"Let My People Go"

So, what are you thinking about the chaos in Egypt and throughout the Middle East? Do you care?! It seems to me that we like to meddle in a lot of people’s business when we really can’t control the outcome. How many times have we encouraged the deposing of one ruler to only be saddled with one who is a zillion times worse? Similarly, how many millions of tons of food do we ship overseas to only have it siphoned off by the despots of the world? There’s a lot of evil out there that we pretend isn’t there. Taking someone out who is a mass murderer or us helping a fledgling democracy is one thing, but trying to institute our form of government in a place where the people don’t have the stomach to undergo what it takes to deliver it is quite another. I understand that suppressed people want change but they have to have the stomach to see righteous change all the way through. Just wanting change for the sake of change is not an intelligent basis for action. Change is not naked; it is dressed with…well…CHANGES!! But it doesn’t mean that those changes will be good, righteous, or desirable. Look at all the negative changes in this country borne of the political mantra “change”. Anyway, right now, our country is supporting the overthrow of Egypt’s Mubarak. Especially if we are going to end up with the Muslim Brotherhood in his stead, we might want to be a bit more careful about whom we are throwing our support behind. Mubarak is no saint but we are likely to end up with someone much more sinister in his place. Do we ever learn?

Rollercoaster

I met with a person yesterday morning who said, as I was leaving, that I looked like I needed a nap. She was right!! Although I had only been up for a mere two hours, I was fighting the onset of a deepening fog. I had felt much better upon rising this (Wednesday) morning but it didn’t last too long. So I went home and took care of a few items before heading back to bed. I awoke a few hours later feeling better than I had in a couple of weeks. Three hours later, I’m going downhill again. I thought I’d better go ahead and write Thursday’s blog post before the fog settles too much more upon me. I’m not sure why I’m so out of it lately other than fighting off the remnants of what I contracted a couple of weeks ago. My mother got a skin infection in both of her feet and was barely able to walk. My sister had been taking her to the doctor but I was asked to take her one day for a different complaint. That led me to subsequently taking her to the hospital for an x-ray as well. Later that evening I developed a very sore throat and the glands in my neck were sore and swollen. My G.I. system was next. The next day I took Mom back to the doctor for her to get an intravenous antibiotic. As I waited in the waiting room, I glanced at the TV while also reading my Kindle. Then something caught my eye. I saw the doctor’s nameplate hanging on the wall with her specialty. It read Infectious Diseases. My countenance dropped. I was shocked. There I was sitting in an Infectious Diseases waiting room with people who had whatever. I’m sure they weren’t openly infectious but with my lowered immune system and new symptoms I felt very uncomfortable. I sat there trying not to touch anything further and trying not to take any more breaths than I needed to!! But, I fear the damage was already done the day before. I’ve not been the same since and I feel that I’m still trying to rally past its remaining effects. By the way, the next time I took Mom to the doctor I dropped her off at the front door and picked her up from the front door. I stayed in my car; I got wiser!! I have a doctor’s appointment in two weeks and will consult him if I’m not completely well by then. In the meantime, I’m on a roller coaster ride of my life while also fighting the effects of my arm, travel, and Gleevec. Maybe some warm weather would cure a few things!! So much for that idea, we have more cold weather moving in. Anyone heading to the tropics?!

Prayerful Thought

We often offer prayers for others. Christians consider prayer to be essential to our spiritual walk. For some, praying is a divine gift which flows like a spring stream. For others, praying is as much of a struggle as walking through thick mud. For some, praying is an emotional event; for others it is mundane and devoid of any sort of freshness or heartfelt awareness. At times, it has probably been all the above. Regardless of our fluency of prayer, it is one of our most important connections to God. We should seek to be prayerful people. However, being a prayerful person does not make us a righteous person. Our righteousness is expressed through our obedience to the word of God, not through our prayerful elucidations. In other words, we can pray all we want but we are severely lacking in a spiritual basis from which to pray if we are not obedient in our lives. It’s like constantly drawing water from a well which contains little water. The bucket is repeatedly mostly empty. To paraphrase the old saying, we can’t talk (pray to God) one way and walk (live) another. The Bible teaches us that those who love God are obedient. Without obedience we don’t possess the type of love which God acknowledges and requires of us. Godly love is required for Godly prayer, and vice versa. Again, prayer is one of our most important connections to God. However, if we aren’t walking in obedience, we might be surprised to find that our prayerful connection isn’t what we think it is.

Rebound Effect

It was a friend last week and our youngest son today (Monday) who mentioned that I don’t seem to do so well after our trips. It’s something that I’ve known for a long time but hoped it wasn’t so evident. Yesterday evening and today was spent mainly in bed. It seems that I can propel my energy through the journeys and their activities but there comes a time for the rebound effect. My energy remains curtailed because of the Gleevec, anemia, and the incessant battle within me. My mind still seeks to operate at one level while my body struggles to keep up. After I push my body to a certain point, then the rebound effect kicks in. I get so fatigued that even after forcing myself out of the bed I know it won’t be long until I have to shut down again. It is kind of frustrating as I have better things to do in life than spend it in bed. Although my body may never keep up with my mental frame of mind, I can never afford to let my frame of mind to lower itself to how my body often feels. That would put me on a rather quick and unpleasant track that I’m unwilling to travel at this point. So, anyway, I’m fighting the rebound effect of my weekend activities and the weather front which is moving in. Speaking of weather…Our prayers are with all of you in the path of the freezing rain and snow. For those in the south, the freezing rain is often much worse than the snow as it topples power lines and trees. Often people are left in freezing weather for a week or more without electricity. Take care and be careful!!