It is 4:29 in the morning and gratefully I am awake after five hours of sleep. God usually whispers “Come with me” at this time. This morning He and I will discuss the COVID-19 vaccination. Again. Our appointment is at 8:15. Today is the day. We comply with the government’s request to take this preventive measure.
No, I am not sure about this.
Our household of three had COVID in December of 2020. Of the three of us, I am the one with lasting side effects. My eyesight was weakened. I am also the one whose immune system and health history make me more vulnerable to take anything “experimental”.
For me the more the government pushes this vaccine the more I hesitate. Why?
Simple, no one can be trusted to speak the truth. Certainly not Dr. Falsely. (Misspelling intended). Nor the CDC or WHO. Neither can government officials. My own health care providers listen to my concerns and reply with the same assurances. Like every one is reading the same cue card. The risk is minimal, take the vaccine.
By nature I am a rule keeper. But, this time I am unsure. Let’s be frank, the whole COVID experience is fraught with too many questions and too few answers.
For all those assuring me the risks are minimal I wearily reply that they themselves have no idea what it is like to be in that small percentage. I do.
Herd mentality is aggressively pushing us to shut up and take the shot, get in line again and take it again. Oh, and be prepared to repeat the process in six months to a year. Wear a mask, wear two no three masks! How selfish to even think about non-compliance. I am not prepared to be an obedient cow on this. Are you?
What I am sure about is God not allowing evil to prevail. I am confident He knows the future and that He will walk me through whatever the outcome of this vaccine is for me. I am reminded that the moments and minutes I live and breathe right now at 5:18 in the morning are miraculous. I have been on the literal edge of death before and God chose to spare me for this morning.
He is trustworthy. By His very nature He is not a liar. When that needle slides into my arm later this morning I am sure that my Heavenly Father loves me and is with me. Plus, if He does not want me to take the shot He will clearly show me this too.
As much as I do not want to get political on this blog much in me longs to speak my truth, my perspective on a few things.
I am in mourning. Grief is again a daily companion. Since COVID hit, the pitiful displays of all areas of leadership, the loss of lives, the riots, peaceful riots turned anything but and the hatred tangible in our streets I have mourned the loss of America. It has stirred within me, its jagged edges bringing forth blood. It has wrapped its tentacles around my heart and threatens to drown me in vileness. With the future in question, (Would we even live through it?) there seemed no safe place but the arms of God. And my belief in Him could cost me my life and the lives of my family. How do I walk away from the core of my existence?
In my artistic eye I have a vision of a neglected graveyard where the headstones mark the icons that bring America to mind. I hope to turn it into a multi-medium painting. Meanwhile, as I emerge from grief and shock my question is, “What now”?
How do we salvage America? As our enemies foreign and domestic are circling like we are now the greatest feast ever in life?
Where are our leaders set aside by God already to lead us? Have people of good moral character, honesty and trustworthiness already passed from this planet? The lack of decent government at all levels is apparent. Even in our small town our mayor has been arrested for ethic violations and our city council does not have its populations needs on their radar.
People are believing what the all to powerful media “reports” even when lies and cover-ups are exposed in their own coverage. They are arrogant in their spread of false and misinformation. Journalism has become at the least a joke but truthfully a disgrace to their forefathers in the field. A thorn in America’s flesh. This group keeps doing what they do because the majority enjoys wading in the stench as it suits their agendas.
Hope is a bubble in my heart. Healing is a possibility but it will come at a personal cost for each of us. Our forgiving those who have hurt, threatened to harm, whose perspectives and beliefs are opposite of our own. We have to give up the idea of forcing people to behave in the way we want. Most of all we have to admit where we are drowning in a flood that we caused by dancing the rain dance recklessly. We can be a better America than what we are now. Who is with me?
“When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” John 8:7
Taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.
Once in a church our family were members of a congregation that had been without a pastor for several months. Finally we called an evangelism pastor as a interim until God showed us who to call longer term. He was a fine preacher/teacher. Knew the Bible well. Was also gifted in what we needed as far as administratively went. He was with us for over a year. After three months I realized he was bringing us the same sermon every week with different scripture to support his words.
My first thoughts were why? Every Sunday he was preaching about how to become a new Christian. Our number of attendees was dropping. As I looked around I thought, who here needs to hear this? This pastor’s gift was evangelism. He was an evangelist. Was that why? Did he know this so well he was not comfortable elsewhere in the Scripture?
We left that congregation. Not because of the pastor situation but because we felt we needed more to feed our spiritual lives. It’s been 13 years. The pastor of our church home now presented a moving sermon on Easter. It was theologically sound. It was challenging. The response from those of us in the congregation consisted of one person who went forward to pray. Like at our former church I found myself asking, “why”? Plus thinking how discouraging it must have been to invest all that time studying and preparing a sermon and no response.
Before you ask why I did not go forward it is because by the time I manage to roll myself and wheelchair to the altar every eye is upon me. Plus, the time has slipped away to respond. Maybe others, like myself, respond where they are.
Then part of my own Bible study this week lead me to Acts 8:1-40, specifically verses 4-25. Philip has contact in Samaria with a magician, a sorcerer. By the world’s standard he was very successful. He boasted about how great he was. Many people followed him. He was a believer in his own reputation. When Philip begins to preach in the area, cast out evil spirits and perform miracles many people began to follow him. Including Simon. He counted himself a true believer in Jesus Christ. I believe Simon was attracted to Philip’s “magic” which he saw as greater than his.
Then Peter and John arrived and when the new converts were prayed for and the duo lay their hands on them while praying they received the Holy Spirit. Simon saw this. Another two men whose “magic” was greater than Simons. He offered Peter and John money to teach him how to do what they did. Peter very bluntly let Simon know he had no part in the ministry they were doing because his heart was not right with God.
Simon became a true believer.
How many of us are Simon’s? We believe we believe in God. We do all of the right things. We attribute our earthly successes to God. But, when the point blank question is asked of us we suddenly see the truth. We are like Simon, not true Believer’s at all. Our hearts core is unchanged.
Witnessing this cancel culture, morally declining, hate and cruelty, lying movement attempt to wash Christianity from our world is crushing to me. I second guess my instinctive actions and often do not act for the risk exists anything can suddenly be considered the wrong thing to do. People I counted as my friends I am suddenly unsure of. Between COVID and an increase in crime I no longer feel safe in our little, rural county. Laugh if you are inclined but the day when we have to choose to die for Christ or live for evil is fast approaching. Not because of my feelings but because the signs are all there.
Why is the pastor’s sermon falling on deaf ears? Is it him or you? Do we not yet understand we are supposed to take Christ beyond the church walls and without action within the walls how can there be change outside of them?
“See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: ‘Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.'” Hebrews 3:12-15 NIV
“Taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION 1973, 1978 by the International Bible Society, used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers.”
Been thinking about elected officials a lot, especially the last two presidential elections. For the last 20 years as I have witnessed the caliber of candidates running for official offices I find myself asking “Who is their right mind would run for any office”? Especially for President of the United States. “Who is worthy of holding the office?” “Whose life, not just their own lives but their family’s and anyone else who knows them, can withstand the scrutiny?”
Should your life survive the search for dirt or any thing that could be blown up to be dirt it doesn’t matter. Your opposition, whether a person or a political party or the media, will gleefully invent one on you. Then these same people will never let the argument against you winning die. Ever.
No, I am not suggesting that just anyone should be able to be the President of the United States, a senator, a representative, governor, supreme court judge or dog catcher. These people in these leadership positions in our country should be men and women of integrity, honesty, sound judgment and whose life reflects wise discernment. They should also not be a person who has been on the wrong side of the law or who takes the law into their own hands. Their work and life should give them the experience to take what they know, listening skills, and a sense of right from wrong and put it to work for “we the people”.
Every person on planet Earth is a flawed human being. Because of that we cannot live perfect lives. Show me one man/woman who makes the claim they are perfect, never making a mistake or failing to exercise good decision making skills and I will show you a liar.
In John 8: 1-11 Jesus was questioned by the teachers of the law and the Pharisees who had brought a woman accused of adultery before him for his take on the matter.
“Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground “When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, ‘If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.’ ”
The Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973, 1978; The Zondervan Corporation.
Who fits these qualifications? In the movie Courageous the dad whose young daughter was killed in an automobile accident asks a large congregation, Where are you men of integrity? Since it was a movie multiple men stood. Real life is not a movie and can not be scripted. My question though is still, “Where are you people of integrity? You people of character and sound judgment? Who will stand in the gap* for all American citizens and not be bought off?”
*”I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.” (Ezekiel 22:30 NIV)
The Holy Bible, New International Version, 1973,1978; The Zondervan Corporation.
Can we really ask for candidates and leaders who are perfect? In doing so we, if honest, would eliminate everyone before they signed the paperwork stating their intention to run for office. I have felt like I was casting a vote for the least of two evils for the last twenty plus years. Prior to those years I didn’t exercise good judgment when voting. Not quite understanding the connection between my vote and the weight it carried when it came to running this country.
For example, I remember voting for Bill Clinton once. Why? Because I agreed with his policies? Proposed ideas? No, he was a guest on Arsenio Hall’s late night talk show and he played the saxophone. I thought it was so cool that a president would be so “normal” so “cool”. I learned a powerful lesson in that thought process.
Where are candidates who possess character? (Character as in truthful, doing the right thing in a situation or standing up to the influence of evil to do the right thing.) Not character as in, “What a character they are” that everyone laughs and jokes about. The latter we have more than enough of!
Right now I can not name one politician that I would put my trust in. Not one. I try to understand people’s reasons for voting for someone and I end up shaking my head. Here in our state we elected a former SEC football coach to be a senator. He worked in the football arena for 40 years. But his coaching is not a record on which to base a political career. He was even a legal resident of Florida when he agreed to throw his cap into the senate race. This man was not qualified to run and yet because citizens of our state were sick of the one he was running against, the coach won easily.
A consequence of political games is that in the event of and aftermath of bad leadership American’s are sick and tired of games as usual. We have no one to truly trust. In the lack of someone standing in the gap for us, we are hurling ourselves off the edges of cliffs and there are no safety nets.
I repeat, “Where are those people of integrity who we need to help seek political office”? They will not be found trying to bully anyone with an opinion or way of life that differs from their own, They will not be found breaking into any thing, a federal, state, city or personal piece of property. They will not be found setting fire to businesses. They will not be found murdering anyone whether in seemingly righteous anger or any other kind of anger. They can not be found among criminals. They cannot be found in abusing the power of any badge or office. They cannot be found if among those who have no respect for all life.
Continuation of yesterday's blog, "...what happened to Fox News? (Part 1)"
During the Summer of 2020 Murdoch and Trump had an argument.
Trump accused Murdoch of “encouraging” Fox to run negative reports about him. Though not supported by Ecarma’s* piece, it was, it appears, a decision made by Trump to question Murdoch’s support that lead to a negative consequence. It is not to far a step to see that if Murdoch used his influence to have news coverage that was positive towards Trump promoted he could use it to be stopped. Problem is, if this was true, it could just as easily backfire on Murdoch, Fox News as well as Trump.
Trump did allegedly confront Murdoch during the Summer of 2020 in anger. It’s incredible that so close to the November 3 election that Trump would do anything to risk Fox’s support, it makes little sense. But, to do so appears to fit with his personality.
Prior to the research done for this blog I witnessed several news coverages of press conferences. I noticed from what he himself revealed or people around him said, that Trump has many positive attributes.
One, he is a hard worker, survives on little sleep and expects the same dedication and work ethic from those around him.
Two, Trump is willing to make personal sacrifices for the United States of America. While there are those in our country and among the politicians of today who are calling for the wealthy to give up their wealth to assure someone else a boost up, (or level the start line for success for everyone) I never heard any of them willing to point out that Donald Trump was doing that already.
The man donates his salary as the President of the United States to various charities, keeping only the $1 required by law. Yes, it does mean he can get a tax credit for his charitable contributions but that is available to everyone who contributes to charities, non-profits, and churches for example. Of course, take that away from the wealthy and evidentualy it will mean it will be taken from us all.
Three, President Trump has kept his promise and hasn’t played “politics”. This, in my opinion, has as much to do with who Trump is as it does with how he’s been treated by Congress. He’s not been able to count on back-up even within the Republican party because he wasn’t playing the political game the way they’re accustomed to playing.
When his dedication, hard work and sacrifice goes unappreciated and unnoticed his feelings get hurt. When his feelings get hurt he does not do himself any favors by Tweeting or addressing the press. Some people find him rude, bossy, crude and worse. The picture they would paint of him, to me, is that of a bull in a china shop wearing a size 22 double pair of shoes. Although, it is that, I believe which attracts supporters of Trump to him. People are fed up with politics as usual. Whichever political party you support, you should be hearing that message by now.
It’s my opinion that Trump may not be the only person who, when they feel unappreciated, act in inappropriate ways. I believe Murdoch reacted to Trump’s words and accusations and did use his influence to pull Fox’s support.
The Murdoch’s are trying to explain their betrayal so they can save their money. Already it seems Fox is beginning to pay the cost of folding to Murdoch’s pressure. Conservatives, who made up the highest percentage of Fox viewers are pulling their viewership. Fox is in the same boat as all the other main stream media and the name of it is “Untrusted”.
This blogger repeats, Ecarma in his article in Vanity Fair HIVE, nor Maass in The Intercept made the same tie-in I did to that argument between Murdoch and Trump. We watched that coverage change right before our eyes. Not only did Fox begin to mock Trump and trash him they along with all the other main stream media they certainly do not act as if finding out the truth matters at all anymore.
Will the recount, investigations into any of the occurrences of suspected voter fraud change the result of the election? Maybe not enough for Trump to win but it will sure begin to restore the American people’s trust in our voting process and procedures. No relationship can sustain itself, grow in a healthy manner, resolve conflicts and thrive if the foundations of truth and honesty do not exist. No such foundation exists now.
Donna
11/11/2020
*Reference quoted in Part 1. “Is Rupert Murdoch Completely off the Trump Train?”, The Vanity Fair HIVE by Caleb Ecarma, 10/15/2020
Among the conservatives I know and whose comments are posted on social media, the one main stream media company trusted was Fox News. When allegedly Fox changed the overall tone of its coverage of President Donald Trump on the November 3 Election Night from supportive in nature to deliberately damaging, people noticed. People questioned. People felt betrayed. This writer included.
During researching what sparked this change in Fox the first search lead to who owned Fox. Rumor had it that Disney owned the media company. As with most answers you can find them if you follow the money and consequently, whose money it is.
The initial breadcrumb started at Century 21. Century 21 was owned by multiple people/corporations but the majority stockholder was the Murdock Family via trust with Rupert Murdoch having the most voting power. Plus, one quickly understands Fox is split into multiple pies. Fox News, Fox Sports, Fox Business, Fox Studios, groups of or individual Fox stations for example.
Disney came into the picture in June of 2018 when they were planning to acquire Fox for $71.3 billion for the film studio and TV assets. The buyout was put on hold when Fox shareholders sued and halted the acquisition process. In the acquired certain pies or pieces of pies but not the entire buffet of pies.
However, with a search into directly the Disney buyout status, this blogger discovered two things. One, the acquisition has now gone through. On March 20, 2019 Disney acquired Fox studio and TV assets. Two, Rupert Murdoch, and the Murdoch family retained control of the other Fox pies, whole and in pieces.
Rupert Murdoch was a personal friend of President Trump and financially contributed towards his 2016 and 2020 campaign. It appears the children of Murdoch did not support their father’s choices but he retained the voting block of their trust. Up until the night of the election Fox was the only main stream media that gave positive coverage to President Trump’s 2020 campaign. Then as their viewership watched, Fox turned on Trump like a piece of rotten seafood. Why?
“A behind-the-scenes struggle that could determine the extent of post-election violence in America is breaking into the open, but it’s not at the White Housse of inside the GOP. It is within the billionaire Murdoch family, the owners of Fox News.”
“As Trump is Defeated, the Murdochs Try to Dodge Backlash for Fox News”, The Intercept on theintercept.com, November 6, 2020, written by Peter Maass.
This same article quoted Kathryn Murdoch’s tweet from Friday, November 6, 2020 that read, “I agree with this”. To what was she agreeing? Another Tweet by Jeremy Barr.
“CNN’s Jake Tapper, who says he doesn’t normally talk about competitors: “The Murdochs and the people at Fox have an obligation to put their country above their profits. It is very important that people make it very clear–that there is no credible evidence of widespread fraud.”
Tweeter posts by Kathryn Murdoch @KathrynMurdoch and Jeremy Barr @jeremymbarr. November 6, 2020
By Friday evening the Wall Street Journal’s editorial page skeptically noted that the Trump campaign would have to provide credible evidence of voter fraud. They, along with all the main stream media outlets were denying all evidence, even eyewitness reports and previous news coverage of dumped ballots, and still are despite proven fraud at the writing of this blog. Fox joined the trash Trump campaign calling for him to concede to Biden despite legal means in the works to continue to prove fraud in voting.
These are news outlets. When I went to journalism school we were taught to keep our personal bias out of the news coverage and to report the facts, discover the truth. What passes for journalism now is what was once referred to as yellow journalism and credited to such publications as the National Enquirer. According to this article Fox just suddenly had their eyes opened by the more up-to-date Murdoch’s and tried to save their professional reputations by turning.
I am not quite buying that argument. Why not? Because of another article on October 15, 2020 in the Vanity Fair HIVE online publication titled “Is Rupert Murdoch Completely off the Trump Train”, written by Caleb Ecarma. Normally I would not seek news coverage from Vanity Fair. However, this article brought out a nugget of information that could explain Fox’s drastic change to no longer being supportive of President Trump. An argument it was after all.
Location: LFBC, Alabama. Photo by dfav. 11/08/2020
With COVID, my husband’s illness, my lack of mobility when I am alone, we’ve not been blessed by being able to attend church services steadily once our state government made it possible again. Until the last month when it depended on physical strength, breathing and a whole lot of wanting to.
This morning, for the first time in eight months my bass singing husband was able to stand up with the worship team and sing again. It was a tremendous faith resulting event for both of us, our church and wholly the work of God in our lives.
Not surprising, music is where God worked in my heart right away this morning.
For every day and night since the 2020 Presidential Election kicked into high gear I’ve really wrestled with trying to understand what was going on. After the actual vote I kept it up. As of this writing, the only ones sure of a winner of the Presidential Election are the national news media and the Democratic Proclaimed winner.
I still have many questions. Answers seem far away. Truth seems to have disappeared. This country, America, that I love, seems closer to peril than before the election. And yes, I really struggle with not reacting to posts, comments, and people whose actions, behaviors and thought processes are plain offensive.
This morning though messages I received that eliminated part of the struggle for me came from the lyrics of a song, “In the Father’s House” as sung by Cory Asbury.
"...my failure won't define me
That's what my Father does...
Ooh...lay your burdens down.
Ooh...here in the Father's House.
Check your shame at the door,
'Cause it ain't welcome anymore,
Ooh...you're in the Father's house..."
If in my quest to avoid conflict, confrontation with people I consider friends and even some of my family members, I kept the “peace”. Had it come at a dreadful cost? If so, I found assurance that it’s a failure that won’t define me. I know I voted the way I was lead to by God, the Father. Yet, I also know people who would say the same thing about themselves who voted exactly opposite of me.
If God was leading all of us, then how did we end up at such radically different decisions when our pens touched the ballots this week? If anything should absolutely mirror us the exact same, it should be the Word of God.
Now if you don’t believe in God, or His Word and have no respect for either or anyone who does, that would answer the question immediately. I’m not talking about those who choose this way to live. I’m talking about those of us who claim we do.
"The story's never over,
If the story isn't good,
Failure's never final
When the Father's in the room."
This portion of the son brought load of tears to my eyes. If I am the one who has sinned and refused to listen to the Father’s directive, “the story” isn’t over even if it isn’t good. God will take my failure and make something good out of it. That’s the kind of God He is. Now, He won’t remove the consequences of my sin (if in this case I am the one who is wrong) but He is prepared to help all of us through the next four years. The story doesn’t end here, in these moments.
After investing a lot of time into researching a lot of the candidates and their respective parties, I have come away with a cynical, very cynical view of main stream media. Plus, so many of the alternative sources as well. Add to that the candidates themselves.
For example, in my home state we had a long-term Democratic senator on the ballot for re-election. Not sure of the reasons why exactly the Alabama Republican Party put forth a former instate SEC football coach to challenge him. In my research this coach was a decent coach but he has no political experience and at the time of his nomination was a resident of Florida.
Was this the best we had? Maybe so. Would you run for a political office given the cess pool politics has become? I sure wouldn’t. Maybe that’s why our pool of choices was so limited.
I voted for the coach simply because my conscience wouldn’t allow me to vote for the now outgoing senator. He was the least of two evils.
"Miracles take placeThe cynical find faith And love is getting through When the Father's in the room. Jericho walls are quakin' Strongholds now are shakin' Love is breakin' through When the Father's in the room..."
With those words I could picture all of our prayers combining this morning, upholding one another, a crowd of around a hundred people (and more not knowing how many were viewing our service on Facebook or YouTube), lifting our hearts and voices in prayer.
I could almost hear the steady thump, thump of the feet of the children of Israel as they marched around Jericho in silence until the last day. Or were those our feet marching around Washington D.C.? The strongholds shaking were those of the past or of the current? Right down to the private ones we hid in our lives?
We were certainly reaching God. I could almost see the movement between us of the Holy Spirit. Was this same uplifting happening in every other House of Worship this morning? If not, why not? If we’re all worshipping the same God, how can we be so divided?
Not just on abortion, healthcare, taxes, jobs, foreign relations, racial relations, education to name a few, but on the foundational stones of our society and our lives? Things like truth? Trust? You absolutely cannot build any relationship if there is not 100% honesty so there can be 100% trust.
I’m blessed again by being able to say, I was able to understand all this even before our pastor preached. He too brought the Gospel and the truth.
If You Were to Ask Me... 
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