Worst of Times and Best of Times

Women simply don’t like to reveal their age.  At least I don’t, but now in my “golden” years I pause to reflect on my life during the Great Depression of the 30s.  I say this because the current events of the past few years give me a desire to remember what our life was life back “then.”

Yes, it could be called the Worst of Times.  People were throwing themselves out of windows when the stock market crashed.  Money wasn’t available from a window in the bank.  The doors of banks were closed and no place to get cash for your next trip to the market. 

My father was one of the lucky ones.  He had a job.  It only paid $30.00 a week but we considered ourselves fortunate.  He could pick up cheap meat and veggies from the A and P grocery…… (Atlantic and Pacific Tea Co).  They had no freezers and were closed on weekends.  It was a good time to buy food although we didn’t have large refrigerators that held much. 

Hobos would come knocking on our back door wanting to work for a meal.  My mother never turned them away and aways prepared a meal.  We lived in a small duplex and really didn’t have much for them to do, but they expected to work for their food and Mother would find small jobs around the house.  No one expected handouts.  There was a sense of pride in working for what you received. 

 The Works Progress Administration initiated by President Roosevelt, better known as the WPA, put men to work on bridges and roads.  However, hardships continued through the ‘30s and the beginning of the ‘40s. 

I remember hearing Roosevelt telling his radio audience about the horrific attack at Pearl Harbor.   We were shocked at this assault on our country.  Now there was a war on two fronts, Europe and Asia.    But America was united. 

Patriotism was greater than at any time that I can recall. Women filled in the workforce; kids collected scrap metal and paper; we bought saving stamps from our teacher, war bonds etc.  We were limited on certain foods. We used food stamps to buy sugar and there were no bananas.  People grew their own veggies from their Victory Gardens.  Cookbooks came out, using a limited number of ingredients.  Everyone was involved in the war effort. 

But it also was the Best of Times.  My childhood and into my teenage years were good times for our generation.  We didn’t have our parent’s worries.  We had little and most likely would be considered poor today; however, many of my childhood friends were in the same boat.  We had a tightly knit family, which sadly isn’t seen too often these days.  There were pickup games on Saturdays, following strict but good learning at school.  I could go out and play with friends and never worry about being attacked.  We played jacks and kick the can and caught fireflies when it turned dark. 

Our parents never worried about what the teacher was telling us at school.  We weren’t being indoctrinated with Wokeism or Cancel Culture.   We said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning with hands on our hearts.  The intercom played the Star Bangled Banner and there was pride of living in America. 

It’s difficult to give advice to the present generation.  Through no fault of their own, they have been exposed from an early age to entitlements, comfort zones, drugs, foul language, transgenderism and lack of respect for our great country and authority.

I pray that a change is coming. I pray that this generation can overcome the obstacles which we are facing in today’s world.  Is it  just wishful thinking that we can ever return to having  pride in our country?  Is making “America Great Again” just a dream? 

                                                    Are You Just Compost?

What a strange suggestion.

I read this article in the last issue of Epoch Times written by Wesley Smith.  I wanted to share with you, my readers.  This article was so amazing to me that I felt you might be interested also.

I believe that each of us was made in God’s image.  A word coming from the Hebrew which means……”A shadow of”.  In other words, God put within us something special that provides us both spirit and a soul as well as giving us a human body.  Therefore that body He gave us is special…….both at birth and at death.  

Starting in 2027, California will allow composting of the dead.  Known officially as “natural organic reduction (NOR), this novel final disposition process transforms the deceased body into soil to spread on gardens or in which to plant flowers or a tree. 

Liquefication is another increasingly popular means of body disposal.  The human body is liquefied by alkaline hydrolysis which makes a liquid of the soft tissue which is used a fertilizer. The bones are crushed into powder.  This is now legal in 21 states and will some be legal in more. 

So, what about all those martyrs that were burned at the stake?  People who never received a body burial.  Can’t God remake them with a heavenly body?

Yes, of course. But these martyrs did not choose to be sacrificed.  It’s a completely different issue.  We are to honor the dead, not desecrate their bodies or to devalue the human body that God gave us. 

I know that many people want to be cremated.  Who am I to judge, although that too is decision made by many instead of a burial. 

Jewish people honor the dead.  They honor the body that once housed their family or friends.  Death is a ceremony which allows the family to grieve as well as remember the life that once inhabited that body.

 Human dignity matters even after we die.  As an ultimate example, look at how important the pomp and ceremony of Queen Elizabeth ll’s funeral were to millions of people around the world.  Imagine the different sense that would have been conveyed if her remains had merely been poured into the London’s water system!!

There is something ultimately diminishing about grandpa in a flowerpot.  It seems to me that these methods to unceremoniously eradicate the body convey a powerful symbolic message that we’re essentially nothing more the carbon atoms gathered temporarily in an animated form…….!!

All this recalls a movie called “Solent Green” made in 1973.  Over crowding in New York brought shortages in food and space.  Without anyone knowing, they were turning dead bodies into food called Solent Green.  Now, it doesn’t seem so farfetched. 

I might be old fashioned, but if our remains come to be perceived as merely so much waste to be disposed of as quickly and efficiently as possible and if we really come to see ourselves as unworthy of anything greater than anonymous death, we’ll be tempted in life, to treat one another accordingly! 

                                 You are worth more than compost. 

                                 Forgiveness: Needed in Your Life!

The Jewish community will be celebrating the High Holy Days which end in Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.  This is a special time when God will be forgiving and forgetting past mistakes………. but only if you have forgiven others.  That’s why being a Disciple and Believer of Jesus becomes so important to us.  Its forgiveness of our sins!

Forgiveness should be a natural for those of us who are Believers.  Its part of who we are and what we are to do.  Easy to say but so difficult. 

Someone has really hurt your feelings.  They have lied about you and said terrible things about you.  Some people owe you money.  They have never paid you back…….not one penny!  You have sisters or brothers who don’t want to keep in touch.  They neglected your parents and all their care depended on you.  You even had to pay the bills at the nursing home.

                                                  Forgiveness. 

Only the mercy and grace of God’s forgiveness through Jeshua (Jesus) frees us to forgive others.  The need for reconciliation is urgent and even more so in these days of conflict.

Reconciliation may seem out of reach to those who ignore the teachings of our Messiah and Lord.  “Do unto others as you want them to do to you.”  We all want forgiveness.  Not only to those whom we might have harmed, but we need to practice forgiveness toward those who have harmed us. 

God alone sees everything, has no memory problems, and is 100% accurate about all our wrongs.  We have no excuses before Him.  He knows our hearts as well as our outward performances.  We might say we forgive others and probably mean it but there is a “heart problem” which isn’t easily solved. 

Colossians 3:13 tells us. “Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you.  Remember the Lord forgave you, you must forgive others. “

Its important to confess our sins. But can you imagine having to answer to the Lord for each and every sin you ever committed?  Thankfully we don’t have to regurgitate all the gory details of our past.

 In fact, the ministry of reconciliation “is, that God was in Jesus, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them and committed to us the word of reconciliation. (2 Corinthians 5:19)

This should not be a one time a year event.  We as Believers need to make this happen on a daily basis.  There will always be people who offend us.  That’s because we live in a fallen world. 

May God use our love and forgiveness to help reconcile many people to God and to one another, through the forgiveness of our Savior and Lord.

                        Its what needed in your life and mine!