I perceive that, geo-politically, it’s going to be another trying year.
This morning, Jonathon and I were discussing, quite casually, that we are in a similar position as was Judah in the days of Josiah. Judgement was on the way, the only thing to do was repent and buy a little time. That I can say we discussed this casually, as a matter of fact, is testament to our acceptance of this years prior to this one.
Jonathon believes judgement has already begun and we see it in the way our country is being run into the ground (we get the leaders we deserve), with movements like the Red Pill (the don’t get married, women are all evil, let it all burn down faction of this movement), feminism (the don’t get married, men are all evil, let it all burn down faction which is much larger than most people believe…see photo below for reference), transgenderism (broken bodies, medicalized in perpetuity), institutions crumbling from within and decaying with moral rot, Christians falling for every stupid idea under the sun, etc…
We’ve murdered millions of innocent babies since Roe vs. Wade, ruined the health of our young women with toxic birth control methods (even in the church which should have pushed back harder), created unprecedented numbers of fatherless homes and vulnerable children via sexual promiscuity and the court system, all on the alter of “bodily autonomy” which is code for sex without responsibility. There is, of course, no such thing. But we pretended there was for quite a while and now we’re all sick.
Judgement is already here.
And you can yell and scream about it coming, what causes it, and how to slow it down until you’re blue in the face, but ultimately, people are going to do what they want to do and there’s nothing for it but to let them find out for themselves while you prepare yourself and the people you love the best you can.
Think local and fight hard. Stem the rot if you can. Throw the kiddy porn out of the libraries. Give bad local politicians such a bad time, it’s not fun to be in power anymore. Don’t let local tyrants take your guns away. Hold your church family accountable for staying healthfully married so their kids, at least, don’t end up vulnerable, abused, and dragged through family court. Stuff like that.
That’s where we’re at.
You may disagree with me about what time it is, but that is what I have come to accept.
Given this grim intro, how am I not depressed and defeated all the time? Well, I go out and touch grass.
“Touch grass” gets thrown around as an insult quite often, but I often find it quite helpful. To me, it just means, engaging with the most real, real. Stepping outside the simulacrum and breathing a nice big gulp of fresh air. There is a space outside of the insanity, and you should spend time in it as often as you’re able.
Increasingly, I’m finding that this means prioritizing large swaths of time away from social media, TV, and the entire internet in general. (No, the irony that I’m speaking to you via the internet is not lost to me. Sometimes it’s my chiefest frustration. But at least I get to do it in long, thought-out form rather than “takes” and sound bites.)
I think it will look a bit different for each person, but it will generally include taming some chaos with your literal body—your arms and legs and hands. For a lot of men, that will mean pumping iron and challenging the body to get stronger, or mowing the lawn, or some hobby. (My husband’s emotional and psychological well-being is vastly improved by building model rockets and launching them, for instance!)
As for me, I literally touch grass. Or weeds, as the case usually is around our place.
In fact, do a little exercise for me sometime and tell me how it goes later. On the next warm and pleasant day, leave your phone inside and go out, barefoot if possible, and touch the ground. Get the latest outrageous statement some fool dashed off on Twitter out of your head and just pay attention to whatever is going on around you in the great, green, growing world. Don’t look at the scene around you as an opportunity for a photo to share on some platform. Look at it to truly see it. Notice how it feels under your hand. Listen. Pay attention.
Perhaps I’m being maudlin and a romanticist, but I’ve come to think of the most real, real as being the things God directly made at creation and is in charge of sustaining—terra cotta, animals, the human body, growing things. (Who knows? I’m sure I don’t wish to wander into Henry David Thoreau territory with that. He was a little nutty. )
But, it helps me breathe a sigh of relief to see things springing to life out of the ground, with my tending, yes. But ultimately, at the command of God. How else do you explain how, but more importantly why, a dormant bulb at a specified time, angle of the sun, and soil temperature; gets a mysterious signal to burst out of itself, push up through the soil, and turn into a beautiful wonder of color and symmetry? Yes, science knows how…but not for what purpose. Why is the flower beautiful and not ugly? It could just as well be ugly and fulfill its biological purpose as well as a beautiful flower. But it is beautiful, and not ugly.
In short, I garden. Due to the oxalate problem I’ve mentioned repeatedly over the last year until I’m sure you’re sick to death of hearing it, I’ve steered my efforts away from growing vegetables and thrown them entirely into flowers and non-edible plants. Some herbs, as well.
It fills my well of beauty to overflowing. It brings some order out of our long-neglected, and chaotic patch of land. Most importantly, it helps me remember that no matter what wild, wicked, cruel, nonsensical, and destructive ideas we humans cook up in these tiny little brains of ours, that nothing is outside of God’s control. He sees to it that the irises and hollyhocks bloom on time, He can certainly keep the crackpots in check.
Gardening isn’t the only way I touch grass. I pray. I remember who God is. I sew clothing. I write! (This is, of course, creating order out of the chaos in my head.) I look at my dogs and enjoy their silly little antics. I throw tea parties for my niece when she’s around. I send Easter treats to nieces and nephews far away. I cook. I bake. I live. I laugh a lot. This is important, because our culture is too chronically outraged to laugh at itself from time to time, and I think that’s one reason why it’s getting so much worse.
By the time you receive this, Easter will have come and gone. But, it’s a real thing. A real, real. Jesus is alive this moment, hopefully smiling at me now as I attempt to tell you why life is good and worth living, in spite of the hard times just around the corner. It is so good, it’s worth living in joy and gladness and hope, and not the despair in which we are continually tempted to wallow.
He is alive. He won. The fate of the world is sealed in His favor, and nothing’s going to change that. No disordered society, disordered from top to bottom even, can vanquish Him or impede His purposes. His victory was accomplished when He came out of the grave. Whatever heartache and suffering we feel now, is just Him finishing up business.
There are many souls I know personally who are in suffering right now for many reasons. But the most vile cause is the perversion of justice because our society is the way it is. A second vile cause is that the church has lost the plot and refuses to hold its members accountable for the evil they have done and are currently doing. Know that I have your faces in my mind and pray for you as I write. My husband and I, in small degree compared to so many others, have also suffered a particular injustice due to his political involvement—his efforts to represent his constituents in truth and integrity directly brought on this suffering. Someday, I may be at liberty to tell you about it. Regardless, all our suffering will be forgotten in a twinkling of an eye, when we are in His presence on that day. He will wipe all tears away and restore what was lost.
If…you acknowledge Him as your rightful, risen King.
Have you?
He stands ready, waiting, and willing to receive you.
He is risen!
That’s all for now. Until next time, folks…
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Think local. Fight hard. Touch grass.
Very wise.
HE IS RISEN!