Category Archives: Current Events

Some Will Dream

Bible Talk, Church Culture, Current Events, Essay and Prose, Living the Word, Natural Disaster, , , , ,


For Tricia Mikkelsen

By way of introduction, may I tell you that this is the truest account of my own extraordinary and personal experience that I am able to render.

To begin:  Reasoning, following the careful study of God’s Word, that I, being a pitiful sinner, would most likely find it overwhelming to focus on both the necessity of avoiding my personal sin in the here and now, and giving attention to the magnificent scope of the future; I largely put away any emphasis on eschatology.  Were I not to do so, to my way of thinking, I would surely fail in the primarily important endeavor to pursue the near maddeningly elusive business of holiness.  However, I have  lovely friends in the fellowship who have found it not only challenging to study the things to come, but invigorating, as it further encourages their own faiths and thrills their souls and I’m delighted to tell you that while I’ve avoided such, I was not foolish enough to turn a deaf ear to their joy and have therefore been privileged to listen to many interesting briefings on the subject, and I did form a loose opinion of the end (or if you prefer, the beginning, or starting over, the second coming, etc.) as it did appear as a formidable part of the whole.

All of this is a preface to my decision to tell you of a possibly prophetic dream I experienced.  Because this dream appeared especially vivid and significant, I noted it in my journal, as I’ve had a habit of keeping a diary since becoming a Christian as a young woman.  (Now, it is another story, but I will tell you that many would not have my testimony as I give it because I walked an aisle and professed faith as a child then later believed I had been mistaken.   Again, knowing as I do that I am “chief of sinners,”  I had no more desire to continue in such argument then as now, as it was and is apparent to me that I had best be about the job of cooperating in the challenging process of my sanctification.) Also, as it was especially brilliant, I relayed this particular dream to my eldest son on the morning following its happening.  It was not customary for me to tell others of my dreams and certainly not for me to write of them.  Over the years, I believe I have written of only two- possibly three- and this is the one dream I have felt pressed to consider as a word for the future.

While I am accomplished at communication, my preferred manner of lending a hand to a fellow is that of listening skillfully and asking thoughtful questions, thereby trusting both the individual and God Himself with the conclusion, and I have never considered myself any kind of prophet.  Though I have wondered at the supernatural, I have known and preferred the greatest knowledge and power available to man which is found in devotion to God and to His Word, and ultimately culminates in wisdom.  I have actively sought for Him to reveal Himself to me by communion with His Holy Spirit made possible by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ; through His written Word, communion with the saints, and the evidence of His existence and will in the natural world.  I have had no occasion of which to remark that I have felt myself to possess some sort of psychic power.

These things recognized, let us move to the heart of the matter:  As related to my son, who was drawing close to his twelfth birthday that particular morning, this is how it transpired:  I was aware of myself cleaning an apartment on the upper level of a building.  The sublet was small and neat, sparsely furnished, reminding me of an economy hotel suite. There were large plate glass windows on one wall and the drapes were pulled revealing a view of the sky.  I knew that I had my little ones- Anna, Jonathan, and Alexander with me (Jaxon was there “in the secret place” though I am not sure I knew it and Madelyn was still only a thought in the mind of God.).  As I was on my knees busily completing a task, I felt someone staring at me and l looked up and toward the window, simultaneously I heard something startling and tremendously loud and realized that a plane had crashed into the end of the building where I labored.

Standing before the window and to the right was a stunningly attractive woman, very neatly groomed, in a chic dark business suit.  She had short, closely clipped, glossy black hair and fair skin.  Her hair was parted to one side.  I am not sure, I suppose oddly, of the color of her eyes, however her gaze was penetrating and her tone commanding.  As I looked to her, she gestured toward the scene outside the window and stated plainly, “This is how you can always know that a storm is coming.”

I turned my attention from her to what was to be seen through the looking glass; and there presented was a scene I can not yet find sufficient words to describe.  I tried once a few years past to paint the scene and could not nearly reproduce it, but yet I am no great artist.  The best I have been able to report is that it seemed as though,as noted in my journal, “the sun had exploded and was consuming the sky” (and I was aware of the occurrence being of an explosive nature).  There was a great deal of light, warm color, and possibly flame- all against an expanse of black (I wonder if I should be ashamed of having shared such a thing with my child and would not normally have done it, but a sense of urgency prevailed.).

Less than a week after relating the pressing dream to my son, and having nearly forgotten it amid the daily bustle of life in our home of many children, other creatures that come along with them, and a high volume of traffic, I answered the persistent alarm of our landline (in those days we still had one) and heard my husband, Lee, who is so consistently even tempered to my regular displays of terrific passion that I am continually vexed, with an uncharacteristic urgency ask me to immediately turn on the television.

Our phone was cordless and the TV located in our finished walk-out basement.  I hurried downstairs from the kitchen to where the children were gathered to begin school, and did as I was asked.  The children quietened in response to my evidently anxious mood,  and together we watched in shocked silence as a plane flew directly into one of our World Trade Towers located at One Financial Center, Wall Street in New York City, New York.  We watched aghast as the horrific events of what would quickly become etched in the memories of all Americans as 9/11, unfolded before us on live television.  Understandably, I temporarily forgot my dream until some time after when my son reminded me of it and of the odd coincidence.

It had been several years and a move to a new state before I revisited my old journals and was prompted to consider my dream, the message, and the incredible timing, once more.  As I sat with my old journal in my hands wondering anew at those days of upset and unrest, at the tumultuous state of the world and at the odd coucidence of my peculiar, pressing dream, I realized that I had included something else in the entry- the end.   In my dream, I eventually turned away from the compelling site in front of me and grabbed little people shouting for children to run along with me to where I had parked our over-sized green van.  It seemed to take an eternity to traverse what was truly a brief distance and I remember thinking that we might not make it in time.  In time for what? I clearly recall that as we drew closer to our vehicle, I noted that my two oldest children, Emily and Donald, were not with me as they had been cleaning a different apartment at the opposite end of the building.  I was disturbed at our being separated and awakened feeling agitated.

Until that day of rediscovery, I did not think to question GOD concerning the details.  Now, I immediately wondered why the sense of urgency related to the dream, that I had felt at the time, had suddenly returned as I sat with the book of my collected messy musings open in  my lap.  In His Presence, I wondered, and after a time, three things were made clear to me.  First, I knew that the storm was not the events of 9/11, but that the events of 9/11 were a precursor to the storm and second that the storm would involve the entire globe, and third that it would arrive prior to Anna leaving our family to begin a life of her own.

I soon reminded my family of my dream and shared fully my further thoughts regarding it.  I cautioned them not to tell anyone else what I had disclosed and one child rolled her eyes in exaggerated fashion, giggled and quickly exclaimed,  “Don’t worry, Mom!” The others nodded their agreement and their terrific contagious laughter enveloped me as well.  Can you blame me for being unwilling to risk being committed to an institution for those not-quite-right-in-the-head? Seriously, I was concerned that I may be obsessing a bit, but I was well assured that I was as sane as the next guy, and was, after some prayer, content to put it away and to rest in Jesus- until recently.

Only our youngest two children live at home with us now, as the others are pursuing higher education or working and living with a roommate or a sibling   Our oldest is a young widow with a son- our first grandchild, and our second child is  married.  My mother and I, along with the two still living at home, were at her river cabin this year, the week of March eighth, observing the first presidential address to the nation concerning the novel coronavirus since February the twenty-ninth.  My brother and his wife were with us there as we gathered around the television and heard our President suggest that no one go to work if he or she felt unwell and that schools should consider closing.  That night, I marveled at this new turn of events for a considerable time before sleep claimed my restless mind.  In the morning, as I was preparing to enjoy a cup of coffee with my mom on the spacious front porch overlooking the exquisitely beautiful river, my dream returned- slamming into my consciousness with a force akin to a plane crashing into a building, nearly knocking me sideways.  I reminded my mother of my dream.  Of further interest, when we returned to our home from the river, Anna was engaged to be married.

I am sharing with you, with my readers, now as I believe GOD is prompting me to do so and to trust Him with the outcome, as for my own journey in His Spirit, this experience, this dream and all that has surrounded it, encourages my faith and thrills my soul! But I do not profess anything beyond what I have told you.  I have no idea if the second coming of Christ will be tomorrow, or ten years from now, or ten thousand years from now, but this has been for me greater evidence of the reality that is His Existence and Truth, and of the fact that He truly loves His children and communicates with us still.

May God continually manifest Himself to you, to me, and to a world continually in need of His Presence through Jesus Christ Our Lord,

Amen.

Please see The Book of Acts, 2: 14-21

Copyright 5/1/2020.    L.L. Shelton,

This Just In

Current Events, Holistic Distress, Humanity, Poetry, , , , , ,

There may be no other day to practice stealth.

We were never promised second breath.

In our robust pride we easily forget,

Our only common surety is death.

The argument is sound,

For humility in man.

There is no way around

This blatant truth.

Now is the time we know we must admit,

Our lives often lived as hypocrites.

Run quickly! Fall into His loving arms

And claim The Only Shield from lasting harm.

Copyright 2020.    L.L.  Shelton.

An Open Letter To The President

Current Events, Humanity, Natural Disaster, Politics, ,

April 13, 2020

Dear President Trump,

Please don’t be concerned with defending yourself against those who truly wish to bring you down for various and sundry reasons- most of them political.  Your constituency does not care what they think, and it is painful to watch you spending your precious time and energy on them building a case for yourself.  Though, personally, I hate being misunderstood and can only hope that I would bear up under the same temptation.

You are well loved and respected by many who know you directly and by many who don’t, as well as by many great minds- and through your leadership during this extremely difficult period in the history of the world, by most who voted for you and by many who did not vote for you.  It is difficult to believe that the worst enemy of our nation would have wished upon your presidency, upon our country, such a terrific crisis.

You do not need to put aside any more of anyone’s expensive time, particularly your own, trying to reason with those who continually disagree with you and are possibly intent on creating dissension.

I, for one, am honestly grateful for your fine leadership at this challenging time.  I continue to pray for you, and for your family, and for all members of your staff.

May God bless you, and may God continue to bless America,

L. L. Shelton

Contagious!

Current Events, Family Life, Health, Health & Disease, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, , ,

REPORT FROM LOS ALAMOS:

An RO of 6! Yikes! Is it time to panic?!?

  1. Regarding public health and disease, what is an R0 (r-naught)? It is a label for an infectious disease that tells us that each person with that particular illness will possibly-even probably- infect a certain number of other people.
  2. Why is it important to know the actual RO of SARS-cov-2; to know the rate at which it would spread if we were not practicing social distancing? Because the original number, before mitigation, in other words before we practiced social distancing, tells us what would happen if we were NOT practicing staying apart from one another.
  3. What is the ACTUAL RO of the virus that causes COVID-19? According to the report and Vice-President Pence’s confirmation of it, yesterday at the White House briefing, the task force has known from the beginning that SARS-cov-2 has an RO of six.  THAT is why the mitigation, in other words- staying apart from one another- has been extremely important.  Also, they knew less then about the effects of the virus and though more is known now, there is still so much more to know.
  4. What is the RO of SARS-cov-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) with mitigation, in other words because we are practicing staying away from one another? The RO with mitigation in place was at 2.28 and has dropped to between 1 and 2.
  5. Is there any more good news?  Yes.  When the test that will count the evidence of a person’s anti-bodies to the virus is available, we will test a large population of those who have been exposed but did not appear to become sick or seriously ill. Then we will know approximately how many people catch the virus and do not get sick, or contract COVID-19  and are only mildly affected.  This is important because a high RO such as six would be much less dangerous if it applies to a disease that is often only mildly experienced.  The need for drastic mitigation may be reduced in the future when this particular strain of Coronavirus returns.

https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.02.07.20021154v1.full.pdf

        L.L.  Shelton, 2020.

Novel Corona Virus (COVID-19)

Current Events, Education, Health & Disease, , , , , , ,

Maybe I was taught logic in school or maybe I learned critical thinking while I taught it to my children as part of their education- either way, I’m thankful in light of current events.

Please consider these thoughts whether you are among the “this is the greatest hoax the world has ever known” population or the “this is happening- it is not a drill- take it seriously” group.

    1. If you are among the first group you must ask yourself, “why?” Who are “they” and why would they orchestrate such a thing?  Would it be to have an excuse to enact Marshall law in democratic nations? Would it be to target the nearly useless (if there is such a thing) among humanity and eliminate them? Would it be to provide a reason to stop Christian and Spiritual gatherings? Again, why?
    2. If you are among the second demographic, once more you must ask yourself, “why?” IT being the COVID-19 virus; is it because as the old rhyme heralds and knowing now that IT is more dangerous to the general population than the flu, “round and round and round IT goes, where IT stops nobody knows?”
    3. If you think it could be both-why might it be both?
    4. Having done this, it is your responsibility to pray, to stay calm, to follow instructions (if none is asking you to sin), to prepare to the best of your ability to provide for those closest to you and that you may help any in need.

Home Sweet Home

Current Events, Education, Politics

I love us, America. I love that we are a constitutional republic which allows us to be a representative democracy. We are not “majority rule” (a direct or pure democracy) as the majority may be misguided or of evil intent. We are a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” meaning a government that recognizes that the majority may be wrong and therefore places some constraint on the will of the people, while at the same time allowing the people a powerful voice. The constitution itself is a primary form of constraint. We should delight in the fact that something is resistant toward us when we are in error. We should take joy in knowing that our founding fathers took great pains to ensure our empowerment when we are treating one another properly, and to provide for our restraint when we are bound to harm one another.

We are a young and grand social experiment- and the most promising trial of a national government ever to have existed. May God continue to bless and to help us to keep our particularly beautiful way of life!

I know that I would rather live here than anywhere else on earth. Other places may be nice to visit, but there is no place like home. 🇺🇸

Cheers to Bridges

Current Events, Essay and Prose, Humanity

Is Facebook destroying true intimacy? Is social media creating a false sense of community?

Only if one is not thinking…

When I like or love someone’s post on Facebook (or other social media), I’m not trying to imply a sense of intimacy. It doesn’t mean that I know the person well and love everything about him or that I’ll be expecting to be invited to holiday dinners- or even that I would want to be invited. I’m showing only that I like (or love) what he has expressed here, or I stand with him in this particular thing. When I touch the emoticon representative of a person consumed with laughter- I’m thanking a person for sharing some of the best medicine of my day! When I hit the angry face, it’s because what is portrayed frustrates me. I touch the sad face when I am moved to tears by something shared and the hands clasped in prayer when I know it is the needed answer. When I offer a comment, I say what I mean and I mean what I say. Social media is a tool and like any other tool, it has no power of its own- the power is in the hand of the one who wields the tool. I don’t think I have a false sense of the community being built here, rather I know it is a bridge to community. I like bridges- a bridge can be destroyed if it becomes dangerous but a bridge is usually a wonderful idea.

Copyright 2018. L.L. Shelton.

35 WAYS FOR THE CHURCH TO HELP MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN:

Bible Talk, Church Culture, Current Events, Family Life, Living the Word, Mental-Physical-Spiritual Health, Poetry

1. Stop expecting, worse desiring, for our government to do everything.
2. For all of our sakes STOP asking our government to do it all.
3. Eat and drink carefully and healthily, exercise twenty minutes, and study God’s Word each day in an attempt to keep ourselves in optimal health, to be of service to others.
4. Grow a portion of our own food.
5. If we are able to grow extra food- share it with our neighbors.
6. Buy from local food sources and producers.
7. Eat out at restaurants that serve only what is grown locally.
8. Start a local food pantry to collect from those who have much and redistribute to those who have little.
9. If we are fortunate enough to have opportunity and funding for regular preventative medical care, avail ourselves of the services.
10. If we are healthy and another is not, do what we can personally, to alleviate the person’s discomfort- particularly if this person is our own family member, but certainly do not limit our love and provision to our own.
11. Do our good works among our own and expand outward to others.
12. Start a medical fund in our local church and use it to help those in health crisis, within and outside the Body, who have no (or insufficient) medical coverage.
13. If we have an extra room, share it with someone who has no home of his or her own- particularly if this is a person (or family unit) from our own tribe, and certainly if the person is not in need of constant care or medical attention.
14. If we can afford to hire someone or to offer private care ourselves, open our home to someone needing constant care or who is dependent on medical aid. If the person has a home, supply care in his or her place of residence.
15. If we have an extra house or property of some kind… do we really need to talk about this?
16. Insist that able-bodied-minded persons work for their room and board.
17. If we have a dependable vehicle that is not fully and usefully employed- share it! At the least consider offering someone who is dependent on public transportation a regular ride.
18. Better yet- ditch our gas guzzling vehicle that helps to keep us dependent on foreign oil and/or fracking at home with the possibility of helping to create earthquakes, and cheerfully support public transportation with our tax dollars and our voluntary commitment to it.
19. Support alternative energy research and development.
20. Repair, re-use, recycle!
21. Turn our A/C up and our heat down 2-3 degrees. Give the money we save to someone who has less than we do.
22. Build a lending library of some kind and be sharers! Do this with our local church body and share with the community at large.
23. Educate our own children well.
24. Anytime we have opportunity, faithfully tutor someone else’s child. This can be done simply by seizing a teachable moment, or on a formal schedule of some kind.
25. If we are an employer, provide for the NEEDS of our own family members and those of our employees BEFORE providing extravagances for our family and those closest to us.
26. When someone from our own small society becomes pregnant outside of marriage- particularly with no criminal offense having taken place, assist the person ourselves in managing the pregnancy, the birth, and the rearing of the child, hopefully with the aid of our local church body.
27. Start an adoption fund in our local church and offer financial aid to Christians willing and desiring to open their homes to orphaned children.
28. Be especially supportive of widows, and encourage young widows OF THE FAITH to marry again.
29. Stop insisting that people get married for reasons that are unbiblical. Marriage is for Believers.
30. Stop penalizing people for being unmarried. Support the single members of your group in their choice to remain single. Support Civil Unions.
31. Offer singles and those choosing civil unions, family time with our families in our homes. If they are not Christian, so much the better, we can be like Jesus and offer a witness to The Gospel. (If you are strong, go into their territory when invited and enjoy them while offering a witness to The Gospel. This is not fellowship. Fellowship assumes like-mindedness.)
32. Stop expecting unbelievers to think and behave like we do.
33. Understand that those who are born into suffering are there, in part, to teach us selflessness and patience, and to help us learn to be servant-hearted.
34. As a rule, where and when possible, share with those outside the Church, and faithfully share The Gospel along the way.
35. Set an example of being kind to anyone and anything living- in this way we will nurture life and discourage a culture of death.

At the least, let our speech be encouraging, building up those around us rather than tearing them down. May GOD help us to make America great, and please LORD, let it begin in me.

Copyright 2018. L. L. Shelton.

Further Reflections On Charlottesville

Current Events, , , , , , ,

Due to the outcome of our Civil War, the preservation of our nation, we are each subject to a greater society- that of The United States of America, and the government of such has grown to include ideological territory far beyond the original intent of “protection and defense against all enemies foreign and domestic.”

We are each subject to a larger community of feeling, thought, and behavior- in short, subject to one another, and therefore affected by one another, and feeling some degree of ownership of one another’s corporate possessions and territories. We can not flee the inconveniences of the union and yet embrace its benefits. The advantages and disadvantages of the union are part and parcel.

The statue belongs first to Charlottesville and then to Albemarie county (where sits the University of Virginia, the campus having been designed by likely the states most famous resident, multi-slave owner, Thomas Jefferson), next it belongs to Virginia, and then to the United States of America; and the ripple effect of decisions concerning said statue will be felt in varying degree from sea to shining sea. This should be no surprise. An absolute division of one citizen from another is logistically impossible.

And may I respectfully submit to you that this would be the case no matter the outcome of our own civil war? The truth of our interrelatedness by virtue of our existence has been screaming in the heads of humanity’s empaths throughout the ages. Many of these are our poets, our priests, our philosophers and our theologians, our artists of various type and persuasion.

Many empaths are themselves writer’s and there have been those others fascinated by the empath’s words and expressions who have labored to preserve them. Their work is overflowing with the passionate plea to recognize our genuine connectedness and our inability to escape it, and the need to therefore bend with it when all but sin will allow, as in honoring and respecting one another we honor and respect ourselves.

Now it appears that some felt that my earlier remarks on this subject indicated a callous disregard for the feelings of those who are opposed to the statue’s position in the town park, maybe even to those injured during the eruption of evil occurring there on Saturday. I assure you, nothing could be further from the truth. It should go without saying that hate and violence are not only mean, but are a recipe for disaster as to mistreat and despise one’s fellow human is as detrimental to one as is wounding and abhorring oneself.  I am most of all opposed to such things.

I simply hope to encourage our depth of thought surrounding our activities- a search for patterns and predictable precedents that we may make the best use of our resources, and in conclusion, ask that we thoroughly consider, as we can not completely separate from one another nor from our collective past, in this case as well as in every situation like it, what may best serve all.

Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.

Reflecting On Charlottesville

Current Events, Holistic Health, Humanity, Poetry, , , , , , ,

Please do not insist that we remove every reminder of our struggle to be who we ought. Leave us traces of our wrong-doing in the form of art. Let some things stand to help us to recollect who we do not want to be and wish we never had been. These are fine artifacts as they exist to teach; to show us a history we hope never to repeat.

Perhaps in our desire to do away with every unpleasant memory we may do ourselves and our posterity great harm. What if the Bible is truth and its explanation of wickedness beginning in us, originating in human beings of each and every color is accurate? What then if there is nothing to bring this truth to mind? Would we not be destined to replicate many difficult and painful lessons should be already learned?

Let us think carefully before rendering our past free of hard things. For memory is not restricted to the past; it exists also to inform the future, and to ignore this aspect of memory, to relegate this valuable tool of the mind to a place of obscurity is a fool’s game.

Rather, let us stare appalled. Let us gaze aghast at these moments in our corporate story and at similar happenings in our individual stories, and let us fall to our knees and beg God to help us to come to healthy terms with the knowledge, and with ourselves, that these hideous and contemptuous events may never again occur.

Copyright 2017. L.L. Shelton.