Trick of Treat

 "Let know one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or cast spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD..." (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

Ah, the days when parents brought home the box - the box that contained your long awaited Halloween costume. You know the one made out of pure plastic (containing lead and twenty other carcinogens). You know the one that reduces your peripheral vision to...well...zero. Horse blinders for kids who are out walking at night going door to door asking for candy from complete strangers who often invite them into their old Victorian homes where deceased grandma has been rotting away upstairs in a locked bedroom. Man...did we have fun. Memories. 

I remember vividly one tragic Halloween when my dear Uncle Roger took this little country bumpkin to the big city to cash in. Forget the little plastic pumpkin...we're taking the pillow case. No apples, please, unless they are drenched in caramel and nuts wrapped in plastic. No cross contamination.  Popcorn balls. Definitely. Full size candy bars. Repeat customer. Bazooka Gum. No thanks. 

My booty bag was almost full. One more stop would complete it. "Trick or Treat." I thought about just shortening it to "Treat" because I was a nice kid and really didn't know what kind of trick I would do for them if they asked. I had a small deck of cards lodged in my pants just in case. "Take a card...any card." 

And then it happened. That darn Spider Man mask...I couldn't breath. I couldn't see. The pressure of other kids coming up behind me. I said my gracious, "Thank you," for my miniature Mr. Goodbar (my favorite). Turned and walked straight ahead. Totally disoriented. Focused on the latest steal. Missed the steps. Walked straight off the front porch like a suicide candy bomber right into their bushes. My stash flying all over the place. I'm certain it was divine punishment for my gluttonous spirit. A lot of lawn jewels for the owners of that house the next morning. 

My Uncle Roger quickly rushed over to me. Laughing. Trying not to laugh. Laughing. Sort of that humorous, "Are you okay" while internally saying, "That was awesome." Like watching someone slipping on ice or running from killer bees. You can't stop watching. It's funny but its not. And on top of that, the entire city observing my fall from grace. Tis the season. 

I am certain that the trauma of that evening subconsciously stayed with me. My fear of porch steps. Going out at night with a mask. But thank God that I still can eat a Mr. Goodbar without flashback nightmares. 

It did send me to the dark side of things. I became a lover of Bewitched and the Addams Family. I also confess that I repeatedly watch all the Harry Potter movies. 

On a more serious note...speaking of notes...when I moved to Alpena, Michigan, I received a very welcoming note that said this. "We just wanted to send you a note saying that upon your arrival we began praying for you. Praying down a curse upon you, upon your family, upon your church. May the Almighty One destroy all the works of your hands." Signed: The Coven." 

Satan is real. Demons are real. Those who follow and serve him are real. It is a dangerous area where many have literally lost their lives. Remember that our Adversary seeks to steal, to kill, and to destroy. Unfortunately, I have had the displeasure of being exposed to those individuals and to residences occupied by such. No thank you. 

So while I'm out with my oversized My Pillow pillowcase, dressed like a Jewish Rabbi, "treating" with my grandchildren this weekend (or not), I am going to be very aware that something sinister is also at work. 

Porch steps without railings. 

Children with masks and...

People who hand out fruit. 

Forget-me-not

 "Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God." Deuteronomy 8:1

I often wonder how things get their name. Take for example, the Forget-Me-Not flower. The very name pictures some sort of sad story - a story of departure, of separation, of death, perhaps even a brutal execution of an innocent. I digress.  

Legend has it that a young knight was walking with his betrothed by the river when romance over took him and he leaned over to get a bouquet of flowers from the bank for his love. Unfortunately, he lost his balance, fell into the river, and because of his armor, began to sink and drown. His last words were...you guessed it..."I should have bought chocolate." But that was a very long and stupid name for a flower. No. They went with "forget me not." 

And she said, "Is that all there is...is that all there is...is that all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. Bring out the booze and have a ball. If that's all there...whoops...so sorry. I was back singing that old Peggy Lee song again. (August 25th blog). 

Young maidens from thence forth wore these flowers as a sign of faithfulness and deep love for the men who went off to battle and those who did not return. 

Just an FYI - it actually has roots in the Greek language and originally meant, "mouse ears." Less romantic, I know, but true none-the-less. "Hey, Hon, I picked you some mouse ears." Loses something in the translation. 

"Forget-me-not," God tells his people when they enter into the Promised Land. "Forget-me-not" when you become rich and prosperous. "Forget-me-not" when you live in safety, when you live in nice houses, when your flocks increase, when your children are doing well. "Forget-me-not" when it seems that you don't need me anymore. "Forget-me-not."  

"Forget-me-not" when the ungodly push me out of school. "Forget-me-not" when they legally begin to kill my babies in the womb. "Forget-me-not" when they force My church to close. "Forget-me-not" when My Word becomes hate speech. "Forget-me-not."

Forget-me-not" when you feel anxious about tomorrow and concerned about your future as a follower of My Son. "Forget-me-not" when sorrow overwhelms, when My voice seems to be silent, when My hand seems to be cold, when the heavens seem to be shut, when death separates. "Forget-me-not." 

The point is that God knows I have a tendency to forget His presence - in good times and bad (unfortunately). Any type of stress, any type of discontent (especially when things are going well) should be a sign that I'm forgetting God. 

A good reminder...

Now... off to buy my beloved a box of chocolate and some mouse ears. 

"Forget-me-not." 

 

No See Um's

"If you do not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants, on your people and into your houses." (Exodus 8:21)

Deb and I always look forward to sunny fall afternoons where we can just sit outside on the front porch or the back deck depending on the heat of the sun and the breeze. But lately we have been sequestered by the ongoing plague. No, I'm not talking about Covid but something more relentless: "No See Um's." 

I had never heard of these insects before and wish that I hadn't. They more accurately have been called, "No See Um's but Feel Um's" because by the time you see them they have already cannabalized you. 

The correct Dan Lute phylum name is, "Small Blackish Kinda-fleeish Irrititum" or Dasyhelea from the genus Dasyheleinae. Also called, Black Biting Midges (not midgets). 

I don't care what you call them...they hurt and they make the most wonderful time of the year miserable. I have never been praying so fervently for an early frost as I have this year. Death to the midges! 

It fells like the last two years the enemy has just wanted us to stay indoors, to be prisoners in our own homes, to rob of us of simple pleasures. But perhaps its just a natural phenomenon because of all the rain we have had. Or...could it be a divine plague once again calling us to repent. 

Covid. Seventeen year locusts. One hundred year flooding in Germany, Austria, and China. No toilet paper or canned carrots (still don't understand those two). Higher than normal temperatures. Please don't say, "Global Warming." Sorry, Greta. The Polar Bears will survive...or not. Life on planet earth will continue. Please devote your remaining years to curing Cancer or Alzheimer's Disease or Leprosy or finding actual Americans to be on America's Got Talent.

But I'm not sure life will survive if those Black Death Midges continue. I'm guessing this is the actual reason the dinosaurs went extinct. 

Truth be told we don't know what the truth is about these things. Are they simply a cyclical pattern of life? Is it something demonic in nature? Or a divine passiveness that is giving us a picture of what it will look like when He takes His hands off the sovereign wheel of creation? 

I've done my research. I've come to my conclusion. 

Essential oils: Lavender and Lemongrass. 

Regarding the rest...we'll just have to wait, see, and try not to itch. 

Mental Constipation

 "At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. 'You are out of your mind, Paul,' he shouted. 'Your great learning is driving you insane.'" (Acts 26:24)

I am at a crossroad. I have spent my whole adult life studying intensely so that I might be a vessel of honor for the Lord in the area of teaching His word. I have so much more to learn. So much more to understand. But I am tired. King Solomon said, "Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body." (Eccl. 12:11). I am weary and have been for a very long time. But I push on...

I am also aware as a teacher that giving too much information to students yields to what is known as "paralysis by analysis" - the place where there is too much to think about or the thing thought about has such depth that your mind simply stops working. Mental constipation. Academic enema needed.

I love to read and books have been my solace, my friend, my comfort, my strength, my source of renewal...my idol. 

Perhaps some of you can resonate. I have an internal need to understand, to know. Perhaps it stems from a fear of not knowing - to be asked a question and to suffer the embarrassment of something I should know, should have been aware of but wasn't. The fear of that one thing I could have said to turn the mind toward God, to turn the heart toward God. Failure. "What a crappy job, good and sort of faithful servant." 

Arrogant? Proud? Confessed. Desiring to please, to not let anyone down...God. Certain. Firstborn syndrome. Heir to the throne with the self-induced pressure to go with it. "I'm thinking so," says my inner therapist. But what to do?

Overall, I think its from God. It's how I connect with Him in a deep way. It is also part of my introvert DNA. But I've been feeling that season is coming to an end or shifting. 

But what's next? No idea. A part time job? I think that would just fill space and time. Sitting on the couch watching mindless TV for hours (except for the History Channel, the SciFi Channel, and...okay, HGTV, and the Food Network). Oh...and FreeForm, and MeTV, and the Inspiration Network, and Newsmax, ESPN college football, and...OMG...I need to read more and watch TV less. 

I feel like I am characterized by the sinful women in Titus, "ever learning but never coming to the knowledge of truth." I know that that's not true but I long for some definitive direction. A rifle instead of a shotgun. 

I know that in the latter days people will leave the faith and follow doctrine taught be demons. I know that my spiritual gift is to fight error and proclaim truth. I'm looking for a fight not another book to read (default). 

I miss teaching at a doctoral level. No "C's" get degrees stuff. Hardcore mind/spirit engagement. Gloves off. Get at it. Invigorating. Wonderfully exhausting. Like baling hay all day in 90 degree weather exhausting. 

Perhaps that is what the essence of a true spiritual gift is - not something you do, but something you are, something you love. Perhaps it is the thing that exhausts you and exhilarates you simultaneously. Perhaps its what drives you to greatness and can at the same time drive you to insanity. 

Maybe the difference is the focus: the subject or the object. 

Maybe the difference is that the intake is not equaling the output.

Solution: I just need a good "movement."