Lap 72…GO!

Dear Readers.

What follows now is (sort of) my usual, annual stream of questionable consciousness…

- Ever pay attention to all the medication commercials?  First off, why are they advertising to the general public?  Second off, why are they legally allowed to sell drugs with that many side effects?  “Big Pharma” knows darned good and well what undesirable effects their product will have before they even begin using  human guinea pigs to quantify them.  

Take antidepressants.  A study was done in Britain that indicated that depression may not be the result of a chemical imbalance. That study was all over the news,  then crickets. Wonder why?  Then, the companies introduced medication  to treat the uncontrollable involuntary movements caused by the use of their antidepressants.  Then  supplemental add on medications when the first med didn’t do the trick. I can’t help but think that the manufacturers knew all along that these drugs would cause more problems  than they solved. 

There is evidence that mRNA vaccines, like those for COVID -19,  have caused otherwise healthy twenty-year-olds to get enlarged hearts and even one study drawing a statistical link between the vaccines and cancer progression. The scientist who invented the mRNA process has said publicly that he cannot predict the long-term effects of  mRNA vaccines . 

What else are they not telling us,  or do they even care? 

They are legally required to tell us what sort of nasty side effects might happen,  but then give us the BS that states “Your doctor prescribed this because the possible benefits outweigh the risk of undesirable side effects.”  Easy for them to say.   They are not the ones who might die from “a rare but potentially fatal brain infection!”  

Whatever happened  to the Hippocratic admonition, “First do no harm”?

(Can you tell I have spent a lot of time around doctors and medications lately?) 😉

Enough about that. 

 

-As I type this, two of my oldest, dearest friends, former coworkers I have known for 40 years, are fading.  One is in  a nursing home suffering from dementia, the other is 85 and his health is failing. I guess that is part of living, but that doesn’t make it easier to watch or make my heart ache any less. 

-Miriam-Webster defines intelligence as “the ability to learn or understand things or to deal with new or difficult situations.”  Who decided that super-fast processing of huge amounts of data would be called “artificial intelligence?”  It’s not intelligent in any sense of that word. It’s a tool, that’s all, nothing more.  You can use a tool properly or improperly.  

Let’s hope and pray that so called  “AI” is not put in control of anything.  It’s impossible for a computer to exercise judgement:  “an opinion or decision that is based on careful thought.”

It’s also impossible to program moral judgement. 

-In Europe, regulations concerning food processing allow about 300 or so ingredients or additives. In the United States, the FDA has approved over 10,000.  Just saying…

-By the way, if I keep forgetting to take the memory supplement, is it really working?  Just asking.

-There appears to be a revival of faith happening all over the world.  It’s good to see.

 There is so much confusion in our world.  The  Bible’s book of  “Judges” ends with the passage, “In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in their own sight.”  (Judges 21; 25) 

Indeed. 

Without objective truth, we are at the mercy of momentary impulses, i.e.: whatever we feel like at any given moment. Not a good way to live,  is it?  It feels like being a ping pong ball. 

That is why we are seeing a revival.  People are seeking objective, transcendent truth.  We are made in our Creator’s image and likeness, He is objective, transcendent truth.  People are just trying to come home.  That is what we do when we are lost, we try to find our way home. 

-Another thing I have become much more aware of as I get older is the many, many ways I have been blessed.  Funny how I didn’t notice them before, but when one honestly takes stock of their life, the blessings really stick out.  

At least in my estimation, counting my blessings is considerably more desirable than taking stock of all my failures, so I make it a point to acknowledge and thank God every day for the gifts He has given. 

-We get a nice, warm, fuzzy feeling when we are kind, forgiving, generous, helpful or loving, don’t we?  That is because we are made in God’s image and  HE is all of those things. We are just doing what comes naturally!  

By the way, we get anything  BUT a warm feeling when we talk about politics.  Does that tell you anything? 

-I flatly refuse to let cancer, my bouts of AFIB, or any other ailment define who I am. I am not merely a “patient”, and definitely not a “victim”. I am first and always a child of God.  That is how I identify.  How about you? 

-Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese general, wrote a book  called “The Art of War”.  It’s required reading at our military academies (and many business schools!) .  In one of its passages, the general writes that victory is assured if you are at war with your enemy before he knows you are at war with him.  

 French author and poet Charles Baudelaire wrote that, “the devil’s finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist”  

 Hmmm…

-Finally, a personal observation: There is a tremendous amount of violence lately: wars , civil unrest, border disputes, etc.  And an awful number of killings, what politicians and their press sycophants refer to as,  “gun violence”.  I have no easy answers. 

Nor do they. 

I do know, however, that a gun—or a knife, or a truck even—is a tool.  It can be used properly or wrongly.  All of these things can be and have been used to kill.  You can pass all the laws you like, but criminals don’t obey laws.  That is why we call them criminals. Until we are able to change hearts, the murders will continue.  

Only God can really change hearts. Maybe it’s time we turned back to Him. 

-Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.

By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? (Matthew 7:16-17)

Thanks for reading!  God bless! 🙏