On a damp springtime morning here in the Ozarks as the soft grey humidity-laden breeze plows through a greening wood, it’s easy to lose oneself to the allure of this renewal of warmth beneath a verdant canopy. Birds are busy in their never-ending pursuit of twigs, pieces of string, and whatever other oddments they choose with which to build new homes for the hatchlings they are sure to inherit soon. They sing merrily as they pursue their tasks, adding new melodies to the gala of spring.

Birds and other creatures ever play their roles in the eternal drama of nature as warm days set in to grace the Ozark woodlands and hills. Last year’s broods already know how to go about gathering foliage and I’m sure the little hen birds are busy telling their mates exactly how to build the nest. After all, she will be the one setting in it. Of all the wild birds round here, the little wrens are among my favorites. I did a post a couple of years ago about a mama wren that halted my construction of a little cabin I built in the woods until her fledglings could fly.

I live in a pretty old farmhouse here in the Missouri Ozarks. That’s suitable – a pretty old house for a pretty old geezer with a couple of pretty old dogs. Nothing pretty in the aesthetic sense, except for my old girl Dusty; at least I think she’s still a pretty girl. Getting ornery though in her old age. That may be something contagious that can cross species, because I could swear I feel ornery once in a while myself. Maybe it’s just due to grandkids running amok with their eyeballs glued to cell phones or some such. Maybe orneryness is just something that comes with the turf of getting old. But then, there are other things happening in the wide world around us these days that add to the sour mood.

Speaking of getting old, it just stands to reason that over the years, we pick up on lots of stuff, at least if we walk through this journey with our eyes open. That’s a profound concept for a lot of people – sitting in front of a television and allowing some corporate news organization to pump your brain full of some politically motivated propaganda is not walking with open eyes. I just read some statistics on how American rates of literacy compares to other nations, especially China and Russia, and it’s pretty remarkable how our educational system has failed us over the years as everyone else’s have improved their lot. Americans are rapidly becoming among the least educated people in the world. If one indeed has his eyes open, it can easily be seen – political slogans longer than bumper stickers are too confusing for most of us anymore. Lack of education and/or critical thinking skills provides fertile ground for propaganda.

Reason and intellectual curiosity are relics of the past in MAGA America, and the liberal side is just as bad. It seems that no one is willing to consider any side of an argument that conflicts with their own – that might require some degree of empathy for our fellow human beings and we don’t do empathy anymore. At least most folks don’t. Hatred, selfishness, and racism are about as rampant as I’ve ever seen them. Wars are being waged all around the world, and I’m fairly certain the USA is getting ready to see some tough times right here in the land of the free.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and storms, the likes of which we’ve rarely seen are beating this old rock we call home. There are floods almost everywhere, landslides, sinkholes, and earthquakes in places where they’ve not occurred before – at least in our time. To be able to appreciate the significance of events that are happening I think it is imperative that we avail ourselves of the abundance of information in our society. The internet has opened up volumes of information and to ignore it and all of the other sources of knowledge is walking with your eyes closed. Fox News isn’t going to tell you everything you need to know, nor is CNN, MSNBC, nor any of the other corporate media. Thanks to the internet, though, we have ample other sources, it’s just a task to sift through the garbage out there and find real information. I’ve found that the best way for me to find truth is to bounce “news” stories against what the Bible says. Jesus said He was the Way and the TRUTH, and I believe Him, so if what we hear and see comports with what He taught, it’s certain to be the truth.

For instance, He spoke against murder and persecution of the innocent, so if there’s some propaganda story attempting to justify the murder of Palestinian children, you automatically know the story is false and coming from evil sources. This can be a problem for many who have spent years feeding at the media trough and buying into everything the mass media puts out, but you have to start somewhere. Jesus spoke of forgiveness, so when you see a program that tries to get your dander up against some or other happening in the world, they almost always play on your emotions to try and make you angry or hate, say illegal aliens, but the Bible says not to turn away an alien [Malachi 3:5]; “And I will come near you for judgment; I will be a swift witness against sorcerers, against adulterers, against perjurers, against those who exploit wage earners and widows and orphans, and against those who turn away an alien—
Because they do not fear Me,” says the Lord of hosts.

The lands we live on do not belong to us – the Lord has merely given us stewardship of things and places that belong to Him. Psalm 24:1: “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein.” He fully expects us – His people – to share what we have with the less fortunate. The worldly folks who control the media would have us at each other’s throats fighting over something that doesn’t even belong to us, but those same wealthy people who promote such don’t realize that what they have doesn’t belong to them either. If it did, they could take it with them when they depart this life, but they can’t. One day, much to their chagrin, they will find out what the true believers already know from reading the Bible. If you stop and think about it, eternity is an unimaginably long time, and this episode of events we call life is so temporary as to be like the grass of the fields, and the only reason we are here is to have opportunity to choose where we want to spend forever – in a dark, lonely, and terrifying place, or in paradise with the Father and the Lamb. That’s what it all boils down to.

So while I sit out in the woods watching and listening to God’s creation – the birds, the squirrels, and enjoy the little slice of Heaven upon which the Lord has blessed me to live, I contemplate things like the sad condition of the world. I think about those lost souls who are currently – and so temporarily in control of – and hoarding for themselves – the great resources and wealth of the earth and wonder what it will take to get people, common people like myself, to see that the things that they are being told about the goings on in the world are falsehoods and the world is slipping, inexorably into an abyss from which it will not – cannot – escape without Divine guidance. And for us servants of Christ, that Divine guidance involves putting away hatred and anger we have all been encouraged to foment in our consciousness – by the very mouths of Satan. We have some time left to practice things like love, charity, and forgiveness which are the traits of the chosen and faithful.

Now it looks like it’s going to rain here in the hills; these are harmless clouds of springtime and not the dark and ominous clouds swirling over an evil world – no, this will be a refreshing, cool spring shower.

May the blessing of the Almighty Father find and keep us.

MK