Having not been feeling all that well these past few days — no, it wasn’t viral, and certainly not that one — I thought I would re-post, here, a comment of mine in another blog, on 3/3/23, that I managed to squeak out during that time in spite of going on to sleep for most of the rest of two days.
In 1990, I was working on a cattle cooperative in Nicaragua. We were about 8 Americans and a handful of Nicaraguan veterans who had been wounded in the war against the Contra. Things were going south quickly in the country (so much worse than ever reported in the NY Times). 100% inflation every night. Talk of civil war. Lots of guns moving this way and that. So we were doing a prayer circle around the camp fire. "A prayer for peace." And after a while someone suggested that we sing. So we started to sing... "knock and the door will be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find." And that line just broke me open into 1,000 pieces. I've rarely cried so hard. I'm not sure what it was about that line that did if for me. But I was changed after that, I just experienced the world differently. My childish ways left me at that point. Fascinating that this is the line that you ended with in this piece. Thank you for writing it -- it's very moving.
Hi Toby, I wondered if you might be listening, and I hope I represented you well. I enjoyed your post more than it might have sounded, but I was not feeling well at the time. Better now.
Your prayer circle experience is amazing. I've never been that close to a war, yet, but I have an idea of 'what it was about that line'. The line is simply Matthew 7:7, which has special significance for me as well, and I was moved this time to omit the verse reference. I guess I just wanted the words to stand on their own.
I started to write more, but it grew into a post of its own, A. S. K., which is to follow.
What you say about "if you think you can stop this, then have at it" is often in my own mind. The train is speeding along pretty good now, and we puny creatures can't do much about it. On the other hand I think about Paul telling the Thessalonians to stay busy with their work and lives while they wait for The Return, and figure if we can pitch in somehow then we probably should. Gone is any sense of ease or comfort, though, and always present is a sense of suspense. Sort of like waiting for test results.
Cool that you got to discuss the weather with Joseph Campbell. I went through a huge Campbell phase in my thirties as I tried to prove to my own satisfaction that the Bible was just more nice, safe mythology. Haha. None of that pagan stuff was safe by a long shot! Still have all his books, still enjoy dipping into them once in awhile.
I think Toby Rogers must have experienced something similar to what I felt in that tent. The feeling was palpable, like nothing I had ever experienced before. It kept me coming back, in spite of living on the other side of the continent, at least until I went bankrupt a few years later.
Those people were getting together then and looking for ways to solve the world's problems. None of us could imagine what was coming decades later, but there was plenty to be concerned about already. But now I begin to learn that some of them may have had an active, deceptive role in this multi-century conspiracy to conquer and enslave the world? WHAT??? Makes my soul hurt.
I never was into Campbell, in spite of having the opportunity to discuss the weather with him. His talk at the conference was fascinating, his reputation was huge, and I continued to hear about him. Pagan, though, yes, I explored some of that later on. Not too deeply.
Um, yes, the waiting is kind of like waiting for test results. In fact I had been waiting for some lab tests for a week or two, and they came in two days ago and I've been so busy blogging, working, and more recently, sleeping all day, that I haven't looked at them yet! So that's one way to pass the time.
I have attended a few protests, and been involved a little in meeting with state legislators in Sacramento (I'm in Sacramento County). I used to know my way around the Capitol building (the offices have moved now), and I think that is where I discovered that people would text-type on their phones using both thumbs. Doesn't work well for me. All that cell tower microwave radiation downtown might help explain why our legislators seem so messed up, though. Probably 5G now, beam-formed and aimed straight for the brain.
There are plenty of things to choose from, for taking action, but I can't do what I was doing 15 years ago. I semi-retired six years ago, at 66, for health reasons. It's not just what you want to do, but what you are still able to do! So I do the same thing I do when debugging software. I look for and focus upon the root cause, which, for practical purposes is "us". I wish more people would notice that and not just look away. But it's like in Bible times. Come to think of it, it IS a Bible time, I think. Better look out. Those didn't end well for most of those asleep.
I don't see the connection just yet, but I haven't had breakfast yet either. We've always had child labor, but it was families working in their own fields (ideally), not industrial labor.
This present industrially-based way of life seems set to expire. Soon.
“This walk, this Way, is my only defense against the ways of this world. It is not simple, and it is not convenient.”
It is simple. Just not easy. 😀 https://simplechristianity.substack.com/
In 1990, I was working on a cattle cooperative in Nicaragua. We were about 8 Americans and a handful of Nicaraguan veterans who had been wounded in the war against the Contra. Things were going south quickly in the country (so much worse than ever reported in the NY Times). 100% inflation every night. Talk of civil war. Lots of guns moving this way and that. So we were doing a prayer circle around the camp fire. "A prayer for peace." And after a while someone suggested that we sing. So we started to sing... "knock and the door will be opened unto you, seek and ye shall find." And that line just broke me open into 1,000 pieces. I've rarely cried so hard. I'm not sure what it was about that line that did if for me. But I was changed after that, I just experienced the world differently. My childish ways left me at that point. Fascinating that this is the line that you ended with in this piece. Thank you for writing it -- it's very moving.
Hi Toby, I wondered if you might be listening, and I hope I represented you well. I enjoyed your post more than it might have sounded, but I was not feeling well at the time. Better now.
Your prayer circle experience is amazing. I've never been that close to a war, yet, but I have an idea of 'what it was about that line'. The line is simply Matthew 7:7, which has special significance for me as well, and I was moved this time to omit the verse reference. I guess I just wanted the words to stand on their own.
I started to write more, but it grew into a post of its own, A. S. K., which is to follow.
I hope you're feeling better. Sick is no fun.
What you say about "if you think you can stop this, then have at it" is often in my own mind. The train is speeding along pretty good now, and we puny creatures can't do much about it. On the other hand I think about Paul telling the Thessalonians to stay busy with their work and lives while they wait for The Return, and figure if we can pitch in somehow then we probably should. Gone is any sense of ease or comfort, though, and always present is a sense of suspense. Sort of like waiting for test results.
Cool that you got to discuss the weather with Joseph Campbell. I went through a huge Campbell phase in my thirties as I tried to prove to my own satisfaction that the Bible was just more nice, safe mythology. Haha. None of that pagan stuff was safe by a long shot! Still have all his books, still enjoy dipping into them once in awhile.
I think Toby Rogers must have experienced something similar to what I felt in that tent. The feeling was palpable, like nothing I had ever experienced before. It kept me coming back, in spite of living on the other side of the continent, at least until I went bankrupt a few years later.
Those people were getting together then and looking for ways to solve the world's problems. None of us could imagine what was coming decades later, but there was plenty to be concerned about already. But now I begin to learn that some of them may have had an active, deceptive role in this multi-century conspiracy to conquer and enslave the world? WHAT??? Makes my soul hurt.
I never was into Campbell, in spite of having the opportunity to discuss the weather with him. His talk at the conference was fascinating, his reputation was huge, and I continued to hear about him. Pagan, though, yes, I explored some of that later on. Not too deeply.
Um, yes, the waiting is kind of like waiting for test results. In fact I had been waiting for some lab tests for a week or two, and they came in two days ago and I've been so busy blogging, working, and more recently, sleeping all day, that I haven't looked at them yet! So that's one way to pass the time.
I have attended a few protests, and been involved a little in meeting with state legislators in Sacramento (I'm in Sacramento County). I used to know my way around the Capitol building (the offices have moved now), and I think that is where I discovered that people would text-type on their phones using both thumbs. Doesn't work well for me. All that cell tower microwave radiation downtown might help explain why our legislators seem so messed up, though. Probably 5G now, beam-formed and aimed straight for the brain.
There are plenty of things to choose from, for taking action, but I can't do what I was doing 15 years ago. I semi-retired six years ago, at 66, for health reasons. It's not just what you want to do, but what you are still able to do! So I do the same thing I do when debugging software. I look for and focus upon the root cause, which, for practical purposes is "us". I wish more people would notice that and not just look away. But it's like in Bible times. Come to think of it, it IS a Bible time, I think. Better look out. Those didn't end well for most of those asleep.
I don't see the connection just yet, but I haven't had breakfast yet either. We've always had child labor, but it was families working in their own fields (ideally), not industrial labor.
This present industrially-based way of life seems set to expire. Soon.