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
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.
Some two millennia ago, was born a king into the world, a king like no other. The throne He would inherit is an everlasting throne, the realm is the whole of the earth. His birth would engender a covenant with those who would become His subjects that even the simplest of minds could comprehend, yet the collective knowledge of philosophers, scientists, and purported theologians through the ages has wrestled with its meaning, its substance, its significance.
It’s hard to imagine what must have been going on in Mary’s mind and heart on that night as others arrived to welcome the Savior, this newborn babe, into the world. She would have remembered the visit by Gabriel and the significance of what he told her concerning the importance of the baby she carried. This would be the beginning of what must have been a special relationship indeed with her Son. Upon this simple daughter of one of the sons of Aaron was bestowed an unimaginable blessing – to be the earthly mother of this precious child! Even though the angel told her that hers was a special blessing, how could she have known or understood what this birth would portend? After all, the love of God is a concept we simply cannot fathom. We are told in scripture that it is extremely powerful, and it is so profound in so many ways that our minds cannot begin to grasp it, yet here was a woman with a new baby that she held which was in essence the full expression of that Love! A blessed woman indeed! Holding the newborn Son of God to her breast!
You have to wonder what Joseph was thinking too. He had been visited earlier by the angel and told to accept Mary because the baby she carried was from the Holy Spirit, so he had to know this was something very special. He undoubtedly shared that special Godly love for this newborn and understood the blessing bestowed upon his wife – and himself – to be able to claim earthly parenthood of this child. He would’ve likely been ecstatic in his praise of Jesus’ heavenly Father. After all, God chose him for this event. Still, on that quiet, peaceful night in Bethlehem he could not have had any idea of what would ensue.
And what of the visitors? Simple peasant shepherds were approached by some of the very angels of heaven to give them the greatest tidings that ever were to befall mankind in all history of the world! In our worldly minds when we imagine historic events, we naturally consider things like press conferences, presidents, prime ministers, the goings on in Washington DC, or London, Malta, Appomattox, or Rome, but on this night out in the remote, starlit pastures of rural Israel, some lowly shepherds were so blessed as to have been personally invited by no less than heavenly spirits to attend what would prove to be the beginning of the most significant event in all of history. And they had opportunity to look upon Him! Shepherds! Oh, we’ve probably all wondered at one time or another, but they left their sheep in good hands.
There were wise men from the east who came bringing gifts. They obviously understood prophecy because they were prepared – they knew where to go – for on that night Bethlehem would be the nexus of the event that would shape the experience of humankind for all of eternity. How far did they travel in their determination to get there and see Him? The bible doesn’t say, it just says that, following a star, they got there. All the while, the inquisitiveness of the ruler Herod must have been on their minds, because they eventually figured a way to complete their mission without giving Him away. Herod had, after all, heard of the birth of a future king and determined to kill the Child if he could find Him.
I’ve often wondered about the animals in the manger too – did they understand anything about the events they witnessed? I think they probably did since there are places in the bible that speak of things happening where animals are aware of God. They probably crowded around just to get close to Him. Yes, Glory to God, even the lowly animals were blessed that night. There was kinship of a kind – He is after all, called the Lamb of God.
Never has there been a more debated and divisive subject proposed to mankind than the purpose and intent of Jesus Christ in His short tenure as a human being. There are well-intentioned people in the world who believe He was a prophet, but He was so much more. Some claim to believe He is indeed the Messiah, but mistakenly believe His authority and pre-eminence only exists as far as is allowed by another, prior covenant. Many people in the world choose either not to believe He ever existed, or that He was just another human with no special relevance to the world. Only God the Father, in His infinite wisdom would have known the significance to humanity that night portended. But now we all know, or at least we are given the opportunity to know.
We celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ during this season. To all who celebrate, remember Him. Remember His great love for us. In our world as it is now, we have never been in a greater time of need for Him, His compassion, wisdom, and mercy. Pray for peace and compassion in the world, and keep in mind that it all starts with us being peaceful and compassionate ourselves.
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”
Merry Christmas,
MK
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.