Category Archives: Seasonal Favorites

When the Lady of the North Comes Down to Dance

She brings her own music. She comes and goes – and stays – whenever and wherever she will. It’s her orchestra, her production, and she ever compels some of us to join her dance, no matter what our plans might have been otherwise. When the lady of the north visits, we drop whatever we are doing to embrace her frigid melody. We break out our heaviest parkas, lug heavy bags of wild bird seed, to prepare our very lives around her stay. We quickly learn all the steps to dance with her once again.

Today is the onset of the big winter storm the weatherman has been telling us about and here in the Ozarks it’s 3F and snowing. My daughter and I brought in lots of firewood over the last few days, so we should be about as ready as we can be. I have to go up the hill to the chicken and goat pens and take them water and do it a couple of times today because it freezes so fast in this cold. We must always accommodate the lady.

Sometimes I watch You tube videos of those country folks over in the Russian north and it’s amazing to me that even the old folks living alone in that climate can manage as well as they do. I guess if it’s all they’ve ever known it’s just a way of life, but still, it speaks volumes for the character and resilience of those people in that they survive, even thrive in that cold and ice. Here in the US, we get all freaked out over a cold spell that would actually be warmer weather than what they experience every day in the winter. I mean, it’s 3F here and we are pretty much at a standstill, and in Siberia -40F is the norm. Say what you want about Russian people, but I have a ton of respect for their tenacity.

I suppose that us folks here in the Ozarks could compare in some ways to those Russian country folks in that we are mostly dispersed around the country and the backwoods and do a lot for ourselves, cutting firewood, growing gardens, and tending the land, but we still are able to jump into the car and make a run to Walmart when we run out of something or other, but those folks on the Siberian Taiga don’t have that luxury. Still, I sometimes find myself in envy of them for what they are able to do to survive even though it has to be a tough life out there.

Image result for free pics of winter cabin peasant life on the taiga
Image result for free pics of winter cabin peasant life on the taiga

Another thing that catches my eye in those Russian back country videos is that those folks in the Russian Motherland invariably have tapestries, portraits, or other images of Jesus hanging in their homes, and they are not the least bit shy of showing them off. They seem to be a very religious people and that’s refreshing to someone who is a believer but is used to living in a society that seems to be losing it’s spiritual footing.

As the lady chooses her partners – for now it looks to be the people of the southeastern US – even though we try not to make eye contact with her, it’s of little use because she always knows with whom she will dance and weather forecasters are getting pretty good at figuring out just who will have to take the floor and who might be able to sit this one out. Alas, it’s our turn this weekend, so we might as well get the shovels ready and put out lots of bird seed and get dressed in our finest insulated coveralls for the ball.

Here’s a little bonus for the cold spell:

When the Lady of the North comes down to dance

Lookin lovely in her white chiffon and riding on the wind

Her entourage of snow clouds thrill the heart

Creatures of the woodland pause and wait with bated breath

Her icy embrace when those north winds start

                                                    (but for the grace of winter coats they’d chill the very essence of the heart)

When the Lady of the North arrives at last

Light a fire and keep the cabin warm; it’s best she stays outside

To play among the barren trees in snow

And whisper songs of icy stars in vales of moonlit peace

O’ hear them in the trees as cold winds blow.

                                                 (songs of stars and moon above and creatures in the snow fall down below)

Now the Lady of the North comes around each year

She sends the geese south on the wind to herald her return

She always seems to make it ‘ere the Yule

And Christmas wouldn’t be the same without her frosty air

And children singing carols after school.

                                                (walkin’ in the snow and singing carols in the merriest of moods)  Jingle Bells…

When the Lady of the North’s been here a while

And we’ve heard the red bird sing its song and watched the waxwing fly

And she’s dusted all the holly trees with snow

Her work won’t be complete until the lake is frozen o’er

And young ones with their skates away will go.

                                                (and spend the day on ice in awe of every wonder in this world of snow)

To the Lady of the North all bid goodnight

And sit around the fireplace while she howls outside the door

Telling stories of how reindeer learned to fly

And little ones with sleepy eyes get tucked into their beds

To dream of Christmas Morning’s pumpkin pie

                                                (the Lady of the North keeps dancing in the ice cold winds that blow outside).

Mike Kitchens

18 December 2016

So stay warm as best you can and only dance with the lady when you have to, and by all means get back inside and warm up at every opportunity.

MK

Wintertime Walk on the Farm

It’s cold outside today, but after seeing what those poor folks over in Kamchatka are having to endure, I guess we here in the Ozarks should be thankful. There are news reports (with video) about a major snowstorm over there and it’s spooky to see how much snow they got. There are drifts that reach the tops of what look like 5-story buildings. People are digging cars out from what look to be 10-15 foot high snowbanks! Some of the more daring youngsters are filmed jumping from 4 or 5 story windows into snow piles drifted up against the buildings and they completely disappear into snowdrifts. Somehow they crawl out, presumably to do it again, but I don’t think the thrill would be worth the effort to dig out for me.

courtesy Firstpost – Kamchatka – Can you believe this much snow from one storm?

Back here in the Ozarks, I took my pups, Little Britches and Number One, out to play on the iced-over pond and they had a blast. Cold doesn’t seem to bother them at all, even though they’re mostly house dogs.

Britches took to the ice fine, but Number One was a bit shy of it.
One of the barn cats joined us for the walk.

These two doggies are pups from my late old girl, Dusty. They are six-years-old now and I had to suffer the heartbreak of losing their mother (and her brother, Chewy) last September. My regular readers will remember a couple of posts during that depressing time. I sort of made a little pet cemetery in which they are buried along with the ashes of some earlier dogs we’ve had to part with.

Now I just have these two villains and they are a handful.

Britches with her fancy blue merle pants.
Number One running in the cold field.

We’re hanging together here on the old farm in the Ozarks, a world away from the darkness that seems to be overtaking the world. So far, we’re little affected by the world’s troubles, but like the shadows of Mordor, the evils of the enemy will surely get here too. We take refuge in the promises of the Lord, so when the time comes that the darkness does get here, we are prepared to face whatever the enemy throws at us. Jesus is a mighty fortress in times of despair and if you haven’t learned of Him yet, you have no idea how much you need to. Things are getting bad and Jesus is the only Way to emerge victorious over the malevolence Satan has in store for the world. [John 14:6]: “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Me.” Y’all enjoy the rest of the winter as much as you can.

May the blessings of the Almighty Father see us through the dark times ahead.

MK

May Peace and Joy to the World Be Upon Us

Manger Wallpapers - Wallpaper Cave

Today is Sunday and we celebrate Christmas in a few days. That is, those of us who believe mankind has the authority to establish holidays that recognize the biggest events in what some of us believers consider to be our history. There are a lot of differing opinions about Christmas, and I completely agree that some humans have twisted the meaning of it to where it’s hardly recognizable as Jesus Christ’s birthday and has instead become another opportunity for the wealthy to exploit folks and increase their wealth. A lot of regular folks seem to have lost what should be the intent too, and get caught up in the lights and decorations, the beautifully wrapped presents, and the air of celebration itself, rather than staying focused on exactly what should be celebrated. Whether or not the date is correct is beside the point.

Many claim there’s evidence that the celebration of Christmas may have some of it’s origins in pagan festivities, and it’s true enough that elves, Santa Claus and decorated trees don’t have much to do with the events surrounding the birth of the Savior of the world, but people have become accustomed to seeing these things at this time of the year, and I really don’t believe most of us are thinking of pagan things. If believers would use this opportunity as a teaching moment – due to Christmas festivities, the subject of Jesus Christ has been broached in a very obvious way – to try and get the message of salvation out to those who do not know Jesus, it might prove to be an excellent time to witness to them. There are many believers who are dead against celebrating Christmas due to what they believe to be pagan beginnings, and I’m not arguing that they’re wrong, it’s just that in the short time we have left to help with the Lord’s harvest in which we are mandated to do, it looks like too much energy is being expended on trying to speak to people against celebrating Christmas. Especially people who aren’t well-versed in Christ’s message.

The nonbeliever doesn’t know enough about religious contention like this to understand such arguments, and even in their ignorance of the meaning they still want to enjoy Christmas festivities, so one of the best ways I know of to turn them off to the idea of serving the Lord is to condemn them for wanting to enjoy the holidays. After all, if someone knows absolutely nothing about Jesus Christ to begin with, and if believers try to start witnessing to them by claiming their participation in Christmas festivities is sinful, it would make it much harder to win them over to Christ.

There’s a good argument to be made that everyone should be apprised that there certainly are behaviors that are unacceptable to those of us who want to please the Lord, but I’m rather skeptical of the notion that recognizing a day that men have set aside to remember the birth of Jesus is necessarily one of them. That is, if we are genuinely out to please Him. We should be willing to shoulder the responsibility to our testimony and use the opportunity this holiday provides to teach folks about who Jesus is and what He means to us – and the whole world.

Image result for free pics of the manger

When Jesus came to this earth, He brought a covenant that men had a tough time learning to accept. Things changed drastically from the way they had been before He was here, and if the truth was known, men are still struggling to deal with those changes. We received authority in the very beginning to manage things on the earth. We were given stewardship, God allowed men to name animals and tame some of them. Mankind was tasked with the responsibility of managing the earth. [Genesis 1:26]:“Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

A time came when God saw that men weren’t managing the earth and they kept falling short of living the way He wanted them to, so He sent them His law, through Moses, for guidelines to live lives pleasing to Him, but nobody could even comply with that law and sin continued to abound until God decided to send His Son to the world to take the sin away. At least the sins of those who believe. That’s why we celebrate Christmas; we don’t observe pagan rituals – at least those of us who strive to understand the incredible plan and what it is about. God set up a new covenant through the ministry of Jesus Christ and sent His Holy Spirit to actually dwell in the hearts of men who believed in Jesus. I choose to believe that the Holy Spirit in men of long ago gave them the heart to do many things they had not previously been able to do, such as establish their own days in which they were able to show the world in Whom they placed their trust, and I believe that Spirit also gave men the authority to do so. I also think the problems that arise between people who celebrate Christmas and those who don’t believe in it arise as a result of believing – or doubting – that men have that authority. The New Covenant (of the Holy Spirit dwelling in our hearts) that Jesus established gave us a lot of leeway as far as how we run things (such as establishing nations, governments, and holidays), but He tightened the requirements on our motives and behavior. Some of us get that concept backwards. As long as we are not submitting to pagan gods or beliefs, we are free to set up our own observances without displeasing the Lord. There’s no argument against it. [Colossians 2:16]:“So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths…”

As with every other Godly endeavor of decent men, there was an attempt, actually a largely successful one, by Satan to interfere with it, and now instead of widespread recognition of Jesus, we have a highly commercialized holiday, amenable to making wealthy men (who largely do not know Christ) richer and if there is a perversion of Christmas, that would be it in my opinion. The root of all evil, money, has corrupted the hearts of men so they try and render our holiday into just another cash cow. But we don’t have to acquiesce to sharing their greed, and we can still observe what we like to think of as Jesus’ birthday by praying, exchanging gifts (as examples of brotherly love started by the wise men), and yes, using the Christmas opportunity to witness to folks who enjoy Christmas but might not know much about what it really is.

Image result for free pics of the manger

Even if today’s Christmas celebration had its beginnings in days of some pagan rituals, I like to think faith in Jesus has won all times of observances over to Him and the pagan trappings are no longer in effect. There may be some leftover groups or tribes who still use it as a pagan holiday, but I don’t see any of them around – most of the folks I know celebrate Christmas as the day we recognize the birth of Christ and the pagan part of it is long gone. In fact, recognition and celebration of anything to do with Jesus Christ is in direct opposition to anything pagan. Jesus has been victorious over the hearts of men who have come to see Christmas as a day to celebrate Him. As far as the commercialization and Santa Claus, etc., we don’t have to get involved in all that, but I really think Christians have bigger fish to fry than spending all their time and energy fretting about people recognizing Christmas. We have more important work to do. The harvest is abundant. [Matthew 9:37,38]:“Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. As I said before, we can use Christmas as an opportunity to witness for Christ.

There are growing movements these days of organizations and groups who do not believe in Jesus, some even hate Him and His name. They try incessantly to remove Christ from our lives, there’s nothing they would like better than to see Jesus’ ministry erased from the world and by removing Christmas (properly observed as the day set aside to recognize Jesus Christ’s birth) there would be less opportunity for unbelievers to encounter His name. His name needs to be out there in the world at large as much as possible and if nothing else, Christmas helps to serve this need.

I believe the bottom line is that if you think it’s a sin to celebrate Christmas, then by all means don’t do it, but please allow those who believe they are free to recognize it as the day of Christ’s birth to do so however they see fit within moral bounds. If they are wrong but are sincerely trying to please Him, God will convict each heart.

Image result for free pics of the manger

May the blessings of the Almighty Father find and keep us in this Season of Joy.

MK

Anticipating the Ozark Autumn World

Little stream not far from our farm

This is the time of year that readers of folkpotpourri know to expect the psychological disorder which I call OCPA, obsessive, compulsive prose of autumn, to overtake this writer again. By now y’all know autumn’s my favorite time of the year, so far surpassing other seasons that it would be unfair to even compare them. I understand that I’d be hard-pressed to render a tribute with even a modicum of word smithery, but this is a free website after all, and everyone knows you get what you pay for, so just indulge me. Besides today is the last day of summer, so it’s technically not fall yet – things are just getting warmed up (to cool down). Anyways, we need something peaceful to think about with all the bad things going on in the world. Here goes:

Random early dogwood leaf

Fallow hickory breezes blow through silent dales as the Celestial palette again waxes encumbered neath thickening shades of pastel grown prepared to cloak brooding gum trees now grown weary of their verdant apparel of yesterday’s springtime blessing. Blissfully now the normally irascible crow cheers this scintillation of the whispered taste of autumn being offered, generous harbinger of the temperate weeks of summer’s wan from haze and endless days of imposing heat. As fall expires, however, this same cantankerous bird will be among the loudest of those carping of the cold.

Image result for free pic of crow in winter
Waiting for spring

Great white oaks undulate in joyful dance upon azure heavens as they beckon a north wind to bring forth splendid new autumn attire, eager to don whichever hue the Master has granted for what surely will become another fete of autumnal majesty, held but for another day, another week perhaps, but soon, nevertheless. The dogwood has already begun to loudly emerge from the sylvan dressing chamber, cloaked in another gown of magnificent copper and abundantly bespecled with crowds of bright red berries clinging to her laden branches.

Late summer dogwood getting changed – not quite dressed yet but beautiful nonetheless

Such is their eagerness to display this year’s boisterous scarlet, poison ivy wends among hickory tops, singing loudly their familiar, red-shaded aria to herald fall’s arrival. As his leaves become gilded with a tint of gold that only the Master artist could produce, the hickory patiently and silently awaits his turn to sing his fallow song – and sing he will, but anon as crisp wind flies upon the hills. Soon icy fingers shall grasp tender green branches intent upon splashing autumn colors on all.

These are from last year – scenes like this aren’t here just yet.

Halls of indescribable splendor will soon grace somber hills of misty silence, all decorated by the same Master whose unmatched attention to beauty and peaceful serenity of a perfectly decorated hillside compasses this sylvan world. The gaudy black gum and sumac are the appetizer, sufficient themselves to sate any hunger for magnificence, yet they only tantalize – fallow hickory and shades of red and rust of stately oaks, and the highly prized yellow and pastel orange of the maple are the main course. Thank God for the beauty He has bestowed upon us!

Maples adding their touches of color to the painting

He created this excellent world of color for our eyes to enjoy – then he created our eyes such that we can enjoy it!

Spring fed pond with late summer wildflowers

Enjoy autumn as y’all are able to get out, and may God bless all.

MK

A Peaceful and Wholesome Distraction

A thought went through my mind this morning and aside from revealing that there is some activity happening between these wrinkled old fuzzy ears that don’t work all that well, I decided to write a post about normal life here in the country for a change. Been too much discussion on the problems in the world lately and I have to admit I’ve been caught up in it. If you’ve been seeing my posts lately, I’m sure you’ll agree.

For one thing, the oppressors of this world probably enjoy seeing all of us folks stewing over the problems they create for us, so I doubt they’d enjoy a lighter spirited post that might lift folks’ mood somewhat, but there is life outside the Ukraine and Palestine. That doesn’t mean we should stop praying for those folks though.

Here in the Ozarks, where God has specially blessed our world. Instead of war, droughts, heat waves, volcanoes, landslides, and floods, we’ve been blessed, at least for this year. We’re getting plenty of rain but not too much, and that’s sort of unusual in mid-July. So, let’s talk garden…

Squash plants enjoying a rainy July

My garden has gone ballistic this year, there are tomatoes bigger than softballs, and my peas are going nuts. I grow southern field peas, specifically a variety called brown crowders – my favorite. You can cook up a “mess” of those little guys and throw in a chopped onion and a few pods of sliced okra with about three slices of cut-up bacon and some beef stock, and in a couple of hours you’ll have a bowl of peas that have caused men to propose marriage over. Oh, I have to wait a week or so for my okra to catch up – it’s just now starting to bloom.

First okra blooms are getting started – my daughter says they are her favorite flower

I’ve had friends when I lived south of Dallas who were of Czech descent, and they grew turnip greens, but they only kept the turnips and threw the greens out to the cows. I was aghast when I saw the farmer and his wife throwing perfectly good (and delectable) greens over the fence. I told them those greens were among the most wonderful foods this side of Heaven, and insisted they cook a pot of them up and try them – of course with the turnips included, which only adds to the delightful taste. They cooked some, and to my shock, they didn’t seem to like them as much as just the turnips alone. That set me to wondering what other weirdness had been bred into folks of Eastern European descent, but I guess to each his own.

My turnip greens have matured, and the row needs to be replanted, they grow fast and will make new batches until heavy frost, so I try to keep some in progress. Only problem is that we get kind of burned out on them and let them grow to maturity when they get tough with a bit stronger taste – still delicious, but the new fresh ones are best, we call them tender greens, actually better when they are very young before the turnips start growing. I had a friend when I was in the Navy who said that if God had made anything better than turnip greens, He kept it for Himself, and if that’s true, Heaven’s going to have some primo food!

A lot of folks think I have some kind of green thumb, but I really don’t. I don’t use almanacs – which may or may not help I don’t know, but I do say a prayer for God’s blessing on my garden when I start planting and I usually have a decent crop – just a small backyard garden, but it keeps us in fresh produce through the summer and I even have enough to make several trips a month with cucumbers, tomatoes and squash for the local food bank. I don’t take any brown crowders though. Not because I’m greedy, but it’s just that people this far north don’t grow field peas, although they do good here, so nobody is used to eating them and maybe it’s an acquired taste or something.

Some immature brown crowder peas – green here – they turn brown when they are shelled out and cooked.

As always, I’ve planted way more cucumbers than we need, but there are folks who can use them. This year I planted a strain called munchers, they didn’t come up as fast as I thought they should have, so I replanted the same row with another variety and, you guessed it, the munchers took longer and so came up with the other ones so now I have a crowded cucumber fence, but it’s all good.

Squash are doing their normal thing, but those pesky squash bugs are bad here. I usually get one or two good pickings of zucchini before the bugs get them. The yellow crooked neck squashes seem to last a little longer. There are a few things you can do to battle those bugs, but I just don’t have time.

Baby yellow squash – they grow fast – tomorrow these will be ready for a skillet.

If you haven’t tried growing a garden, I suggest you give it a shot. Of course, most of the folks who read these posts live in cities and aren’t able to enjoy gardening. Maybe y’all can enjoy reading about it anyways. It’s a therapeutic exercise and very enjoyable. Plus, you get the added benefit of fresh produce through the summer. In fact, there are varieties of squash that keep well on into the winter.

God bless all – try and keep a positive outlook in this old world of trouble and watch those radishes grow if you can.

MK

Sometimes Nature is Better Left Alone

The goldfinches are putting on a show this spring. It’s wonderful to see the little guys out flitting about like they used to do when we first moved here.

When I came to the Ozarks, it had been a very long time since I had lived out in the country. I probably didn’t learn enough about how rural life worked, nor about nature and God’s creation, so I made a lot of hasty moves that cost me the enjoyment of watching lots of birds and woodland critters. There was a swampy area behind my house that really wasn’t good for anything, or so I thought, so I set out to clear the cat tails, berry vines, and willow saplings, hoping I could put the area to better use. We had an abundance of thistle plants all over the property, and I recruited my daughter to help me do war on them. There were big thickets of autumn olives, a “nuisance” shrub that I spent hours attacking with a machete. A person couldn’t walk through those jungles – they were a waste of property. Unless you enjoyed wild bird songs.

As I worked to make the farm more “livable”, I had no idea of the environmental importance of overgrown thickets and willow saplings. But sure enough, after a few years of my war on nature, I began to notice there were less and less indigo buntings, goldfinches, squirrels, and rabbits around. My farm was becoming sterile, and it took me a good while to understand that it was because of my determination to turn the land into a parking lot that things were becoming quiet here, at least as far as bird songs were concerned.

I started reading about some of the environmental issues around the place and began to realize that God knew what He was doing after all, when He set things in motion. Those autumn olive groves made perfect nesting sites for several species of birds and produced a little fruit in the fall for them and the deer to eat. I learned that the favorite food of the goldfinch is thistle seeds, which I had almost entirely cleared out. That old bog that had been a pond basin was still being fed water from a spring behind my house, and those willow trees and cattail and briar patches that had proliferated out there was perfect habitat for birds and countless other critters and beautiful wild flowers.

I noticed when I was clearing the marshy area that there was a delicious scent of mint out there, and lots of plants that grew little orange flowers – I later learned that this was jewel weed, reputed to be a good natural remedy for poison ivy and other skin ailments. Once when I walked out into the woods at another place wearing Bermuda shorts, I went through some nettle plants that stung my bare legs – bad! I’m a fairly tough old codger, but that pain was extremely uncomfortable, and remembering what I had read (and what my daughter had told me) about jewel weed, I started looking for some that I had previously seen nearby. I found it and picked some and crushed it up till it was a slimy mess and applied it to my burning legs. The pain was gone instantly! I have frozen jewelweed paste in my freezer now. And I have a healthy supply growing in my marsh, once a nuisance swampy area, now has become a nature preserve – right behind my house, snakes and all.

We call it “the fen”. If you have one on your property, you should keep it. Pond frogs make a pretty sound.

“A gift from God of inimitable beauty, the sigh of high grass of ochre glade in slow dance to the sweetest of a southern breeze of spring delight. Bouquets of dame’s rocket and wild mallow watch intently and from the dank, dark forest wends earthy, delicious scent of jasmine. How I absorb and thrall to such enormity of sylvan passion as do the pristine bluebirds regaling awing o’er a benevolent scape! What more I ask, dear one, shall heaven be?”

Happy springtime.

MK

Christmas Tree in the Ozark Woods

I’d just like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas from the Ozarks. We used to decorate this little cedar tree out in the woods.

People passing by on the dirt road could see it out back – they must have wondered. I’ve seen deer out there in the night standing close and looking at it.

Merry Christmas, peace, and love.

MK

Epic Battles for Eternity

It’s close to the time of year we celebrate the birth of Jesus, and thoughts of believers naturally excurse to Heavenly subjects.  It’s amazing to try and imagine what goes on up there and how it affects us.  There’s so much to learn, so much more to know. It’s interesting to compare what we do know from the scriptures to what is happening in the world, in science, and how they might correspond.

For instance, one of the interesting things, at least to me, is that our scientific community thought it would be prudent to build a complex detection system to try and detect what they call gravity waves from the universe.  Some weird deflection system was built in a desert that would sense distortion of space supposedly caused from terrifically violent events out there somewhere.  Sure enough, they picked up some kind of disturbance they attributed to a couple of supermassive black holes colliding many light years away.  Wow! Now, these waves are thought to have derived from the physical cosmos, but what if they came from heaven?

I’m as far from being a scientist as you could imagine, but I have my own ideas.  There are proposed notions of interactions between this physical dimension where all “laws” of physics neatly operate, and other dimensions, for lack of a better description.  For instance, a lot of people believe the large hadron collider on the border of France and Switzerland was developed to institute a portal between ours and other dimensions.  I don’t know about all of that but considering the absolutely mad and in-your-face evil running wild in the world lately, they actually may have succeeded in finding the key to that place – the bottomless pit – from which demonic monstrosities come into our world to take over the populations and especially the leaders of several nations. Considering the absolute depravity, evil, and madness of some of the world dignitaries right now, who knows? It’s not like the evil is hidden as they once tried to keep it.

Back to gravity waves.  There are references in the bible about a time in heaven when the angels were at war.  We’ve all seen Hollywood depictions of epic violent and catastrophic events, but as far as I’m concerned, they only reveal the limit of human imagination when it comes to real apocalyptic happenings.  In fact, even with CGI (Computer Generated Imagery), Hollywood’s as pathetic at trying to imagine, as they are at depicting such things.  Let your imagination go nevertheless and remember the Creator who makes things like galaxies and supernovae, who knew all things related to nuclear power eons ago, also created angels and gave them unimaginable power.  He also created those supermassive black holes, quasars, pulsars, magnetars, gamma rays, and other phenomena, probably many of which are yet to be discovered.  Now, what kind of absolute mayhem might have been afoot during that battle?

I believe whatever cataclysmic events took place in that heavenly war, when the archangel Michael and his angel army defeated Lucifer and his army, was far beyond the imaginations of mortals.  It must have been quite the battle!  What kind of space and time warping weapons did they have at their disposal?  For lack of a better description, this undoubtedly would have been the greatest and most epic battle event in all of creation, and you know what?  From the way it reads, the most powerful Being of all did not even participate.  He obviously knew Michael and his angels could deal with the cosmic insurrection.  We can’t even begin to imagine what actually did happen, much less what might have taken place if the Creator Himself had taken an active part. Maybe in some way He did, but as with all else heavenly, we wouldn’t be able to understand it.

I can’t even find words to begin to describe what that awesome monstrosity of a battle must have been like.  And we think our puny nuclear weapons are fearsome.  The angels took “shock and awe” to a whole new level! We’re talking about beings who could no doubt destroy entire galaxies!  There probably are things way more phenomenal than galaxies, after all that realm is where the Creator of all things has His throne.  Jesus told us we couldn’t even imagine the joy that we would experience when we get there and I’m quite sure there will be other things, entities, events, that we cannot imagine either, at least not from this side.

It’s important to remember though, that even with all of the unfathomable powers of spiritual beings, there are a few things we know of that cannot be destroyed.  Among those things that were created to be indestructible is the human soul.  Wow!  Imagine that!  God was so thoughtful when He made us (for His fellowship) that He gave us a soul that could never be destroyed – other than by His own hand!  (Matthew 10:28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.) Not even those powerful angels can destroy the soul, even if they had a mind to.  The notion of an indestructible soul can (and was intended to be) a very, very good thing, but it also has a potential downside.  You see, while we are here on this earth, He gives us opportunity to choose whether we would like to get to know Him and be in His presence – to go with our soul to exist in that place of unimaginable joy for all of eternity, or allow ourselves to get caught up in all the distractions of this brief, fleeting physical world where we exist during this time set for choosing, and thereby consign our souls to a place of eternal damnation – a place where the very indestructibility of the soul dictates that if torment is where it ends up, it will be forever, but again, that was not the intent when the soul was created, that turns out to be instead a consequence of our bad choices.

That creature that was kicked out of heaven was, unfortunately for us, sent to the earth where we also must dwell for a short while.  He obviously made it his purpose to try and thwart God’s plan to enjoy fellowship with His beloved human creation. As part of doing so, he got us kicked out of the paradise of Eden and to this day continuously presents temptations and distractions to keep our focus away from God’s love and mercy.  Sadly, for so many of our kind, he has been highly successful.  Especially when it comes to luring and corrupting people with riches and decadent lifestyles, his greatest weaponry.  He evn tried tempting the Lord Jesus with that, but it didn’t work. People don’t realize they are trading an eternity of incomprehensible joy which exists in God’s presence – indeed as a consequence of His presence – for a few fleeting days of fame, wealth, and immorality which brings no real joy at all.  Regardless of what it looks like to the peasantry, rich people are not happy.  They trade the joy of having friends who love them, for throngs of adulating people who just want to be close to their money.  Even their own families circle like vultures waiting to pick their bones when they pass on. The lifestyle they experience is empty and unfulfilling, therefore they mindlessly, slavishly, and continuously seek more of whatever they already have. In fact, their whole existence is caught up in greed such that they never experience meaningful satisfaction. There is no mortal love in their world.

The bible says that when the former heavenly “luminary”, Lucifer, and his angels were kicked out of heaven after that epic battle, the phrasing the scripture uses is that no place was found for them in heaven anymore.  Wow!  Let that sink in. Can you even begin to imagine the implications?  What were they thinking?!! Eternity is such a long, long time that even the concept of time itself is meaningless. When the soul – which is indestructible, and as mentioned, will exist forever – and the human consciousness with which it was graced, finds itself in an outer darkness so complete and overwhelming that not even a distant star will ever be seen again – forever* – it will be a sad realization indeed. Especially when that soul is forever cursed with the awareness that there is a place somewhere, a kingdom of which God gave them a glimpse – they will never see again, a place where there is an unimaginably joyful heavenly gala and the souls of those who were pragmatic and sought Him enjoy eternal bliss in the company of The Father and the Lamb and glorious angels singing with unimaginably beautiful voices in a place of unfathomable joy, peace and love.  In eternal torment, that unfortunate soul who chose to go the other way will finally and forever understand that no matter how much earthly wealth and popularity they attained for that ridiculously short time, they are now alone – forever alone and in darkness – and worse, forgotten by all, including the Creator Himself. They were invited and turned it down – this was their own choice – what a dismal realization to carry in torment for all eternity in a very dark and lonely place where among other unpleasantries, there will undoubtedly be pain and horror – probably like a nightmare from which one can never awaken, eternal thirst without water, and no rest!

Heaven is a spiritual place, a spiritual dimension. We are admonished that while we exist in this life, we are to attain to this spiritual premise, and as possible, reject the physical, worldly aspects of existence. We can only achieve this by putting our complete trust in Jesus Christ, there is simply no other way. Those who choose to stay engaged in the physical world and reject the spiritual will ultimately find their souls stuck in the physical dimension they so desired, with no longer any opportunity to ascend into the spiritual dimension. Though the soul is indeed spirit, the person’s desire for satisfaction in the physical world might just be granted to them – it is in this sense that their spirit forever may remain in the lonely physical realm of the damned – while those who chose to seek Jesus in the spiritual dimension will have found their way there. Will this be the final – and eternal state of our being?

God loves His human creation so much that He even sent His beloved Son to live among men and provide us the way to reconnect with Him, the Father, with Whom a formerly blessed couple shared a truly divine fellowship in Eden.  Jesus Christ, the Son of God Whose birth we celebrate during this season, is our Invitation to that great eternal reunion in Heaven.  The bible refers to the marriage supper of the Lamb, and every human with a God-given soul who has ever existed got a chance at an invitation.  That opportunity is before all of us living now, in the Words of the humble Son of a carpenter born in the diminutive town of Bethlehem in Israel long ago, ever knocking on the door of our hearts.  We must not take this Invitation lightly; our RSVP will absolutely determine the future of our souls!  The great battle of good vs evil has been fought and decided in heaven, but it’s still going on down here and the time for us to gain our own victory is getting very short – on which side do you choose to be? We all have to remember – there is no third choice, nor is anyone merely an onlooker. Like it or not, we’re all part of this great war – in fact, our eternal souls are what the war is all about!

If this makes sense to you, then by all means go find a for real preacher and get yourself baptized and start learning about Jesus Christ Who loves us – even though we’ve been sinful – enough to have suffered and died a horrible death to save our souls from that horrible, eternal damnation and at this very moment offers us something unimaginably precious! If you already know of Jesus, don’t make the mistake of listening to the false prophet millionaire evangelists – none of those charlatans know Him. They will lead you astray. Break out your own Bible and READ IT! Knock and it shall be opened. There are like-minded folks around you who would love to accompany you on the journey. Get in touch with them. Repent and pray for God’s forgiveness for pursuing that worldly life and its attendant evils. We’ve all been there.

As for gravitational waves being from the angelic battle, I don’t know. But it’s something to think about. Maybe those who wind up out there in the black nothingness will experience them once in a while.

*Astrophysicists believe that space is expanding and that somewhere in the distant future, there will be so much space between everything that even molecules will be so far separated as to never encounter other molecules again with any notion of light being but a distant memory, but it’s conceivable the human soul could still be out there forever alone and forgotten in that bleakness.  An understanding of how scientists arrive at the belief the scientific part in this possibility can be found at youtube journey to the end of the universe   It’s a thirty-minute documentary that is very interesting but at the end it gives you pause to think about how science can arrive at a scriptural concept without actually admitting, maybe not even realizing it. This post tries to connect this spiritual possibility within the context of science, and the biblical concept of “outer darkness” fits perfectly.

Ozark Country Getting Close to Springtime

Things are happening in the world these days over which we have little control, and if my recent posts reflect my concern with all the goings on, well I have mixed thoughts – on the one hand I don’t want to depress readers with posts about things like our impending destruction, but on the other hand, I like to do my part to help to awaken folks as to some of the things the media doesn’t talk much about that’s actually going on. When I say what’s actually happening, of course it’s how I interpret world affairs, but I try to remind people that there’s a perfectly reasonable and believable course of action we can take to avoid getting caught up and losing our bearings and becoming lost on our life’s roadmap. Getting to know Jesus is the panacea for all the world’s ills.

Anyways, for those who are comfortable with their own direction in this world that’s going insane, I’m determined to try and use my love of God’s creation to write more about those things which prompted me to start this website, at least once in a while. For those who are tired of my total desecration of the practice of writing prose, I’d like to update y’all on our life out here in the Ozarks and the things we see and do that a lot of folks in other places might not get to experience. Oh, and I’m working on part II of the Duff Mill story, so if you’re interested in how it turns out, please be patient, Earl will finish his hunt (maybe).

This morning broke with a silent and beautiful dawn sky with singing birds out trying to convince each other that spring is just around the corner. A lot of them don’t sound so sure, but they’re tuning up their whistles just the same. I heard a ladder-backed woodpecker yesterday and the crows seem to make different noises this time of year – maybe they’re getting ready for some green out there, too.

One of my neighbors up the road is having a new fence put in, and in order to do it right, the contractor had to cut and doze a bunch of trees, so the neighbor invited me to help myself to all the firewood I need. Guess that means getting my old carcass back in shape a bit so I can do some wood. This part of the Ozarks is blessed with abundant hardwood forests, which in turn is blessed with animals that eat acorns and hickory and walnuts. The place is crawling with deer, squirrels, and turkeys. There are a few black bears about too, but most of them are still asleep here in February. We have groundhogs, raccoons, possums, chipmunks, and bobcats. There are mountain lions about too, but not very many. I heard one scream – well it was between a scream and a growl, but it was definitely a cougar – I got a game cam picture of it that was taken around that same day I heard it.

We had an ice storm a week or so back, and when the ground gets covered with snow and ice, our wild birds have a rough time finding enough to eat, so during ice and snow, I try and keep bird seed out for them. Seeing the numbers of those little critters gathering to feed, I think they sort of expect to find it around the house here. There are several pairs of cardinals that hang around – maybe humans could learn something about being faithful from them because they mate for life. When you see one, there’s always a mate close by. And like other birds, they always lift my spirit with their songs. I think that’s why God gave them to us.

When I first moved here five years ago, there were birds everywhere. Lots more than we have now. Blue birds, indigo buntings, and goldfinches, and many others, always flitting about and singing – it was amazing. Well there is an old pond basin out back that never did hold much water, but it was boggy and overgrown with briars, willow trees, and wild rose so that it was impossible to walk through. I decided to clear it out and spent a full summer working to make it accessible – for people. Now you’d think in 65 years a person would have learned something about ecosystems and animal habitat, and sure enough, not long after the clearing project, I began to notice there were fewer goldfinches, and it didn’t take too long for me to realize I had inadvertently evicted my beloved little feathered friends. To make a long story short, my pond basin is recovering now and I have a healthy start of briars and willow saplings again. Maybe this year we’ll see more finches and buntings – I really hope so. The pond basin has now become our environmental habitat recovery project I call “The Fen”. A unique Ozark protected game sanctuary.

Well, spring is indeed right around the corner and I so look forward to the annual dogwood show. Last year it wasn’t very showy, but the year before it was absolutely spectacular – the best dogwood bloom I’ve ever been blessed to behold. I really don’t expect to ever see that again, but who knows? God isn’t shy about showing us what He can do, He proved it again last fall with the colors. Look through some of the pages on my site for fall pictures. The maples! Wow! There can be a hundred trees in fall colors in a stand, but if there’s one maple in there, it steals the show – every time. But the hickories and black gum also take on some really pretty colors. And last year even the normally drab oaks put on an unusually colorful show.

Springtime also ushers in some nasty weather around here, so we have to keep an eye out for those late cold fronts.

All the same, y’all enjoy the spring and I’ll try to keep posting while I’m here. Vaya con Dios.