The Best of Times

Mom and I had a conversation about being a difference in times between the 1960s and 2010s. As indeed there is. Technology boomed. The economy fell then took off then fell again and is beginning to get better. Medical practice and knowledge has increased and in most cases more helpful to people. Mom had a dear friend that committed suicide in the early 1970s. I explained that it was probably due to her depression and back then all that was done was to put them into a mental institution until the symptoms subsided and then released the patient. Now there are many many many therapies for depression. But is this the best of times? Older people cannot get proper care, insurance controls what procedures and what items are available for patients, there are hackers, looters, angry people over and over and over. And we turn from God more and more. We should be turning to Him and praising Him for the many blessings in our lives. Instead we like to blame Him for our shortcomings. May God always show us mercy.

The Joy of the Lord

One of the best books I have ever read is "Man's Search for Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. I read it as a senior in high school as part of our assignment for religion class. A friend from church brought up the book again during Sunday night class, It is a book that tells that the only way to make it through any situation, whether "suffering" through a hangnail or enduring prison of any sort is to have a will to always find meaning in one's life, whether it is to return to family, or planning on changing one's lifestyle because of what one has done. Only way to do this is through a belief that one's wisdom and knowledge and morals originate in God, according to Christ. Our will for existence is that this world is not our home. Not with it's disappointments and trial and diseases. We're all just passing through.

God's plan

What is God's plan for our lives? How do we know when to move and when to stay? How do we know it's from God? When I was a freshman at Tulane in 1977 I was struggling with Chemistry. I studied, I had a tutor, I did everything I thought to do but hit a stone wall every single time. I even failed the first exam, I was studying one afternoon and cried out to God, "Alright, if you want me to be a veterinarian I have to pass Chemistry". And not only did I pass the next two tests but I made 95 on one and 103 (bonus points) on the last test before the final. I couldn't have done it on my own. In 1982 I applied for but did not make it into Veterinary College at LSU. So I went to Kentucky to study to be a veterinary technician. And was promptly adopted by the sweetest, warmest family I'd ever known, I was trained in red meat in Kentucky and now live in Lexington, KY. I believe it was part of God's plan for me to get me to Kentucky in addition to making sure I knew I was His daughter. What an awesome God we serve.

When God says to wait

When God says to wait, wait. When God says go, go. How do we know? That's what a silent period during prayer time is for. I love the yogis who instruct the yoga students when meditating to absolutely clear their minds out, thinking of nothing. There is no negativity, but there is no positivity either. It just is. And in this universe we as God's children have to accept that there is not only positive and negative aspects, there are just aspects. It's when we accept that that we truly know God is in control. He is in complete and total control. God says wait, God says go, God says follow Him.