Paranoid? or understanding the signs of the times

5/22/12 Tuesday Been out working on the farm, continuing to bury the hundreds of yards of drip irrigation line by hand. Yesterday I planted most of the Israeli cantaloupe seeds that are left over from 2 years ago. Hope that at least one of them comes up and makes fruit so I can have seeds for next year. As I shovel dirt over the lines and carefully expose the drippers that are set every six feet or so I pray and think. Lots of thinking as I ponder the world situations, the unsettled times that seem to lay ahead for not only this country but the world as well. I tried to talk about that to one of my Kairos brothers and he literally put his hands over his ears and kept saying “I don’t want to hear you, I don’t want to hear you”. Come to find out his father had been very much taken by so many of the conspiracy theories of his day, things like the trilateral commission and Illuminati, so my words were equated with that kind of paranoid thinking. The reality is that there are many organized groups that have existed for centuries and some that are rather recent in their formation. All of them exist around various ideals and philosophies and most have a desire to make their particular train of thought dominant in the world. Some are religious, such as Christianity and Islam, and some are political, ranging from democracy to socialism, but all of them are convinced that their way of thinking is the right one. And in these groups one finds varying levels of commitment to an ideal, from those willing to die or kill for that ideal to those who sit around and just talk and try to impress others with their “intellectual” prowess. There are within these spheres of thought a variety of organized groups that have definite plans to overcome all the others with their particular ideal. I find it wise to know and understand these groups, to discern their activities and comprehend how they will affect my life and the world around me. It is not paranoid thinking to do this, it is opening my eyes and seeing what is happening. There is no question that a worldwide economic collapse is eminent and in fact the United States government is preparing for that event, though they are doing so rather quietly and trying to fly under the radar so to speak. I know of many others who are preparing for this time of turmoil as well. It is not an “if” regarding such an event, but “When”. Many of these groups I spoke of are also aware of this impending time of turmoil and some are in fact working to hasten it’s arrival, because they plan to use it as the time to force their way of thinking on the rest of the world. My personal ideal is that I believe in Jesus Christ, that He is the Son of God, came to earth and died on purpose, so that all who believe would not perish but have eternal life. Unfortunately, throughout history, there have been many who used the Christian religion to conquer and gain power over others, and in their misguided zeal, killed those who refused to believe their way. They had, and have (for there are still many around who act this way) it all wrong. Jesus preached we should love our neighbor as we love ourselves, that we should be servants and submit to authority, and ultimately be willing to die for the other persons good. It is about peace, love, and looking out for our fellow humans. Plus there is the moral component. To not lie, steal, kill, or commit adultery, are just a few of the ten commandments. All of that requires self-discipline and personal sacrifice. Unfortunately some of the other groups out there are not so considerate of others and often are quite willing to kill and conquer in order to force their ideal on the rest of us. It is coming folks, and coming soon. I suspect we will see all hell break loose right around the November presidential election.