bonding, and parental activities) has been documented in over 450 species of animals worldwide.
The purpose of this post is to try and be a voice of reason from a Christian perspective not to piss anybody off or insult you. Your going to think , feel and do what you want no matter what anybody tells you. I’m encouraging you to get out of the box you might be stuck… programmed to be in. It’s the only path to peace for you personally and this world.
Some good songs I found yesterday, the one by Blue October in the middle of the night:
To be 