B194. A Poem of Refocus

 

When the load grows too heavy,

as often it does,

for I pick up and pick up

‘til unload’s a must,

I climb up the mountain

where vision is clear.

I choose what is mine,

what my own soul calls dear.

Then down I return,

more focused, and freer.

There’s work to be done,

now my sight’s again clearer.

#443

KV 4/3/2025

B193. Remembering Betty Fellows

When I came to First Presbyterian in 2012, knowing almost no one, one of my most welcoming and real connections was Betty Fellows. I had joined Betty’s Sunday School class, and we soon learned that we had the same birthday. She was 82, and I was, to the day, exactly 32 years younger. We called each other “my Birthday Buddy,” and every year, except for a COVID year or two when everyone was isolating, we celebrated together, sometimes just the two of us going out to lunch, other times other friends would join us. I often joked with her that we were twins, or that we were college roommates, because we attended the same college - also years apart.

Almost from the beginning, she would sit with me in worship, and I remember well my first Sunday of communion there. Before First Presbyterian, I had been visiting different churches, and it seemed that they all had their own distinct rituals of how communion was administered. Before the service started, I was feeling a little tense, not knowing what communion procedure to expect. Sitting beside me, Betty seemed to read my thoughts. She quietly explained to me that as we passed the communion trays to the person beside us, we said to them quietly “the body of Christ, given for you” and “the blood of Christ, shed for you,” so that everyone was served personally by someone, and everyone personally served someone else. It was a blessing to me to be served by Betty that day and many other days, and, when the tray came from the other direction, to get to serve her.

With others, we attended together Presbyterian Women Bible Studies, retreats, Church Women United gatherings, church meals and special events, and a weekly small group reading circle we called R4. I think the last time she was able to physically attend church was Ash Wednesday 2024. I picked her up at her house and she moved slowly with her cane. She shared several times how special that was, especially seeing the children getting their ashes.

Over the years, I became a regular at her house. She took me on the forest trails around her house. Sometimes we hiked. Sometimes she drove us in her golf cart, at first with her dog Sam running ahead of us; then in later years it was little Roscoe. She always showed me her flowers, in whatever season, and, both avid readers, we often talked about the books we were reading. Once when I was visiting, a bird flew inside her house, and the two of us scampered around closing doors to eventually get it back outside.

Oh, and she loved riding in my “cute little red car.” I took her to the park a couple of times, and once she arranged a visit to introduce me to Dot Swing, which was so special to me, as Dot's sister had meant so much to me in Greensboro years ago. And just while I knew Betty, she was a member of multiple reading groups, including one in Winston where, we came to realize, she knew my daddy’s twin cousins Nancy and Pat. She wanted to set up a visit for us all, but we never got around to making it happen.

Often she talked of her favorite memories of me: the women’s retreat I led in 2019, hearing me share my story in 2016, our 95th/63rd birthday when I brought a few friends and boxed lunches to her house to celebrate; and I’m not sure why, but she would laugh in delight at the memory of when I drove her to vote curbside, maybe just because it was a different way to experience voting. “Wasn’t that such fun!” she would say.

I only got to know Betty the last 13 of her 95 years, but she shared many stories with me, some repeatedly; like, when she lived in Durham and taught second grade. Her students were mostly African American, with one "Chinese girl" and one “little blonde boy.” Their classroom was at the end of the hallway, room 100, and she used to tell them that when they made it into the room, they had already made 100; and that the man who cared for the plants was the “plant manager.”

Betty was a PK (Pastor’s Kid), the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. Then she married a Presbyterian minister. They had three daughters, then grandchildren, and now there are great grandchildren. I’ve heard loving stories about every one of them.

Two days ago, as I entered Betty’s door, her face lit up as it always did. “You’re here!” she said, and she told me her breathing had been difficult all morning. “Kathy,” she said later in the visit, “is there anything in this room you’d like to take, to remember the day?” The day. She knew, didn't she. Before the next daybreak, she would be in another place.

Dear Betty, this morning the church learned of your passing. And we had communion. “The body of Christ given for you,” I could hear you saying to me as I wiped away tears. I'll catch up with you later, dear friend. Thank you for your forever imprint on my life.

B192. I Called My Sister a What??

“You dil#o!” I yelled to my little sister. It was a new insult the kids at school were using to call someone stupid. Of course I had no idea what the word meant, but it sounded funny, and I picked it up. My mom sent me to the dictionary to look up the word, then to decide if that was something I wanted to call my little sister. (Impressive parenting moment there!) It was not. I was embarrassed.

I don’t know who started that ridiculous use of that word, or how widespread it was. Was that just my little school circle, or were children across the nation calling each other sex toys? Thankfully, to my memory, it was as short-lived as wearing elephant-leg pants or hairy socks, and I probably wouldn't remember it at all had it not been for that dictionary moment.

As a linguist, what I do know is that words and language, at their roots, are intentional, and a powerful tool for shaping or manipulating our minds. Following are a few words I remember from my childhood that meant little to me at the time but were quietly shaping my prejudices.

The term, jew or jew down, used pejoratively as a verb, meant to bargain down a price to the point of cheating the buyer/seller. “Don’t let him jew you down.” I understood the term as a child, but I knew nothing about Jewish people, and, to my knowledge, there were no Jewish people anywhere near the area where I grew up. Still, the bargaining language I was using was prejudicing my mind for the later time when I would become aware of Jewish people.

Another term I heard as a child was Indian giver. This referred to someone who gave you something and then took it back. Again, as a child, I used the term with my schoolmates without realizing that the term was prejudicing us into thinking that Native American people could not be trusted.

There was another term I used to hear that meant that something broken was not really fixed but was rigged to function a little while, like maybe with a rubber band holding it together. The blatantly racist term was later softened by one letter change to jigger-rigged. As a child, this language taught me that black people weren't smart enough to properly repair something.

My schoolmates also used to tell polack jokes. I had no idea what the word polack meant, that it had anything to do with Poland or Polish, or that it was a pejorative term. The jokes were just about foolish people, similar to the more recent “blond” jokes. How many polacks does it take to screw in a light bulb, etc. Yet, at whatever point in my life I learned what the word polack meant, I already had an ingrained impression about the people.

Let's look at one more. Several of my childhood friends, myself included, had a deck of Old Maid cards. This was a children’s matching game, in which every card had a match except for the Old Maid card, which was forever being traded around, because whoever ended up the Old Maid at the end of the game was the loser. Again, the term old maid meant nothing to me as a child. It was just a game. But whoever originated the idea to market such a game to children had a strategy - to feed into children’s minds that there was something bad about women who did not marry. Otherwise, would he not have chosen to make the unmatched card a skunk or a rotten egg or almost anything else? Why an unmarried woman, which is not even a childhood concept.

Our schoolmates, our parents, and our communities did not make up these terms. The language was passed down to them as children just as it was passed to us, and that earlier generation got it the same way from their elders. My childhood community was agricultural and hard-working, not analyzers of language or studiers of people groups.

At some point in history, each of these terms was deliberately, intentionally, and strategically set into motion by someone or a group of someones who wanted to plant seeds of prejudice into our minds. New terms are continually invading our brain space, coming from politics, social media, religion, etc.

We don’t have to invite them in to stay. We can train ourselves to recognize the terms as invaders and to block them from setting up tents or constructing castles to live forever in our minds. And we can ask ourselves who is benefitting from poisoning our minds with such prejudices, and what is behind such manipulation.

What other prejudicial terms have you encountered?

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Questions for deeper thought:

1. Why target children with terms they don't even understand?

2. How else does this happen? In songs for example.

3. If someone wanted to manipulate the minds of an entire culture, where/how would they make such an attempt? To what ages? Might certain segments of the population be easier to manipulate than others? Why (not)?

4. How can similar strategies be used for good, to teach us love, compassion, and care for each other? Where have you seen examples of this?

B191. Is Truth Deeper than Words?

 I remember, as a child, picking up from my schoolmates that it was OK to lie if we had our fingers crossed. Even at that young age, I thought this was flawed, but it seemed good to have a loophole. I questioned it more after someone told me they had their legs crossed. Who is making up the rules, I remember asking myself.

Even as adults, we hear people justifying their untruths by their words. "I didn't exactly say that. My exact words were . . ." And this strategy of not exactly lying in words is used constantly by advertisers, politicians, and biased media. We are manipulated to "hear" a particular idea, but the actual words don't really spell it out. Is it truth then? Is it lie? 

I remember childhood questions in Sunday School about whether it was ever OK to lie. Such thought-provoking discussions are important for developing critical thinking and deeper morality in children, and in adults too. Is it OK to lie/cheat in order to pass a test? to win a game? to convert someone to your faith? to get an age discount? to save a life? to get a day off? to pay less taxes? to avoid hurting someone's' feelings? to make more money? Does the end justify the means?

Can we recognize when we are being misled? Take, for example, being led to vote for a particular candidate based on gas prices. Imagine if the gas prices during party A's last term ranged from 2.79 to 4.09, and the prices during party B's term had the same range. Either party could claim "When we were in control, gas cost 2.79, and when the other party was in control, gas cost 4.09. Technically, these words would be 'true" from either side. But are they?

Is Truth really about words, or is Truth something deeper than utterances?

Jesus claimed to be the Truth. Did he mean something deeper than words? (Why did he not just say he tells the truth?) Are we satisfied with where we measure up?

We all draw our own lines. Of the eleven questions in paragraph three above, I would personally answer yes to two of them. Well, maybe more like one and a half. What about you?

If our intent is to deceive, do our "true" words trump the deception? Is this a game like crossing our fingers? Who's making the rules? Whose standard am I following? And you?

Does it even matter?

I say, yes, yes, it matters a lot. Yes, Truth is deeper than words. And yes, if we find that deeper Truth within ourselves, we will strive to make our words match that inner Truth, because that is at the core of who we are: the core of me, the core of you, the core of them.

You might also like:

B65. FOX News, Truth, and Me Playing Basketball

B146: Fake News: The Smeller's the Feller

B190. Personal Inventory 2024

 

Church

Church was the main theme of my 2024.The year marked my 12th year at First Presbyterian, and it was an active one for me. I trained and was recommissioned as a Ruling Elder, to serve my second term 2024-2027. Related to that service, I also became a part of the Personnel Team and the Elder to the Volunteers Team.

I continued as a Stephen Ministry Leader, and as one of the rotating leaders of the Outlook Sunday School class; and I had several official one-on-one relationships in the church, including as a Stephen Ministry care giver, as a mentor to a confirmand (and an unofficial one to another), as a liaison to a staff member, and as a shepherd to a new member.

With the Race & Justice Ministry Team, I participated in a book study, served at Rowan Helping Ministries, and attended the summer social and several meetings. I spoke at a Church Women United meeting about our Race & Justice ministry, and I met with other RJMT and community leaders to plan a trolley event for the local 2025 Juneteenth celebration.

I was one of the speakers at the Good Friday service, giving the meditation for Jesus' "Why have you forsaken me?" saying from the cross. I was the worship assistant / liturgist for both services one Sunday, a sort of emcee position, including prayers and Scripture reading. I participated in a Wellness service, anointing our associate pastor for his sabbatical. And I shared my Faith Statement in both services one Sunday. 

I participated in the churchwide overnight Retreat at Caraway, the Ash Wednesday service and the Longest Night service, was a course guide for the TWAM 5K, and rode the church trolley in the Holiday Spectacular Parade.

Writings

Writing is always an important theme in my life, from personal journal writing to scattered events around my Childress Cousins book.

This year I published three "Dear Neighbor" articles in the Salisbury Post: one about the First Presbyterian Race & Justice Ministry (also published in the Presbyterian USA Mission Yearbook), and two others entitled "Prejudice Does Not Mean Hate" and "The Third Commandment and Politics."

I made 13 short blog posts, mostly of commentaries I originally wrote as Facebook posts:

B177. Epiphany

B178. Separating Prejudice, Discrimination, and Racism

B179. Never Forget

B180. White Nationalism: It's Not of God

B181. Following the Real Jesus

B182. Life Is Like a Deck of Cards

B183. Women's Suffrage Anniversary

B184. The Last Fourth of July?

B185. The Third Commandment

B186. Imane Khelif and Binary Thinking

B187. Ear Wash

B188. Truth and Political Lies

B189. Antichrist

Books

 Black History, Politics, Religious Politics, and Anne of Green Gables were recurring reading themes this year. I listen to audiobooks via the Libby app while I drive or clean. I read or listened to 62 books this year, listed here in the order of their publication. Those listed in bold print are especially recommended, and those in red, even more so.

Christmas Short Stories (Charles Dickens, 1800s, audio) 2011 audio collection
Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1908, audio) classic fiction
Anne of Avonlea (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1909, audio) book 2 in series
Anne of the Island (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1915, audio) book 3 in series
Anne’s House of Dreams (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1917, audio) book 5 in series, marriage

Rainbow Valley (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 1919, audio) Anne series book 7
In Our Time (Ernest Hemingway, 1925, audio) short stories
Men Without Women (Ernest Hemingway, 1927, audio) short stories
The Sound and the Fury (William Faulkner, 1929, audio) classic fiction
Life Together (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, 1939, 1954 in English, audio) theology for Christian community

Black Boy (Richard Wright, 1945, audio) autobiography
Notes of a Native Son (James Baldwin, 1955, audio)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee, 1960, audio, repeat) classic fiction, southern, race
Nobody Knows My Name (James Baldwin, 1961, audio) autobiographical
The Fire Next Time (James Baldwin, 1963, audio) civil rights letters

Black Theology & Black Power (James Cone, 1969, audio) liberation theology
Rubyfruit Jungle (Rita Mae Brown, 1973, audio, repeat) coming of age novel
The Devil Finds Work (James Baldwin, 1976, audio) Baldwin on films
The Road Less Traveled (M. Scott Peck, 1978, audio) nonfiction, psychotherapy, spirituality
Many Waters (Madeleine L’Engle, 1986, audio) fantasy fiction, time travel, Noah

In the Name of Jesus (Henri Nouwen, 1989) Reflections on Christian Leadership
Poor Things (Alasdair Gray, 1992, audio) Frankensteinesque fiction
Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (1993, Walter Dean Myers, audio) biography
Sisters of the Yam (bell hooks, 1993, audio) nonfiction; black women support
Jesus’ Alternative Plan: The Sermon on the Mount (1996, Richard Rohr) nonfiction

Fantastic Beasts (J.K. Rowling, 2001, audio) magical creatures in Harry Potter world
The Cellist of Sarajevo (Steven Galloway, 2008, audio) novel set in Bosnian war
Selected Shorts: Let Us Tell You a Story: New American Series (NPR, 2011, audio)
True Stories (Jon Scieszka, 2014, audio) 10 true short stories for youth
Echo (Pam Munoz Ryan, 2016, audio) youth historical fiction, 4 connected stories, WWII, music

The Girl Who Drank the Moon (Kelly Barnhill, 2016, audio) fantasy fiction

The Great Spiritual Migration (Brian D. McLaren, 2016) nonfiction, Christianity
Letters to My Daughter (Tim Orr, 2017) memoir: death, down-syndrome, religious
Rising Strong as a Spiritual Practice (Brene Brown, 2017, audio) non-fiction
Big God Big Questions: Confirmation for a Growing Faith (Home/Mentor Guide, 2018)

Black Fortunes (Shomari, Wills, 2018) America’s first black millionaires, biographies
Elevation (Stephen King, 2018, audio) novella about neighbors, short story “Laurie” about dog; fiction
The Night Watchman (Louise Erdrich, 2020, audio) historical fiction, Chippewa Turtle Mountain reservation
The Vanishing Half (Brit Bennett, 2020, audio) novel; light-skinned African-American twin sisters
The Three Mothers (Anna Malaika, 2021, audio) mothers of MLK, Malcolm X, & James Baldwin; bio

You Are Your Best Thing (Tarana Burke , Brene Brown, 2021, audio) psychology, black experience
The Comfort Book (Matt Haig, 2021, audio) nonfiction
Good Enough (Kate Bowler & Jessica Richie, 2022, audio) devotional
When Women Were Dragons (Kelly Barnhill, 2022) fantasy fiction, feminist
Lessons in Chemistry (Bonnie Garmus, 2022, audio) novel; women, 1950s-60s

The Tobacco Wives (Adele Myers, 2022, audio) historic novel; wealthy Southern women, 1940s
Democracy Awakening (Heather Cox Richardson, 2023) nonfiction, American history
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store (James McBride, 2023, audio) fiction, racism, antisemitism, 1920s-30s
The Gospel According to James Baldwin (Greg Garrett, 2023) nonfiction
Oath and Honor (Liz Cheney, 2023, audio) political memoir & warning

The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory (Tim Alberta, 2023, audio) evangelicalism & politics
The Crane Husband (Kelly Barnhill, 2023, audio) fantasy fiction
The Black Box (Henry Louis Gates, Jr., 2024, audio) black literature & history
The Anxious Generation (Johathan Haidt, 2024, audio) nonfiction; cell phones & mental illness
The Exvangelicals (Sarah McCammon, 2024, audio) nonfiction

The False White Gospel (Jim Wallis, 2024, audio) reclaiming the faith from Christian Nationalism
Becoming Madame Secretary (Stephanie Dray, 2024, audio) historical novel, Frances Perkins
All the Colors of the Dark (Chris Whitaker, 2024, audio) fiction, murder mystery, set in 1970s
The Briar Club (Kate Quinn, 2024, audio) historical fiction, McCarthyism
The Sweet Smell of Rain (Tom Perry, 2024) raw memoir of a biological father and daughter

The Serviceberry (Robin Wall Kimmerer, 2024) nonfiction; lessons from nature
Something Lost, Something Gained (Hillary Clinton, 2024) nonfiction, personal reflections

Other Highlights

Other than usual trips to VA, I didn't do much traveling this year. I saw the Northern Lights, a bucket list check off, for the first time, from my own house in Salisbury NC. I made three trips to the beach, and a trip to Richmond to see Broadway's To Kill a Mockingbird starring Richard Thomas.

Theatrically, I also saw The Music Man by the Piedmont Players, and the Phoenix Readers' Banned Books and Holiday productions, and attended a special pre-opening day private viewing of the movie Wicked. In visual arts, I saw several exhibits including the Carolina Artists' show and the Julian Robertson Collection (Picasso, Renoir, Monet, et.al.)  in Salisbury.

I was an active member of Women for Community Justice, attending monthly meetings, the annual retreat, and a Black Women Lead panel discussion, speaking at a Board of Elections meetings to advocate for weekend voting, and assisting in a vigil to honor Sonya Massey.

I worked in the Early Voting polls for both the Primary and the General Election. I watched on-line a 6-part seminar about Critical Race Theory and the Church, from Hood Seminary. I attended the Black History Month, Easter, and Christmas concerts of the Jubilee Community Choir. I attended Salisbury's Pride event, and I handed out voting guides on election day.

I participated in Trivia Night monthly with my "Brainy Bunch" teammates. I attended Hurley Park's Spring Fling and G Mobley's piano recital. I helped plan birthday gatherings for Betty and Darlene, and I attended memorial services in honor of H Matthieu, F Clawson, R Kidd, A Childress, and my aunt J Vestal.

In my leisure time, I continue to play "Words With Friends" and "Puzzle Page" (apps), and I worked two jigsaw puzzles, one of Richmond Hill Law School and one of San Francisco. I also binge watched more TV shows than usual, on Hulu, Netflix, Prime, Disney+, Peacock TV, PBS, and YouTube TV at various times of the year: 

The Good Place seasons 1-4 (2016-2020) sitcom about the afterlife 

All the Light We Cannot See (2023) miniseries: WWII, shortwave radio

Young Sheldon seasons 5-6 (2022-2023) Big Bang Theory spinoff

The Crown seasons 5-6 (2022-2023) British royal family

Atypical seasons 1-4 (2017-2021) sitcom, autism

Testament: The Story of Moses (2024) miniseries, multicultural story of Moses

Anne with an E seasons 1-3 (2017-2019) based on Anne of Green Gables book series

Harry & Meghan (2022) miniseries, British royal prince

Disco: Soundtrack of a Revolution (2024) miniseries, history of disco music & culture

Abbott Elementary season 3 (2024) sitcom, elementary teachers

The Bear season 3 (2024) drama, high end restaurant management

Dan Brown's The Lost Symbol (1 season, 2021) based on the novel

Movies

I saw 27 movies this year, listed here in order of release date. Those listed in bold print are especially recommended, and those in red, even more so. An asterix means I saw it in the theatre.

Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967, repeat) Sydney Portier, interracial couple
Labyrinth (1985) fantasy, Jim Henson, David Bowie
Diehard (1988) action, violence
The Birdcage (1996, repeat) comedy, “La Cage aux Folles”
In & Out (1997) comedy

Bonhoeffer: Agent of Grace (2000) Dietrich Bonhoeffer bio
Two Soldiers (2003) based on Faulkner short story, filmed Yadkin County, Winston ...
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003) fantasy
Couples Retreat (2009) romcom
Tangled (2010) Rapunzel, Disney

Stonewall Uprising (2010, PBS, documentary) 1969 gay riots in NY
Oz, the Great & Powerful (2013) wizard’s back story
The Brainwashing of My Dad (2015) documentary, right-wing media
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (2017) fantasy
Feminists: What Were They Thinking? (2018, Netflix) documentary

Charming the Hearts of Men (2021) set in 1963 South
King Richard (2021) Venus & Serena Williams
Where the Crawdads Sing (2022) based on novel
Maestro (2023) Leonard Bernstein bio
Oppenheimer (2023) historical, WWII Manhattan Project, atomic bomb

*Origin (2024) based on Wilkerson’s “Caste”
Shirley (2024) Shirley Chisholm 1972 presidential campaign
Bad Faith (2024) documentary about Christian Nationalism
Thelma (2024) comedy; grandma scammed
**Wicked (2024, twice) Wicked Witch of the West’s back story, Part 1

The Six Triple Eight (2024 Netflix) WWII black female battalion, mail duty

Book of Mormon bootleg recording of Broadway show

Health

My two major health challenges this year were carried over from past years: torticollis (involuntary neck turn, with spasticity) and an apparent severe dairy allergy with intolerances to fried, fatty, or processed foods. The spasticity in my neck has worsened this year, with an x-ray suggesting I have a compression fracture in my spinal column. More testing possibly to come. I compensate for the torticollis by strategically choosing my seat, for the best angle toward the speaker, etc.

The food issues have not improved, but my adjustment to them has. I keep a growing list of restaurants that have something on the menu I can eat. These are mostly ethnic: Turkish, Mediterranean, Asian, Latin American - and also health-conscious businesses like Juice Life in Salisbury. My current favorite is the vegan plate at Sultan Kebab (authentic Turkish) in Charlottesville. Other favorites are Chai Dhaba (Indian) at the Farmer's Market in Staunton, Gloria's Pupuseria (Ecuadorian) in Staunton, and Sabaidee (Thai) and LA Murph's (health-conscious salads and sandwiches) in Salisbury. Still, at an average of about once a month, I accidentally eat something that causes me to throw up. Often I don't know what it was.

I continue my Stretch & Balance class twice a week, and I added a couple of short-term gentle yoga classes through the year. These help my neck, as do my monthly OMT appointments. And I walk in the park weekly with my walking buddy for more than an hour, about two miles. I still wear a leg brace when I walk distances, so my foot doesn't drop, causing me to trip. I also worked out about twice a week on exercise machines. Over the span of the year, I averaged 34 minutes per day in intentional exercise.

I have seen improvement in one physical challenge this year: the odd issue of not being able to stand in one place without leaning on something. Though I still like to lean, it is more about my neck now than the past frightening neurological trauma that would come over me.

Looking Ahead To 2025

I will continue with my church commitments. I will continue to do all I can for my best health and hope to find a fix for my neck issues. I will continue to journal, and to write for publication when I have the time and inspiration. I would love to decide on my next book and get started on it.

The older I get the more certain I am that life is all about relationships. Not work, money, houses, adventure, or religion, but the friends, family, and God with whom we share the journey, and those who will journey after us.

My deepest prayer for 2025 is for national, state, and universal healing. For Truth above Tyranny.  For Humanity above Politics. For Christ above Christianity. My dear friends, may we make it so. Selah.

Photos:

1. Northern Lights visible at my house in Salisbury NC

2. one of my Salisbury Post articles

3. books I was reading on a random day in March

4. To Kill a Mockingbird marquee

5. North Myrtle Beach, SC

10. Vegan Plate at Sultan Kebab, Charlottesville, VA

B189. Antichrist

 I grew up in the 1960s and 70s as almost part of the woodwork of Charity Baptist Church in Boonville, NC. My family was there every Sunday morning, Sunday evening, Wednesday evening, and any other time the doors were open. In Vacation Bible School I pledged allegiance to the Bible and memorized Bible passages. In Sunday School I participated in “Bible Drills,” racing to be the first to find a called out Bible verse. My family “read the Bible through in a year” at the dinner table, and my mom and I played Bible board games.

In those childhood years, I remember hearing many sermons warning us about the coming of “the antichrist,” “anti” meaning “opposite of.” The antichrist would be a world-known leader, a christ/savior figure from the dark side, a satan, attracting and pulling away multitudes of followers. He would spew blasphemy and lies, stand for everything Christ did not, and be everything anti-Christ.

As a child, I could not imagine why anyone would follow such a man.

(1 Jn 2:18; 2:22; 4:3; 2 Jn 1:7; Jn 8:44; 1 Cor 15:33; Gal 5:22-23, Mt 24:5)

B188. Truth and Political Lies

We are now less than one month from Election Day, and our political wars have made most of us a little crazy. Friends, expect ridiculous lies between now and Nov 5. If it immediately angers you, stop, look for the ORIGINAL source, think twice before reposting, and try to avoid cable news sources and Facebook bait.

Lies are a political strategy. Many of the liars don't expect us to believe all their lies. The larger plan is that we stop believing anything, even the Truth, because we can't discern one from the other. This is dangerous - to our politics, our society, and ourselves - to live without Honesty and Truth.

God, teach us wisdom and discernment, and remind us to guard our hearts and minds watchfully through these next few weeks. Amen

(Suggested Readings, Videos, and News Sources: Orwell's Animal Farm and 1984, Huxley's Brave New World, Alberta's The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory, The Gospel of Matthew, The Matrix, Bad Faith, NBC, CBS, ABC, NPR, PBS)