suffering – Page 6 – Home's Cool!

Weekly Photo Challenge: Broken

Posted on July 29, 2011July 30, 2011 by Katharine

Broken things lead to other broken things. They can be like dominos. An exploding lightbulb can knock over a fragile vase. A broken tree can break another tree as it falls:

broken tree breaking tree — Broken Tree Breaking Tree

These trees, near our chicken house, are probably going to fall onto the chicken yard fence and break it, too. Ever try to bend or move a tree? Think of the extreme power in a falling tree that it can bend, and even break, a tree near it.

When we humans break, we need to be careful how we fall. We have the above type of power over our fellow man, sometimes.

But look at this:

This poor old tree, though obviously having seen better days, someone has mended in hopes it will last a bit longer. I like its pluck. See how it seems to be trying to dance with the grasses?

May we all try to copy it!

Believe it or not!, Who's the mom here?, Womanhood

The Coat Hanger, Revisited

Posted on May 4, 2011May 4, 2011 by Katharine

It’s all new, but it’s old as life, itself: a new way to kill.

You go to the Planned Parent Hoodlums (PPH) and find someone there (Nurse? Janitor? Toxic waste clean-up pro? Who knows?) to give you a poison pill you cannot swallow until you e-mail a doctor.

Right.

You do NOT get a chance to consult with a licensed physician as the FDA says you should. You just web-cam the guy.

It’s the all new telemed coat hanger. And it costs the PPH a lot less. They don’t have to hire a doctor, after all. Whew! Wasn’t THAT a close call!

Friends, this is NOT about equal access to healthcare for women.

This is about those who PROFIT from reaching their tentacles into places where abortion was already “RARE” and causing more of it, by inflicting a dangerous drug cocktail on women and even minor females.

These women and girls are told that if they have any physical troubles, to go to an emergency room and pretend they are having a legitimate miscarriage. Think: If you were a little girl who may or may not have known how you got pregnant in the first place, and have had NO medical counsel, would you know if you were having troubles that necessitated an ER visit? Maybe. And your UNATTENDING physician—where is he? Still unattending, of course, since what he has done is very lawsuit worthy.

Basically, if you dare darken the doors of PPH, you could be merrily sent on your way to hemorrhage to death. Wow, that will certainly cost taxpayers less, since PPH can lay off the toxic waste disposal team, if they bother to have one. Or, hey, they could lay them off and pretend they did not, since they are so into pretending lies, and still collect the money for it. Perfect set up!

But if you do manage to realize you need the ER, and if you do feel enough shame to join in the cover up, and if you do have those poisons racing through your veins, and if the actual REAL attending physician happens to believe you—you will receive treatment based on incomplete information. How safe is that, hmm?

And how obvious PPH does not give a hoot.

About you, that is.

Just money.

Let me tell you one thing: If someone gave a young BOY a poison pill, told him he might feel bad, and if he goes to a doctor NOT to tell what happened, it would be murder and certainly not bankrolled by our taxes.

Let’s hope.

Believe it or not!, Good ol' days

Well, Which Disaster Do You Want First?

Posted on April 29, 2011June 2, 2011 by Katharine

I think I’m back, but my heart hardly knows where to break first . . . .

Disaster #1 – Beloved minister and rescuer of teenage drug captives, David Wilkerson, has died in a car wreck. His wife, Gwen, was with him in the car and is in critical condition. He wrote The Cross and the Switchblade about his early life in New York and how it overlapped the life of Nicky Cruz. After beginning his ministry in Texas, he opened a church in an old theater in New York, where he preached and ministered to whomever dropped in, whether tramp or New York businessman. He was a real modern-day prophet and author of many books, and faithfully published and sent free newsletters (of the postage type) to all who desired to receive them. Listening to his preaching was the first occasion of awakening to the Lord’s call for one of my sons.

Disaster #2 -A beyond-enormous tornado ripped through the Deep South, leaving around 300 dead, at last count.

Disaster #3 -One of the sweetest ladies I know in the world lost her favorite sister to that storm–the sister who stood by her when her son was murdered–gone, along with the sister’s husband.

Disaster #4 – Someone desecrated a memorial to the unborn at Clarion University in Pennsylvania. It was the usual collection of crosses depicting the enormity of the death sentence on the children of our country: 350 white crosses to commemorate the 53 million dead. But the crosses were found turned upside down (a common satanic ritual symbol), spattered with blood-colored paint, and bloody-looking infant footprints appeared on the site. Also in red, on the sidewalk was the phrase, “pro-choice”.

I’m glad to be back with fairly good service available, but cannot process what a sad day it is, out there. It makes our storm seem paltry by comparison (and I KNOW, it’s not a competition and I am glad we do not measure up.)

But tomorrow, Lord willing (I think we need to start saying that more), I will try to bring you a sweet and humorous story from our storm experience.

See ya’.

Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

So What if I Don’t Want To Forgive?

Posted on April 23, 2011April 24, 2011 by Katharine

What if I do not forgive? What happens then?

Several things:

I am not forgiven. In the book of Matthew 6:14-15, as Jesus is teaching His followers how to pray, He adds the admonition that if we do not forgive others, then God does not forgive us. It almost sounds like the unforgivable sin!
I bind the sin to my children. In the book of Exodus 20:5-6, God tells us the consequences of unforgiven sin pass down to several generations. It makes sense. If I dwell on someone else’s sin for years, I start acting on this input. But there is more. If I am not forgiven, then instead of lining up with God, I line up with His enemy. How can that bring any good?
I do not loose the sinner. In Matthew 16:19 and 18:18-35, even Jesus’ own followers had questions about forgiveness. He then taught them: when we forgive something on earth, it is forgiven in Heaven. This very thing happened to Saul of Tarsus, who later changed his name to Paul. When Stephen was stoned to death (Acts 7:60,) his last words were of forgiveness for his killers, of whom Saul was one. What if Stephen had not forgiven him? Would we have the writings of Paul, today?

Here is what I used to teach my children when they were young and beginning to discover that friendship is not always all fun. Sometimes they would get into little tussles and strike back or hold anger against others. So I said:

“If someone does something bad to you, it hurts. I know.

“But if you just do something back to them, it does not help you. You still hurt, and now they hurt, too. What good does that do?

“If you stay angry and then someone innocent comes along and you strike out at that person, you STILL hurt, and that new person hurts, too.

“You are trying to get rid of your hurt by giving hurt to someone else. But when you give it to someone else, it does not mean they can take it AWAY from you. They may take it, but they cannot take it AWAY. You leave them hurting, too, and they may try to get rid of their hurt by giving hurt to someone else, who also cannot take it away.

“It’s a little like the flu. I can give it to you, but then we both will have it. It just spreads.

“Only One person can take hurt AWAY, and that is God. If you give all your hurt to Him, He can take it away from you and make you feel much better.”

Now, maybe that was too simple for an adult, but it is true. It’s what He died for. Why not try Him out?

Believe it or not!, Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Sayings, Wisdom

Denial, Excuses, and Folly, OH MY!

Posted on April 22, 2011March 15, 2014 by Katharine

: English: Cross in the village of Úsilné, České Budějovice District, Czech Republic with the writing ‘Blessed be the Lord Jesus Christ’. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There sure are a lot of wrong theories and sayings about forgiveness out there, these days! Most people have heard them all, too many times. And although logic tells us something is wrong, we strain to forgive according to all we’ve heard, and cannot figure it out. Nothing seems to happen and several of our victimizers do not stay forgiven very long at all.

What!

To get a grasp on exactly what we are supposed to do, let’s first eliminate all wrong thinking upon which some people may be trying to convince us to act. For instance:

Denial

Forgiveness is NOT saying, “Oh, it’s okay.” When someone has done hurtful wrong against you, IT IS NOT OKAY! It should make us feel all rotten inside to say it is. Why? Because spreading wrongful hurt is not okay; it is sin. Sin is not okay with God; how could it be okay with us? Saying it is, is denial. It’s just plain ol’ living a lie.

Only say, “It’s okay,” when it was not sin, was not intended as sin, and was not received as sin. Only say, “It’s okay,” if you would be okay with it happening again.

Excuses

Forgiveness is NOT forgetting. How can anyone forget something on purpose! We have miraculous brains that function largely by memory. We do not have back-space keys for our brains. God can decide to forget something, if He wants, or cause us to forget something, but we do not have that kind of power.

Thinking we must forget, in order to prove we have forgiven, sets us up for making excuses. We say, “I’ll never be able to forgive that, because I could never forget such-and-such.” Or we think we have not forgiven because memories keep resurfacing, so it must be hopeless to try. What a wide-open door for excuses!

Folly

It is neither safe nor wise to trust someone who has proven himself to be untrustworthy. To send a youngster back to a bullying classroom or molesting teacher, to lend more money to someone who has not repaid, to tell a secret to a gossip, is just plain folly.

We must forgive those who sin against us, but we do NOT have to trust them again, in order to prove we have done so. We certainly do not have to feel guilty for helping put such a one in jail, if his sin was illegal.

Besides, trust, by its nature, must be earned, cannot be demanded.

So What IS Forgiveness?!

If we look up the word, “forgive,” we can find the original meanings of its ancient parts: to give far away.

Think: Where would you put all that pain, if you could download it? How far away would be far enough? The farthest possible distance from this existence is: in God’s hands. When He takes it, it’s gone.

Giving it to Him can feel like work, but it is forgiveness and is far less work than dealing with the current agony.

Forgiveness is SAYING, “I forgive you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
(Yes, it is like writing a check on His checkbook to pay a debt, which we cannot actually do unless we are His.)
It is a transaction, like writing off a bad debt. Our feelings may be screaming, but it is not about feelings; it is about getting past this great wrong and moving on with this life. It’s about positioning ourselves for the next life beyond.
Forgiveness is REFUSING to remember the sin against the sinner.
Yes, it was a bad debt; no, we will NOT mentally send bills to “debtor’s prison”. That part is over.
Forgiveness is MINISTERING to the sinner.
Maybe the only safe or possible thing we can do is pray for him, but because we, ourselves, have been forgiven by so marvelous a God, we are freed and filled with power to do so.
Seeing this is a mark of true forgiveness.

Now we have dealt with the why’s of suffering and forgiveness, and we have defined terms. Come on by tomorrow and get the HOW-TO and some FAQ’s.

See ya’.

Blessings of Habit, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Dust to Dust?

Posted on April 21, 2011March 15, 2014 by Katharine

: DUST STORM 1968 (Photo credit: expom2uk)

Let’s lengthen yesterday’s list of sins against us:
rape,
lying,
breaking and entering,
laying-off.

Have I hit you yet?

What to do! Outside of calling the police, or suing, which can be legitimate actions, how do we finally get some peace about it?

Forgiveness.

And forgiveness is often the one thing we least understand and least want.

Like bad-tasting medicine.

I know.

Just like yesterday, the first reason is God.

1. God. God requires us to forgive. That is the best reason because when we are wounded and aching on the inside, we don’t understand much—but we don’t even have to think. We just know what He requires and prepare to go there.

He also promises to reward forgiveness with forgiveness, which should highly motivate the honest ones among us.

And like any good father, He teaches by example. He shows us how to do forgiveness, in the most radical way.

2. Man. Man wants and needs forgiveness. Who among us is innocent?

To keep God’s forgiveness, we must be forgiving. Since He has shown us His awesome power to forgive, how can we do less than try to imitate Him? That is His thinking.

Forgiveness also frees us to be able to hear God. Before we forgive, all we can hear from Him is how we ought to forgive. Once we are over that hurdle, He can show us more.

Lack of forgiveness binds us to the sinner we refuse to forgive. This is so scary. What it means is that when we refuse to forgive his sin against us, when we hug it up to ourselves and get it out and look at it every day, we start BEING like that sin.

Look at it this way: With a physical wound, if we treat it correctly, we can greatly minimize the scarring. But if we refuse to remove the dirt, refuse to medicate it, refuse a bandage, and continue picking at it, we make it worse. Bigger. Deeper. Uglier. Longer-lasting. More painful.

With a spiritual wound, we can even pass it down to our children…

3. Satan. Of course, he hates forgiveness, a real no-brainer, right?

The fun thing about this is when we obey God about forgiving, we SHUT THE DOOR TO HIS ENEMY. Oh, how I love this!

We all need to remember, though: when we disobey about forgiving, the reverse is also true.

Well, who is ready to know what on earth forgiveness really is?

Stop by tomorrow and grab Part 3. I promise you, it is WONDERFUL NEWS!

Inspiring, Sayings, Scripture, Wisdom

Ashes to Ashes?

Posted on April 20, 2011April 20, 2011 by Katharine

Okay, today being Ash Wednesday, let’s talk about suffering and forgiveness.

Even those who sniff at what happened on Calvary will have to admit, whatever it was or whatever it meant, it happened at around this time of year and those who celebrate it do so at this time of year.

Usually when I talk on this subject, I ask everyone who has ever suffered unfair treatment to raise his hand.

This is not about illness, but about medical error. This is not about car wrecks, but about DUI. Ever suffer from either of those? This is not about miscarriages, but about forced abortions—I know you are out there. If you have never suffered from someone mistreating you, then I KNOW you know someone else who has so suffered. It is altogether common.

And today I begin addressing it and giving you tools to help yourself or help that acquaintance. Someone you know needs this post and the ones that will follow, so listen up and spread the word.

Why Does Suffering Come to Us?

1. God. Common folks blame the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. (Why do we never blame any other presumed gods?!) But those who blame Him must first believe that He exists, so if you claim atheism or agnosticism, do NOT let it be because you blame what you consider a non-existent entity. Is that fair? Of course.

So if we believe He exists, if we believe He is “up there” to be blamed, then the main way we can know anything about Him is to consult His writings.

In His writings, we find that He made everything very good. Not messed up, like it is now.

It. Is. Not. His. Fault.

2. Man. Then God gave man choices, Life and Death, and we chose death. So here we are. He TOLD us, for our own good, what to do and we did the opposite, did not obey. Even today, even those who think maybe there is a God, even those who claim to love Him totally, do not always obey, choose death. Admit it.

And what a lie, today, that the only way to be pro-choice is to choose death! Really, we do NOT think!

However, the only way God’s creation can work well, is if every part is working together, just like a motor or a body. Anything wonky messes up everything. We must fall in line with His business plan if we hope to benefit from all His goodness.

Many people do not line up with Him. They line up with His enemy, instead. This is the constant battle between good and evil. Helping the hurting. Protecting the innocent. Guarding the airports. It is a constant battle—even inside ourselves—to make any good thing happen, because of the constant attack on all things good.

3. Satan. According to the words of the God we are tentatively agreeing might exist, Satan hates God and all things good. So—he hates all creation. He personally hates every human being because they are all potential containers for God, his chosen enemy. He especially hates firstborn children, because they remind him of Jesus. Are you a firstborn? Ever notice anything?

To give himself significance, Satan thinks he must fight God. Steal! Kill! Destroy!—that is his motto. And his secret formula is to get man to join him. Anything he can do to trick man into cooperating with him, he will do, if he can. Anything to cause thievery, death, destruction will suit him just fine.

So, if you are not a Christian, you truly could say, “The devil made me do it.” But it doesn’t get anyone off the hook . . . .

Okay, all this was introduction. Tomorrow we begin the main deal and you won’t want to miss it, so sign up, so you won’t forget!

And share! Thanks!

See ya’ tomorrow.