OMG, the Thing is still out there!  We remain in a perpetual state of emergency, nearly three years running.  Be afraid, be very afraid!  But of what exactly???

Remember the 1982 movie, The Thing?  Turns out The Thing was a scary alien that was able to inhabit any life form, morphing from one into another, spreading like a virus.  The Thing was evil, and of course its mission was world domination.

Seems to me we are facing a similar type of Thing in these times.  One scary Thing after another just keeps coming our way.  At least we are led to believe that we should be afraid of many Things.  Illness, war, weather, extremists, etc.  Let’s just call them all The Thing for the sake of simplicity.

Evil loves a good Thing.  Evil thrives on our fear.  Evil can’t make us do anything.  But it knows that in a state of fear we too easily lose faith and willingly exchange our God-given freedom for the promise of safety and security, however false that promise may be.

The brilliance of the last Thing was that they were able to convince the masses that death was imminent.  The widespread fear that ensued enabled them to gain control of the entire world, nearly overnight.  Oh, and as a reminder, “they” is evil.

The favorite saying of one of the CEO’s I worked for was, “Show them death and they’ll accept anything less.”  It is a simple tactic that unfortunately works every time.  I wonder what their new “show them death” Thing will be to keep us in a constant state of emergency?

Yes, they desperately need a new Thing in order to continue their ability to subvert our God-given rights in the guise of an emergency.  They know we have grown weary of the old one.  They also know a new Thing won’t be easy to sell since the cry-wolf lies they relied upon with the last one have now even been acknowledged by the purveyors themselves.

But what will it be?  Have they already created it?  Are we already in the midst of a new Thing without even realizing it?  Is it inflation?  That’s a real Thing that impacts us all.  It didn’t happen by accident.  It was easy to create.  Conjure up trillions of dollars of previously non-existent money and do everything possible to make the energy we rely upon more difficult to access; presto change-o … everything costs more.  It’s not magic.

But inflation is just a creepy crawly kind of scary, it takes time for us to recognize how frightening it can really become.  No, they need something big that captures our full attention.  Something like empty grocery store shelves, gas shortages, contaminated water, electric grid outages, an internet shutdown, bank failures, a stock market crash.  Sadly, all of these Things can be triggered in an instant without warning.

Or how about some sort of violent event?  Yeah, they would love that.  Especially if they can pit groups of people against each other to create division.  The old divide and conquer strategy.  They may even create it if they can’t incite it, and then blame it on the innocent.

Or how about all of the above to create as much chaos as possible. 

Anyway, we can be sure that when the new Thing does rear its ugly head; (1) it will be blamed on everything and everyone except the real causes and culprits, (2) all solutions proposed will not eradicate the Thing, and will likely make it worse, and (3) it will be used to gain even more control over we the people, with or without our consent.

Absent divine intervention, a collapse of society as we have known it is inevitable.  They have successfully built a fragile house of cards that will eventually fall upon us.  And while it is going to be a rough go to get through it, I truly believe it is God’s plan at this point in time.

Yes, we are at our Noah’s Ark moment in history.  He doesn’t need to send the flood Himself this time.  We have already released the floodwaters through what we have collectively done and failed to do.  Now it is up to each of us to save ourselves and as many others as we can.  How do we do that?  The simple answer is to come back to Him.  Trust Him.  Rely upon Him.  Follow Him.  His rules and desires for us.  Believe and do as He asks.  Leave the rest to Him.

Specifically, we should:

Prepare for the worst, while praying and hoping for the best.

What is the worst?  Martial law and a massive abuse of our God-given rights.

What is the best?  An awakening of the masses to the evils that have been perpetrated upon us, justice for the evil doers, and a return to truth based morality in alignment with the will of God.

Have faith.  Be not afraid.  Faith over fear!  Place your trust in God.  Know that The Things are being allowed to happen for a reason.  Face the fear and use it to our advantage.  Push the abominable snowman over the cliff, make him our friend, and use him to place the star on top of our Christmas tree.  Show your faith to inspire others to fearlessly follow.

Do not fear: I am with you; do not be anxious: I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand.  Isaiah 41:10

Get clear about what you will and will not do when face-to-face with The Thing. Plan in advance.  Be proactive not reactive.  Reaction gets us in trouble.  Reaction is done without thinking through the consequences.  The instigator rarely gets the penalty, the retaliator always gets caught. Reaction is what they want. Instead, with forethought, know now what you will think, say, do, and not do when facing The Thing.  Get in that mindset now.

Here are just a few of the difficult questions we should all ponder in that regard:

• Will you trust everything they tell you, or will you search for the truth yourself?
• Will you willingly comply with restrictions on your God-given rights, or will you peacefully resist?
• Will you speak out boldly with known truth that goes against approved narratives?
• Will you courageously live virtuously in alignment with truth, without compromise, and humbly accept the consequences, however cruel and unjust they may be?
• Will you give up things you want to do in the short-term in order to retain freedom in the long-term for yourself and future generations?
• Will you support your faithful brothers and sisters in need even when it causes you to suffer in some way?

As I write the above questions, I’m suddenly taken back to wonder about The Thing the early followers of Jesus faced.  I really can’t even imagine the faith they had to have persevered in the face of the very real threat of martyrdom.  Can you?  There is a big question for us.  Are we willing to die defending our faith?  Do we have the courage to take up our cross and stand strong?

Then he said to all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.  Luke 9:23

Stock-up on necessities.  Although I am no expert prepper or survivalist, it seems prudent to be prepared with the basics.  Have enough food, water, and other necessities on hand to last a while, maybe a few months.  Build a community of friends and neighbors to look out for each other.  Have some cash and first aid supplies handy.  Essentially, have what you need to not be immediately forced into dependency and willful compliance to whatever they demand.  But also know that the Lord will provide.

Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil.  Matthew 6:34

The LORD does not let the just go hungry, but the craving of the wicked he thwarts.  Proverbs 10:3

Always remember … We Win!  Continually remind yourself that The Thing is not nearly as scary as being afraid of The Thing and losing our faith.  There is a worse Thing, the very worst Thing; it is spelled, H-E-L-L.  Sometime I think we are there already.  Then I remember, no, it will be much, much worse … for an eternity.  Now there is some strong motivation to keep the faith!

I truly believe that we now have a great opportunity to turn the tables on evil.  They have been exposed.  We can clearly see it for what it is.  Their deceptive tactics have become much less effective.  A clear majority are now awake to their tyrannical domination agenda, and inspired to thwart their efforts.

They want something new where they rule.  We want the original formula where we are ruled by God and are truly free.  We want the original formula coke, they want the new.  We know how that turned out.  It’s time to get back to what works for us all.  God’s way is the only way to true peace on earth.

Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil.

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.

Therefore, put on the armor of God, that you may be able to resist on the evil day and, having done everything, to hold your ground.

So stand fast with your loins girded in truth, clothed with righteousness as a breastplate,

and your feet shod in readiness for the gospel of peace.

In all circumstances, hold faith as a shield, to quench all [the] flaming arrows of the evil one.

And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Ephesians 6:10-17

Thanks for reading.  Fear not!  We will survive and thrive.  I will focus on what we can all do to build a joy filled future together going forward.  While it will be a significant challenge to turn things around, there is no doubt we can do it.  Go Team Good!

Godspeed, Scott

I feel an epic comeback in the making.  The momentum is swinging back our way.  The opposition was so close to pulling off the biggest upset of all time.  But they got overconfident and started making careless mistakes.  Now they are getting nervous and desperate as they see their substantial lead slowly slipping away.

Thankfully we have been able to keep ourselves in the game by playing good defense.  Our rope-a-dope strategy is finally paying off as they continue to throw wild punches, wearing themselves out.  They are irritated that they haven’t been able to knock us out, and exhausted by our stamina in resisting their onslaught.

Our time is now! Let’s pull together, mount our comeback, and win this thing once and for all.

What is the Game?

It’s really not a game.  It is actually a war that has been waged since the beginning of time.  I’m talking about the ongoing battle between good and evil.  Yes, it’s most definitely a war, but I’d rather think of it as a game since it sounds less scary and more fun.

What is the Object of the Game?

To rule the world, of course.

What are the Rules?

It depends upon which team you are on. Team Good plays by a very specific set of God-given rules.  Team Evil enjoys the advantage of being bound by no rules whatsoever, anything goes, the ends justify the means, and the meaner the better.  There is absolutely nothing they won’t do to win.

Who is Playing?

Every single one of us, every person on this earth.

Who is Playing for Which Team?

Well, therein lies the biggest problem for Team Good, and the only reason Team Evil is still in the game.  Nearly all of us believe we are playing for Team Good, at least that is our intent.  There could be a few exceptions, but generally we all want to be good, right?  Seriously, why would anyone willingly choose to play for Team Evil?

But if we all desire to play for Team Good, how is it that Team Evil is winning so decisively nowadays?  If you don’t think evil is winning, just look around, do you see many people smiling nowadays?

What is Team Evil Doing to Win?

Evil employs a simple, yet brilliant three-pronged approach to winning.

First, evil takes advantage of the fact that human beings are endlessly flawed.  We all play for both teams.  Each and every one of us scores points for both Team Good and Team Evil on a daily basis.  No matter how hard we try not to score for evil, we all do nonetheless.  In our thoughts, in our words, in what we do, and in what we fail to do.

What I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I want, but I do what I hate. Romans 7:15

If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Secondly, evil confuses us about what is good and what is evil.  It provides reasoning that allows us all to justify ourselves as good no matter what.  It is all in how you define the terms.  In fact, even those who are widely regarded as the evilest people in history all probably believed themselves to be good.  They just thought that murdering millions of people was for the greater good, and therefore justified.

Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!  Isaiah 5:20

Finally, evil is the master of deceit and lies, it’s best weapon.  Evil knows that even with common definitions of good and evil, it can prevail by fooling us into living in lies.

You belong to your father the devil and you willingly carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies.  John 8:44

“The truth will set you free, but first it will make you miserable.”  President James A. Garfield

So all we need to do in order to consistently score more points for Team Good is to know what is good and what is true, and to overcome our human weakness in order to do what is truly good. Simple, right?  If only…

What is Good?

God is good.  He gave us life, a few easy to understand rules, a conscious to guide us, talents to develop and put to use in service to others, and freewill to make our own choices.  In short, Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness are good.  Morality based on natural law is good.

Anything that is in alignment with what God gave us and expects from us is good. All else is evil.

By the way, I think it helps to think in terms of good versus evil, instead of good versus simply bad.  Bad is too easily forgiven, but we sure do not want to be considered evil.  And please forget the grey area nonsense, that type of thinking has led us to where we are.  Try shifting your mindset to good versus evil in everything you do and notice how quickly it improves your behavior.  No more evil cookies for me!

Actually, I think most people instinctively know good from evil, right from wrong.  We don’t always act accordingly, but our conscious lets us know by the way we are feeling about ourselves.  We can justify our evil actions intellectually, but deep down we know where we stand.

What is True?

Although God gave us a conscious as a right-or-wrong-o-meter, He did not provide us with a built-in lie detector as a defense mechanism against the father of lies.  But then again, we are conscious beings with the ability to uncover truth if we take the time to do so.

But thankfully, the lies of Team Evil have become so outrageous and obvious over the past couple of years that they have openly exposed themselves.  What lies?  Pretty much anything that is relentlessly put forth as truth with absolutely no dissent allowed.  If it’s true, why not allow debate and prove it beyond any doubt?  Because the lies are easily exposed and they cannot allow that to happen.

And by the way, why do they have to lie in order to get what they want?  If what they want is so good for us, shouldn’t they just be able to tell us the truth?  Just think about it, why do you lie?  To get something you want that you wouldn’t get otherwise, to get out of something you don’t want to do, and to not hurt someone’s feelings, right?  Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings by implying you all lie.  No doubt it is a rare occurrence…

Who is They?

Those who create, tell, and sell the lies.  They are also those who believe and live in accordance with the lies.  The biggest lie is their definitions of good and evil.  They sell evil as good, and good as evil.  And they are really good at it.

It is troubling how many have been fooled into thinking they are fighting for good when they are in fact doing the exact opposite.  They have good intentions, but they are basing their actions on lies.  This makes me both sad and mad.  Sad that well-meaning people can be so easily deceived.  And mad that they so often remain willfully and stubbornly ignorant.

What Do They Want?

The power to control every single person on the planet.  To control everything we think, say, do, and don’t do.  Basically the opposite of what God gave us and wants for us.

What are They Going to Do to Get What They Want?

Anything and everything, no limits.  Remember, they have no moral compass.  They are evil.

What are We Going to Do to Beat Them?

Simple.  Do what God asks of us.  To be good and do good, in truth and with courage, and to encourage and help others to do the same.  At least that’s my interpretation of what loving God and neighbors entails. 

Why Will We Win?

Because we have God on our side.  By the way, isn’t it interesting how you can add an “o” to God and get good, and similarly add a “d” to evil and get devil?

If God is for us, who can be against us? Romans 8:31

He has a plan.  It appears to me that the plan is to make evil overconfident by letting them win a whole lot of battles.  As difficult as this is to endure, it sure is a wakeup call to action.

As they come out of hiding and expose themselves for who they really are, it is easier for us to know exactly what and who we are fighting against.  Plus, the more ridiculous they look, the more people we win to our side.  In my experience this has been happening in droves lately and the momentum is heavily in our favor.

What Can We Do to Help Secure the Win?

1. Know what is good.
2. Know what is true.
3. Strive to be good in alignment with truth.
4. Endeavor to do good by developing our talents and using them in service to others.
5. Support others in their quest to be good and do good.
6. Be courageous.
7. Remember to have some fun along the way.

This is what I am trying to do anyway.

I have been publically quiet for the past year and a half while observing, researching, and reflecting about what is going on in the world, what is likely to happen next, and what we can all do to ensure that Team Good comes out on top once and for all.  Now seems like the right time to share my observations, conclusions, and suggested actions.  More to come soon and often.

Until then, please remember that Team Good wins in the end.  Our job is to help secure the win sooner rather than later.  We can do it by working on ourselves and by working together.  Now is our time to participate in an epic comeback!

Godspeed, Scott

Well, after an 80 day walk in the wilderness, 40 is not enough for a mere mortal, I’m back.  My hope was that the world would have returned to some semblance of sanity by now.  No such luck.  In fact, the insanity has endured and escalated to the point where now, even if you get the experimental vaccine, you still have to comply with all the nonsense that never worked in the first place … now to include double masking.  Wow, that must be quite an effective shot … not!

When last I wrote, my hope was that we would be rescued in a James Bond like style from the reign of terror that evil forces have perpetrated upon us for over a year now.  But unfortunately no savior has come, well other than the one who saved us over 2000 years ago.  One great way to maintain your sanity is to remember that He and His followers do win in the end.

In the meantime, I am now feeling like we are living the script of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975).  In that film the main character, Randle Patrick McMurphy played by Jack Nicholson, is a convicted criminal who fakes insanity in order to be committed to an asylum rather than having to do hard time in prison.

In order to maintain his sanity, he attempts to make life more normal for the other residents.  He finds that most of them are there voluntarily and really don’t seem to need to be there at all.  But the asylum is run by an unyielding tyrant, Nurse Ratched, who has successfully intimidated the patients into a state of dejected submission in order to exert absolute control over them.  Sound familiar?

Eventually McMurphy is able to open the eyes of the residents to their mistreatment and they begin to quietly revolt.  But, spoiler alert, the authority of the evil nurse wins out in the end.  She successfully pushes McMurphy over the edge to elicit an outburst which gave her the justification needed to have him lobotomized.

There is one bright spot in an otherwise depressing movie.  One resident, referred to as The Chief, had a great awakening to understand that he didn’t need to subject himself to the abuse anymore.  He had been going along to get along which he realized had been doing him much more harm than good.  Thankfully he escaped, thus being the one who flew over, or out of, the cuckoo’s nest.

It seems to me that we all face a cuckoo’s nest decision right now.  We either realize that we are being unnecessarily oppressed and escape the insanity of what has been going on, or we become essentially lobotomized, blindly and voluntarily going along to allow ourselves to be enslaved by the powers that be from here on out.

Since you are reading this you are no doubt steeped in reality.  To briefly review, you know that:

• The virus has turned out to be about as deadly as the seasonal flu, and that over 99% of people experience little to no serious illness even if infected;
• The death count constantly reported by the blood thirsty media is inflated by 94% by the CDC’s own admission.  This is obvious because the same percentage of people died last year as die every year, nowhere near 500,000 more;
• All of the measures taken to prevent the spread of illness made absolutely no difference; the results of all countries and states are virtually identical no matter what they did, and;
• And you know that agreeing to take an experimental vaccine that is only 95% effective in reducing symptoms (it doesn’t prevent infection or transmission) is an unnecessary risk to take given that your God-given immune system is already 99.6% effective in doing the same.

As such we are the McMurphy’s in the asylum.  But our problem is, that no matter how hard we try to open the eyes of all the other residents to these facts, they continue to believe the lies of the powers that be.  The constant pressure of their Nurse Ratched’s in the realms of politics, government, mass media, “educational” institutions, big pharma, and giant corporations are experts in manipulation.  They desperately want to maintain their control over the brainwashed, and definitely want to lobotomize those of us who know the truth. They are just baiting and waiting for us to over-react and do something to give them a reason.  Hey, it worked to complete the steal of the election.  More on that another time.

On my extended wilderness walk I wrestled with the question of why this is all being allowed to happen.  Obviously it is in God’s plan, but why?  I can easily see the why on the opposing side. Satan wants us to destroy ourselves by placing man in charge of man.  Globalist forces who have successfully scammed us for a year even have a name for their plan, The Great Reset.  Basically, they want a one world government with total control over all the people. They have proven that the very few can easily control the many, and now they want complete control.  Thus their strong desire for vaccine passports.

So what is God’s plan to combat this evil?  I think it is a wake-up call.  In fact I’ve seen others refer to it as The Great Awakening.  Yes, we definitely need to wake up and take notice of what is really happening.  We as a people have been slowly moving away from a trust in God to a trust in man.  You only need to look at the past year to see how far we have drifted.  Now is the time for a spiritual revival, a coming back to Him in droves.  It’s the only way out of this man-made mess.

We were born as one nation under God, but have slowly descended into a fractured nation under man.  Throughout history man has always sought control over man.  The United States of America was established in direct opposition to this desire, with liberty and justice for all.  God came first, then the people as His faithful followers, and lastly a limited government installed as a necessary evil.  Our founders knew that left unchecked, a tyrannical government would emerge and usurp the will of the people thereby allowing man to be easily controlled.  And here we are…

God gives us freedom and freewill.  He has a plan for each of us, yet He leaves us free to discover it ourselves.  He gives us simple rules to follow that will ensure we live a good life.  When we ignore them we inevitably pay the price.  But He trusts us to make our own decisions and to live with the consequences.  What a contrast, God wants us to be free, yet man desires to control us.  I’m going with God!

Just think about how God would have led the so-called pandemic response.  Do you think he would have forced closures of virtually everything?  Would He have insisted we stay away from each other?  Would He have made us cover the faces He gave us?  Or would he have said:

• Have no fear;
• Use the brain and common sense I gave you;
• Trust the amazingly designed immune system that has kept your species thriving since the beginning of time, and;
• Show your love for each other by protecting the vulnerable and continuing to serve me and each other through your ongoing and uninterrupted work?

But instead, our leaders of man, including those in the church, did the exact opposite!  Yes, we most definitely need an awakening.  It is upon us now, the rest is up to us.  So what are we going to do about it?  Give up?  It seems like we are losing in a blow-out.  Nope!  While that is certainly what the devil continues to tempt in me, it cannot be our answer.

No, we need to be The Chief.  We need to escape the asylum and take as many others with us as we can.  No more going along to get along that does us all more harm than good.  Continuing along this path will ensure our doom.  I fear many who know the truth have taken this route with good intentions, not wanting to rock the boat.  But we must always remember that the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

So what is our escape plan?  Three simple, but admittedly not easy steps.

1. Seek and find truth.  We are being fed a series of well-orchestrated propaganda designed to indoctrinate us into compliance.  We must be vigilant in searching out sources of truth.  They exist but are increasingly being censored.  Actually that is a good thing as it narrows down your search.  Just look for the people being “cancelled” and the information being “fact-checked” as false or misleading.  Sadly, in most cases you will find verifiable truth through those sources. Another good tactic is to believe the opposite about whatever is being shoved in your face.  Then try to prove it either right or wrong through multiple sources.  It really isn’t hard to do if you rely upon logic over emotion and take a little time to think for yourself.
2. Live the truth.  Once you know the truth you must have the courage to live it.  No more going along to get along.  No being lukewarm.  If the disciples of Jesus had done that, what would the world look like now, if it even existed at all?  No, we must live in the truth no matter what the cost.  Nothing will change unless we do.  We need to walk our talk and attract others through our example.  Do you think people really want to be wearing masks? Especially kids who have absolutely nothing to fear, and neither do their teachers.  Why are we abusing them?  How many more must commit suicide before we learn? Maybe our example is all that others need to begin showing their faces again.  There is strength in numbers!
3. Share the truth.  Again this takes courage, but it is our responsibility to share what we know.  There is ample opportunity nowadays.  Like if someone asks if you have had the vaccine yet, ask them first if they have.  Ask for their reasoning for their decision, then share yours.  I just say I’m going with God’s immune system that has already proven to be over 99% effective.  Of course be respectful in any case. I just pray that there are no negative long-term consequences as there were in all the animal trials previously conducted on like vaccines.

There you have it, our escape from crazy is to seek, find, live, and share truth.  Simple but not easy since those living in the false reality believe with all their might that they are right and you are an idiot.  There is no use in spending a lot of time and energy with them.  Try, but shake the dust from your sandals when it’s clear there is no use.  Keep them in your prayers but at a distance.  The sadness you feel for them will get you down and make you want to give up.  You can’t let that happen.  Let the Lord work on them while you try with others.

My guess, things will get crazier before they get better.  The powers that be know they have a short window of opportunity for their reset before our great awakening takes over.  They are going to go as far and as fast as possible.  They know the truth is already understood by many, and that it will set the masses free if it gets out too widely.  Once their massive deception is widely understood they know they will lose their credibility and power for a very long time to come.  I hope that is God’s plan.  Let’s help Him make it happen!

Godspeed, Scott

I feel like we are in the middle of a James Bond movie.  Melanie and I watched all 24 of those movies over the last couple of months, starting with Dr. No (1962) and ending with Spectre (2015) last night.  Why?  We’d never seen them, they were a good distraction from our current reality, and the most importantly, good always defeated evil in the end.

Every film had basically the same plot.  An evil person or group wants to rule the world and they are willing to do whatever it takes to succeed.  Only one man can stop them, Bond, James Bond, agent 007.  Evil is winning throughout the entire film until at the very last moment Mr. Bond swoops in to save the day, destroying the evil villain and ending their reign of terror.

One of the films seemed a bit too real, Tomorrow Never Dies (1997).  It was about a media mogul who shaped the news to gain power and control over the world.  He often created the news by staging events to support the narrative most advantageous to achieving his dominance over everyone and everything.

I find the most troubling trend over the last year has been the startling acceleration in the censorship of truth, and the blatant promotion of misinformation, disinformation, and outright lies.  In fact, the major media sources don’t even attempt to hide their deception anymore.  It is usually easy to disprove what they report very quickly with readily available facts.

Take my least favorite topic for instance.  They would still have you believe we are all at great risk of dying from a virus.  But the WHO reports that the infection fatality rate of the virus is now 0.13%, the same as the seasonal flu.  Further, CDC reported deaths for 2020 are 0.87% of the U.S. population, the exact same as it has been for the last four years.  How can that be with over 300 thousand supposed covid deaths?  Did deaths from all other causes decrease for the first time ever?

So what is going on?  Why do the mainstream media so blatantly misinform and lie to us?  I suppose the same reason the media mogul villain in the movie did, power and control.  They want you to be dependent on them and to do what they say, it’s good business.  They do not want you to be independent thinkers who make your own choices based on facts and logic.

And unfortunately, they are very good at what they do and know they can get away with it.  They do it so well that the people they have fooled truly believe they are the informed and wise ones.  They will dismiss all facts that refute their indoctrinated beliefs.  It is a waste of time to even attempt to convince these brainwashed people otherwise.

Most troubling is that those controlling the narrative are also now able to easily squelch dissent.  There is no more debate.  They can’t allow alternative facts or points of view.  If they did, they know they would lose all credibility.  Instead they censor without regard to truth.  And worse yet, they attack those telling the truth.  And get their mindless followers to do the same.

I sadly laugh when I hear our politicians talk about coming together as a nation.  How do they think that is possible?  They, together with their media allies are the ones creating the division.  We are living in two very different worlds.  One based on truth, the other on propaganda.  One based on freedom, taking care of ourselves and each other.  The other based on total dependence on government, in essence, slavery.  Gee, I wonder which of those worlds God prefers for us?  Only when we all live in the truth will we be able to stand united.

I have an idea that might bring us a little closer together.  How about those of you in power simply share the truth about the virus.  All the fear and unnecessary restrictions on our freedom could end immediately with absolutely no adverse consequence, and you know it.  Of course you won’t because your year-long deception would then become obvious.  Instead you will intensify your efforts, intentionally inflating numbers and calling for even more restrictive measures.  Then eventually you will ease up a little and declare yourselves heroes.  In the meantime, we the people will continue our needless suffering.

The recent hypocrisy about the election is especially troubling. Here the media narrative is that there is absolutely no evidence of election fraud. Great! So why not prove it by dispelling all the evidence to the contrary. We spent 3 years investigating Russian interference with the last election. So why not take a little time to look into this election. But instead, all attempts to bring the irregularities to light are immediately dismissed and censored. Why? What are you hypocrites so afraid of?

Instead of wanting to get to the truth, no court will even agree to hear the evidence. All they have done is to rule that the people and organizations asking for a hearing lack standing. It seems no one has standing in this case, how convenient. But why? Probably because they know it will create chaos. So what? Their failure to listen is creating chaos anyway. Wouldn’t holding a fair hearing go a long way toward settling the questions and healing the division?

But once again, those who simply want the truth are being demonized by the mainstream media.  Why didn’t that happened to all those Russian conspiracy theorists?  They got a 3-year hearing conducted by people who hate the President.  They found nothing and yet they still persist to this day. Why is that okay?  Why the double-standard?  Why don’t they want to get to the truth about this election?  Probably because they know the truth will set us free … from them.

Speaking of hypocrisy, why all of a sudden is it wrong to hold a mostly peaceful protest?  They were encouraged all summer long, urged on by the same politicians and media who are now condemning what was minor and short-lived compared to the violence, deaths, property destruction, and looting they openly permitted and supported for months on end.  Shouldn’t they take a consistent position?  Shouldn’t they be held accountable for inciting actual riots?

And why the rush to impeach the President again on baseless charges.  He will be gone in a week anyway.  Can’t they just be happy they have finally apparently succeeded in getting rid of him?  Unless maybe they are afraid the election fraud can be proven?  But they will never allow any investigation to take place once they are in power, so what’s the point?  How any of them call themselves Christians is completely beyond me.

Back to the movies.  It seems hopeless right now.  Evil just keeps winning.  When will James Bond swoop in to save us.  We need our agent 007.  But of course we have an even better savior to call upon, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  He will save us, He already has!

We the faithful know that God has a plan.  We already know how this movie ends, the script is written in the Book of Revelation.  We don’t know when it will happen, but we do know He will win.  And we know we will win with Him if we keep the faith.

Maybe the current plan is for things to get so bad that the masses will eventually return to Him in great numbers.  Or maybe He just wants it to become obvious who the faithful really are.  I want us to be in that number, which reminds me of a song.  When the Saints Go Marchin’ In:

Oh, when the saints go marching in. Oh, when the saints go marching in. Dear Lord, I want to be in that number. When the saints go marching in.

So how do we persist in our pursuit of sainthood in these times of great trial?  Only one way I can think of.  FAITH!

“Amen, I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  Matthew 17:20

We need to muster up our faith to move the mountains of good to the forefront, and the mountains of evil into oblivion.  We need to do what we can to promote good and defeat evil.

We must believe that we can win, trust that the Lord will help us, and have the courage to take the actions required to prevail.  This combination of belief, trust, courage, and action will demonstrate our faith.

And remember, it’s not this world that we are living for, but for the next.  As the serenity prayer says in part:

Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

And since today celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., here is a bit of wisdom from him:

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.” 

Keep the Faith!  Scott

Can you come out to play?  It’s a new year, time to get back out on the playground and have some fun.  As I said in a recent article, I’m declaring 2021 to be the year of the Playground Saint.

What is a playground saint?  A person who is actively striving to be the person God made them to be, while at the same time not taking themselves too seriously, and having a little fun along the way.

I likened Playground Saints to be a combination of the scarecrow, tin man, and lion from the Wizard of Oz.  Playground Saints use their brains to seek, find, live, and share truth.  They display heart by living the greatest commandments and the golden rule.  They demonstrate courage by doing the right things, in the right way, for the right reasons.  And like Dorothy, they know there is no place like home, where home is making their way back to heaven to live for an eternity with the Creator.

More specifically a Playground Saint is a person who is:

1. Striving to be their best God-given authentic self;
2. Seeking, finding, and developing their God-given talents;
3. Using their talents to provide value to others;
4. Behaving virtuously;
5. Determined to get a little better every day;
6. Inspiring, encouraging, and helping others to do the same, and;
7. Having some fun along the way.

Ultimately, the goal of the Playground Saint is to live a life worthy of achieving eternal life in heaven.  They do that by placing their faith in God and striving to live the life He has in mind for them.  A life of service to Him and others.

If this is the type of person you want to be, you are in the right place.

I definitely want to be a Playground Saint.  But I know I can’t be successful on my own.  We were made for community with each other. We each have a unique part to play in making the world a better place.  But none of us can do that alone.  We need to help and support one another.

I believe part of my reason for being currently is to help facilitate the development and growth of a community of striving Playground Saints.  A place where we can learn from each other and encourage one another to strive to become what we are meant to be, saints.

My initially name for this community was Playground Saints Alive.  Playground signifying fun and being yourselves as you were back in your early days.  Saints meaning striving to be and give your absolute best for the benefit of others. And Alive conveying that you are living life to the fullest as God intends.  I also liked the acronym, PSA, commonly thought of as a Public Service Announcement.  We will certainly be doing the public a great service by striving to be fun-loving and service oriented Playground Saints.

But as I started writing this a new name came to mind, the Community of Playground Saints, or COPS for short.  That also seems to be an appropriate acronym since the job of cops is to protect and serve.  Playground Saints are definitely in the business of protecting each other from the evil one and from the bullies of this world, and to serving God and each other.

I like them both so I leave the choice to you.  Please reply to this with either PSA or COPS and we’ll go with the majority for the official title.

So here is what I am planning to do.  I am going to write more frequent, but shorter articles throughout this year.  They will each provide ideas about how you can live the life of a Playground Saint, and give you simple activities designed to incorporate the ideas into your daily living.  The articles will likely center around the themes of faith, freedom, fortitude, and fun.

Actually, what I will share with you is what I am thinking about, and what I am doing.  My hope is that you will find this useful in your personal journey.  I would expect that some of what I will share you will find useful, some not, and some you can improve upon.  I certainly welcome your feedback and ideas.

Again, my hope is that we make this a group effort.  I envision us slowly growing a community of actively striving Playground Saints.  We are all in this together.  I will raise topics and provide my thoughts, but the greater value may come from us sharing our personal experiences, observations, and ideas with each other.  The easiest and most convenient way for us to do that currently is through establishing a private Facebook group.  I will do that and tell you how to join once we settle on an official name.

I am also considering doing short videos to support the articles for those who would rather watch than read.  Making videos is one of the ways I am challenging myself this year.  You will no doubt get at least a few laughs at my expense in the process:-)  Plus this will give me the ability to interview others about what they are doing in their saintly journey, maybe even some of you.  Who knows, there may even be a podcast in our future.

Do you remember what your parents and teachers would say to you when you ran outside to play as a kid?  Be good, play nice, and have fun.  Something like that, right?  That’s what I envision for us.  I would add do good to the list as well.  Actually, my hope is that we move beyond good to great … or better yet, from good, to great, to Playground Saint!  Enough for now, let’s play!

Personally, I am determined to start every day this year with a serenity mindset.  I do this by reciting the Serenity Prayer to myself immediately when I wake up in the morning.  The words serve to remind me about what is important in life, and more importantly, what is not.

Most people know the short version:

God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change;
The courage to change the things I can;
And, the wisdom to know the difference.

I prefer the long version written by Reinhold Niebuhr, an American Theologian, sometime in the 1940’s.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as a pathway to peace, Taking, as Jesus did, This sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it, Trusting that You will make all things right, If I surrender to Your will, So that I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with You forever in the next. Amen.

Often times nowadays I find myself using an even shorter version by simply saying, “God grant me serenity” many times throughout each day.  It is hard to escape the craziness of the world right now.  But through this simple phrase I can at least remind myself that the ways of God will prevail in the end.  It sure is better than the “Serenity Now” mantra used to stave off anger in a popular Seinfeld episode.  There in the end, serenity now resulted in insanity later. Let’s stick with the supremely happy in the end version.

So here is your first challenge.  Recite the long version of the Serenity Prayer three times a day (morning, noon, and night) for at least one week.  This should allow you to memorize it in a week.  Then you will have all versions available to you at all times when needed.  Thereafter I would encourage you to recite the long version early every morning, and the short, or even shorter version as needed throughout the day.

I hope you will join our community of striving Playground Saints.  In the meantime, let’s all work hard to do good, be good, get better every day, and remember to have a little fun along the way.  More to come within the week…

Happy New Year!  Scott

It’s Christmas movie week!  We have a list of our favorites that we watch every year, no doubt you do too.  I was curious about what would appear by doing an internet search for best Christmas movies.  Here’s the first list that appeared:

1. It’s a Wonderful Life
2. Die Hard
3. A Christmas Carol
4. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
5. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation
6. Home Alone
7. A Christmas Story
8. Miracle on 34^th Street
9. Scrooged
10. Elf

Hey, where’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas and A Charlie Brown Christmas?  And though we’ve watched Die Hard at least a dozen times, and yes it does take place around Christmas, gotta question it coming in at number two.

We watched Elf yesterday.  I found it very relevant to the world we presently live in and decided to write my thoughts for your consideration, and hopefully a little enjoyment.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the plot, here are the basics. The main character, Buddy the Elf, crawled into Santa’s bag one Christmas and ended up at the North Pole.  He was raised as one of Santa’s elves by his adopted elf father.  He eventually learns that his biological father lives in New York City.  He travels there to find him which is when all the fun begins.

Buddy came from elf world where there are three rules:

1. Treat every day like Christmas
2. There’s room for everyone on the nice list.
3. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.

Oh, and where the four major food groups are candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup.

Now imagine coming from that magical world into New York City.  What he found there was a city full of cynics and unbelievers, especially his father who Santa told him was on the naughty list.

Thankfully Buddy maintained his every day is Christmas joy and spread it to all he encountered.  Then when Santa’s sleigh was having trouble flying because of the lack of Christmas spirit in the city, Buddy’s words of elf wisdom eventually saved the day.  He inspired people to sing carols loud for all to hear, thereby producing the Christmas cheer necessary to lift the sleigh.  Even his father sang and got himself removed from the naughty list.

What struck me in watching the movie this year was the colliding of two very different worlds that took place.  The always joyful world of Santa and the elves, clashing with the humdrum life in the big city.  Buddy refused to adapt to the less joyful world that he encountered.  Rather, he inspired them to adopt his.

My lessons learned from the story are that (1) how we choose to view and live in the world is a personal choice, and (2) it only takes a few to inspire the many.

We seem to have a lot of colliding worlds right now.  At the extremes, there are those who fear a virus, and those who do not.  Those who love the country the way it was originally founded, and those who do not.  Those who believe in God, and those who do not.  And many, too many I think, stuck in the middle.

Personally, I’m choosing to live in the world guided by elf rule number one: Treat every day like Christmas.  I think living this one simple rule could serve to solve all of our worldly problems.  Think about it, if we treated every day like the day the savior of the world was born, what difference would that make in our world and in our daily lives?

We would know that we are saved and that we will live eternally in heaven.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. John 3:16

We would live for Him and actively strive to live a productive and holy life to show our belief.

But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.  John 3:21

“Whoever does not take up his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.”  Matthew 10:38

“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:39

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.  John 14:15

We would live to serve our fellow man.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”  Matthew 22:38

 “Do to others whatever you would have them do to you.” Matthew 7:12

We would not live in fear, especially of death which only serves to bring us to the promise of eternal life.

He said to them, “Why are you terrified, O you of little faith?”  Then he got up, rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was great calm.  Matthew 8:26

What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us?  Romans 8:31

We would be joyful.

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Matthew 18:3

And we would live every day to its fullest in order to always be ready for what comes next.

Therefore, stay awake! For you do not know on which day your Lord will come.  Matthew 24:42

Put it all together and what are we talking about?  Striving to become the saints we are all meant to be.

Buddy the Elf seems very saintly to me, and definitely childlike.  Maybe we should be striving to be elves?  Works for me, I love candy, candy canes, candy corns, and syrup!

There are so many great lines in the Elf movie.  Do yourself a favor and watch it soon.  Here are a couple more of my favorites:

“Why don’t you just say it? I’m the worst toy-maker in the world? I am a cotton-headed ninny-muggins!”

“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite.”

“Santa! Oh, my God! Santa’s coming! I know him! I know him!”

That last one seems particularly relevant and timely.  Let’s change it and sing it loud for all to hear:

“Jesus!  Oh, my God!  Jesus is coming!  I know him!  I know him!

Merry Christmas to You All!!!  Scott

I really wanted to take the rest of this year off from research and writing.  It’s been exhausting trying to find truth is this year of widespread lies and deception.  But Nooooo!  Along comes a rapidly developed vaccine which seems just a little too good to be true.  I couldn’t resist looking into it.  Had I known it was going to take an entire week, well, I would have done it anyway.

Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so curious and suspicious.  I blame my Mother.  Actually, I thank her.  As a librarian, she taught me the value of constantly asking and seeking out the answers to my many questions about the universe.  Thanks Mom!

I really wanted to leave this vaccination topic alone because I knew it was going to lead me down a rabbit hole.  But with the rapid deployment and mounting pressure for everyone to take it, I just had to know if it is as safe and effective as it is being widely described.

Spoiler alert, my review has proven to me that the vaccine is neither safe nor effective.  But please don’t take my word for it alone.  I’ll give you the highlights of what I found and provide you references so you can investigate for yourself.

I should offer a brief disclaimer, I am not a medical expert, but I can lay claim to being a professional researcher.  But whether you choose to take this vaccination is obviously a personal decision.  I simply want to give you as much information as possible so you can make the most informed decision possible for you and your family.  I assume you have been inundated with the “you must get the shot” message.  I urge you to consider an alternative viewpoint backed by a compelling set of facts.

I think this is particularly important in this case.  The pressure to take this vaccine is immense.  We are being told we must obey to be considered people of good will.  No doubt that if we resist we will be coerced into compliance with threats of restrictions on our ability to retain employment, travel, be admitted to businesses, go to school and church, attend events, or receive government assistance.

One quick update to the reality of the virus facts from a previous article.  The World Health Organization just provided an update estimates that put the Infection Fatality Rate (IFR) at about 0.14%. The seasonal flu IFR is 0.10%, not much difference.  So why the continued panic?  Simple … politicians and the media continue to push a fear narrative on a now largely indoctrinated covid cult-like population.

Below I share my major questions and answers about the vaccine.  I am going to give you enough detail to hopefully support my conclusions.  But I do again urge you to look into this for yourself.  That way you will develop a real understanding that will enable you to make informed decisions, and facilitate your ability to help others to do the same.  And please feel free to forward this to everyone you know.  That way you have me to blame with anyone who doesn’t like the conclusions.  No doubt many won’t believe or accept them.  At least we have tired.  Here goes…

Is the vaccine necessary?

My conclusion – No.  Our God-given immune system is 99.86% effective in protecting us against death from the virus if we get it.  80-90% of people who get it have only minor symptoms anyway.  Everyone we know who has had the illness has told us that they would much rather have it than the seasonal flu.  Only those with serious pre-existing health conditions are at risk.  Maybe the vaccine will help them?

Is the vaccine effective?

My conclusion – No.  It doesn’t reduce symptoms. It doesn’t prevent infection.  It doesn’t prevent transmission to others.  In fact, getting the vaccine is worse for you than doing nothing.  How can that be???  Glad you asked.  Please see the summary points below.

First, I urge you to watch this linked video titled How Effective is the Covid-19 Vaccine from a journalist named Del Bigtree sometime soon.  This guy has been right about nearly everything covid related from the beginning.  I like him because he uses the scientific method to investigate issues from all angles.  He does what all journalists used to do.  He lets the evidence lead him to fact-based logical conclusions.  And he always provides his sources and asks that you do your own examination.  Here’s what he found, and I concur after looking at all of his sources.

• It has been reported that the vaccines coming our way are between 90 and 95% effective.  But effective for what?  In fact, the vaccines were only tested for their ability to reduce symptoms of the illness.  They have not been tested for their ability to prevent infection or transmission to others.  It makes me wonder, since symptoms for most are mild anyway, what is the big benefit of these vaccines?  I thought that prevention of infection and transmission was the goal.  Bet you did too.  Guess not.
• But is it really even 95% effective for reducing symptoms?  Short answer, no.  That number came from a trial including 30,000 participants.  Half were given the vaccine and half a placebo.  Of those who were vaccinated, 11 had symptoms, as compared with 185 in the placebo group.  11 divided by the total of 196 who had symptoms is 5%, thus 95% more effective.
• But the person who is the head of the trails said that 10-15% of those in the vaccinated group had covid symptoms as a result of taking the vaccine, some pretty severe.  That is 1,500 people minimum.
• So now we have at least 1,511 vaccinated people who experienced symptoms, versus only 185 in the placebo group.  That makes not being vaccinated about 90% more effective than getting the shot (1-(185/1696) …wow!  Why would anyone take the jab?
• How can this be?  Well, the drug company trial didn’t start measuring for symptoms until 42 days after the initial injection.  Therefore, all the adverse effects experienced directly after receiving the vaccine were excluded from their results.  What kind of science it that?  Misleading at best.

Is the vaccine safe?

My conclusion – Can’t be sure, but it seems highly unlikely.  Here again I have a video for you from the same guy, but this time he is interviewing a world renown expert on viruses and vaccines.  It is titled, Stop Covid Vax Experiments. For an overview you can also read this linked article.  Here is my attempt to summarize their thoughts:

• A vaccine for a corona virus has never been successfully developed.
• All animal trials of corona virus vaccines have failed over the past 20 years.  Not always immediately, but over time.
• Unlike human trials, animal studies include a challenge phase.  That is where the animal is injected with the virus after receiving the vaccination.  Often they have then experienced something called a cytokine storm which actually makes the disease much worse, killing all the cats in at least one study.
• Side effects from the vaccine are experienced by many, as noted in the effectiveness section above, which may be worse than the illness itself for many.
• The long-term effects of this covid vaccine have not been studied at all.
• Prior vaccines are known to have caused chronic illness and auto immune diseases.  If you want an in-depth look at vaccines, here is another excellent video, The Vaccine Safety Project.  It is an hour-and-a-half long but well worth the time.
• This vaccine actually modifies us genetically.  This is a new method for which the long-term consequences are completely unknown.  I wonder how God feels about us altering his intelligent design for us?
• There is a risk of temporary infertility in women at the least, and sterilization at the worst.  Maybe men too.  See this article from Life Site News titled 5 Questions About the Coronavirus Vaccine that Should Scare Everyone.

Why would they risk the widespread release of something that doesn’t do much good, and could end up doing great harm?

• Well first of all, pharmaceutical companies are absolved from any and all liability for vaccines.  How convenient.
• I titled this article False Vax Prophets because we are being lied to and manipulated once again. But one thing that is not false is that the profits for these false prophets will be enormous!

Here’s how I see this thing playing out.  Any negative initial side effects of the vaccine will be touted as worth it to gain the so-called benefit.  Any longer-term impacts will be blamed on something else, a mutation of the virus, a new virus, or attributed to some other cause like climate change or Donald Trump.

Out of the blue I had a crazy conspiracy theory pop into my head during my run today.  Well, saying “run” is misleading.  Jog is more accurate.  Wog is probably the best descriptor, somewhere between a walk and a jog.  I think my brother invented that term.  Now, remember before you read this that I told you it was crazy.  But in the year 2020, is there really any such thing?

Since the pharma companies obviously know about the high potential for negative results from their covid vaccine, what if they instead gave everyone the placebo and therefore no bad results occurred.  They could then say the testing for infection is no longer necessary.  That would end the scare tactic of big case numbers.  By the way, here is an article that concludes that 97% of the PCR test results have been false positives.  It was used successfully in a court case.  There are many other similar studies coming to light now.  Does that make you mad?!

The media could finally start reporting the real numbers in a positive light, rather that continuing to prolong the unwarranted fear they have created through their misleading narrative and outright dishonesty.

Then since hardly anyone actually gets ill anyway, politicians could allow things to go back to normal and claim victory.  This would serve to graciously get themselves out of the mess they have created.  And best yet, they and big pharma will become heroes in the minds of the masses, never to be distrusted again!  The evil geniuses win.

Anyway, it could happen.  Maybe that is what’s happening.  Have you wondered how they could have possibly produced and distributed enough of these vaccines so quickly? They don’t even have official approval yet, and the studies continue. How would we ever know the difference between a vaccine and a placebo?

I would love for someone to do a test of a random sample of vials of the vaccine to see what is really in them.  I see the former U.S. Presidents are lining up to take the shots live on television.  They aren’t stupid, they know the risks.  There is no way they are getting anything but a saline solution injection.  We’ll never know for sure.  Seriously, do you trust that crew?  I did not have relations with that woman!  Mission accomplished!  You can keep your doctor!  Yeah right…

In summary, my personal conclusion is that the potential significant risks of these completely experimental vaccines far outweigh any claimed benefits.  Remember, the vaccine only claims to reduce symptoms, it does not prevent infection or curtail transmission to others.  Symptoms are minimal for most anyway, so really, what’s the point?

Well, thus concludes another installment of “We Ain’t All Saints.”  I grow weary of writing about this stuff, but feel an overwhelming obligation to do so.  Finding and sharing truth is worth it.  People are suffering needlessly.  The WHO now estimates that 130 million people could starve as a result of the unnecessary lockdowns.  This has to end.  We have to end it by bringing the truth to light.  Please go forth and do so.  That’s what aspiring saint do.  They seek, find, share, and live the truth.

To Your Health and Safety!  Scott

Last week, in the spirit of hope for a brighter future, I asked you to envision what your year 2021 will be like.  Specifically, I invited you to ask God what His plan for your life is for the upcoming year.  And to view it as though it had already happened and you are looking back on what happened and what was achieved.  The aim of this exercise is to create a compelling vision of the future that will inspire action.

“Whatever the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve” – Napoleon Hill

I told you I would share what I heard in doing the same exercise.  I wrote it down unfiltered, without thinking about it.  I feel like if I do much thinking that I end up with a watered-down version of what I am really being charged with doing.  I’m going to put this in quotes like God is talking.  Obviously it is only my interpretation.  Anyway, here it is:

“I want you to facilitate the development of a community of people striving to make it to heaven. 

Of course, whether any of you succeed is up to my grace, but I gave you all a reason for being.  It is up to each of you to figure out what yours is, and to live it out to the best of your ability.

I want you to help people do that.  Specifically, I want you to attract others to this community who are serious about doing the following:

1. Being themselves, their God-given authentic selves;
2. Seeking, finding, and developing their God-given talents;
3. Using their talents to provide value to others;
4. Behaving virtuously;
5. Striving to get a little better every day;
6. Inspiring, encouraging, and helping others to do the same, and;
7. Having some fun along the way.

I want you to give them a place to learn how to do each of the above, and to interact and support one another.  And by the way, when I say them, you are included.  You are helping yourself by helping others.

I also want you to help them to deepen their faith in Me; to seek, find, and live by truth; to be role models for living by the greatest commandments and the golden rule; and to have the courage to do all of the above.

Yes, the sad fact is that it takes great courage to live a Christ-centered life nowadays.  Seems odd that the best way to live, the way to true happiness now and forever, is looked down upon by your increasingly secular society.  Why is it considered the hard way to live when it should be so easy, and so satisfying?  I gave you the simple rules long ago, just play by them.

Anyway, go make some good things happen.  I will guide you along the way as always.  All you need to do is listen and take action.  Good things will happen when you do.  If they don’t, it just means you aren’t paying close enough attention.

You should provide entertaining lessons and engaging challenges.  You should make use of video as well as the written word.  You should also provide ways for members to get to know each other.  Give them a forum where they can learn from each other.  You should also interview them to share their expertise.  I gave you all unique talents that are meant to be shared for your mutual benefit. Introduce outside experts to the group as well.

And do this all in a way that makes it easy for others to join the community and bring themselves up to speed at their own pace.  Then encourage members to invite their like-minded family and friends to join in all the fun.  Yes, make it fun.

I’d like this community to grow to a point where people can truly help each in living their daily lives.  I especially see this as a place where generations can learn from, and support each other.  Where a young person might discover or advance their career though connections established in the group.  Or an older person might find the assistance they may need through a younger member.  By the way, the split between young and old is one year older than Scott’s age:-)

The key is to get and keep people focused on what truly matters in life, and away from what does not.  That is easier said than done and requires that we assist each other on an ongoing basis.  Establishing personal connections helps to make that happen.

So in 2021 I expect to see the development of a thriving online community of Playground Saints Alive.  Playground signifying fun and being yourselves as you were back in your early days.  Saints meaning striving to be and give your absolute best for the benefit of others. And Alive conveying that you are living life to the fullest as I, your God, intended; in community with one another.  My-speed (Godspeed)!”

Okay, well that is quite a challenge.  That is how I know it is coming from above and not from me.  I would have aimed a little lower.  You know, using the under-promise and over-deliver methodology to mediocrity.  Instead I’m being asked, no told, to aim for excellence.  Yes sir, I’ll do my best.

I’m not sure yet exactly how I will do what I have been tasked with here.  But I do feel a sense of urgency to figure it out and get it rolling.  Once again, one of my bible readings for the day gives me the feeling that time is of the essence.  I keep trying to keep these end-time verses out of sight, out of mind, but they keep appearing to my dismay.

But of that day or hour, no one knows, neither the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.  Be watchful! Be alert! You do not know when the time will come.  Mark 13:32-33

So here’s what I’m going to do.  I’m going to take the month of December off from writing these weekly articles in order to come up with specific plans for 2021.  I will send progress reports through email as I have them.

If you currently get these messages through email you will be informed about what is coming next and how to participate.  If not, you can join our email list by either signing up for the newsletter at the bottom of this linked page, or to stay in the loop at the bottom of this linked page.

In the meantime, if you received your 2021 assignment from above, I encourage you to start making general plans in that direction.  Making specific plans will likely be one of the things we do first in January, but there is no need to delay if you are ready.  Or take it easy this month in preparation for a big leap forward next year.  Rest, relax, and enjoy the Holidays with family and friends.

Happy Holidays to All of You Playground Saints Alive!  Scott

Remember way back at the start of this year when we all pledged to have our happier than happiest year ever in 2020?  It seemed like such a good idea at the time.  In hindsight, we couldn’t have picked a worse year to make happiness our aim.  I don’t know about you, but I am failing miserably.

I feel like the guy in the movie Airplane! who said, “Looks like I picked the wrong week to give up…” and then inserted smoking, drinking, amphetamines, and sniffing glue into the line as the movie progressed.  We most definitely picked the wrong year to give up unhappiness.

Early on I gave you my happiness formula for consideration; Happiness = Reality ≥ Expectation.  That is, we are happy when our reality in life equals or exceeds our expectations.  The greater the reality exceeds the expectation, the happier we are.

We can therefore control our level of happiness by working to improve our reality, adjusting our expectations, or better yet, doing both.  Basically, my working theory was that happiness is a state of mind that we can create for ourselves at any time we so choose.

Wishful thinking it turns out.  I so wanted to believe it was true.  I was certainly determined to give it a try.  But it didn’t work.  While I still believe that it is true to some extent, my current level of personal unhappiness has caused me to reconsider.

At first I did try lowering my expectations.  It was obvious that conditions in the world had changed drastically.  Reality had no chance of living up to my initial expectations.  This worked for a while.  But as time went by it became clear that no amount of expectation lowering would be enough to meet the constantly deteriorating reality being imposed upon us.  I needed a new strategy.

I decided to depend upon gratitude.  I started every day by reminding myself how good I have it.  I have everything a person could ever hope for.  I have done everything I have ever wanted to do, and accomplished more than I would have ever thought possible.  I am truly blessed.  This helped me to be feel satisfied, but fell short of happiness.  Why?  Empathy and guilt.  I wish everyone had it as good, I know most don’t, and I feel helpless to do much about it.

So while I do believe that an attitude of gratitude is absolutely required in order to achieve a state of happiness, it is not enough.  There is something beyond thankfulness that leads to happiness.  But what?  Since having embarked on this happiness journey nearly a year ago, and reading and thinking about it daily, I have now landed upon what I believe to be the key ingredients to a happy life.  Here they are for your contemplation:

Faith – in God and the promise of eternal life.

Gratitude – for who we are, what we have been given, and the opportunities available to us.

Purpose –something meaningful and interesting to do which provides value to others.

Community – people to support us, and for us to support.

Hope – something to look forward to.

Eureka, hope is what has been missing for me this year!  It seems like every time there is a little hope, someone comes along to throw a bucket of water on us to keep the misery going.  This situation reminds me of the immortal words of the Wicked Witch of the West as she melted away in the Wizard of Oz, “What a world, what a world.” Well I refuse to melt!

Hope is faith looking forward into the future.  Hope gives us something to look forward to.  Hope keeps us moving ahead. Hope fuels us to face the inevitable challenges in life.  Hope overcomes fear.  Hope encourages us to keep running the race.  Hope reminds us that we have a savior who set us free.

I have made it a practice for decades now to make my plan for the upcoming year over the Thanksgiving holiday.  It helps me get over the gratitude guilt that I can’t seem to shake at this time of year.  Deciding what I will do in the coming year to give back and make the world a little bit better gives me hope.

For a long time I didn’t like using the word hope.  I equated it with a wish which is outside of our control.  I want some ability to make things happen versus merely hoping they will happen.  But the hope I am talking about here, and which is the hope I have come to known in the bible, is an action oriented hope.  It is a hope that contains the following elements:

• A compelling vision of the future;
• Specific goals devised to drive achievement of the vision;
• Action items designed to enable accomplishment of the goals, and;
• A tracking system to show progress and provide ongoing motivation.

Here is what I urge you to do sometime during this holiday weekend in order to go beyond thanksgiving and boost your hope.  Find a quiet spot and allocate one hour of uninterrupted time to this exercise.  Ask God what His plan for your life is for 2021.  Specifically, pray about what you will have done and achieved, as though it has already happened and you are looking back on it.  Sit in silence.  Try not to think, just listen.  Write down what you hear.  We are just looking for the compelling vision of the future here, don’t worry about goals or required actions yet.

Here’s the hard part, do not think about what it will take to achieve the end results.  Most of us get discouraged to quickly by getting into details.  This is especially true if what you are hearing is actually God’s plan, not yours.  Here’s my test to know the difference.  If it seems really difficult to believe, but deep down you know it is possible, it’s probably His.  He will push us, we rarely do that for ourselves.

I will be doing the same and will reveal what I hear to you next week.  And here is one last hope related thought I will be taking into consideration when contemplating my 2021 plan.  It is a quote by Saint Augustine:

Hope has two beautiful daughters; their names are Anger and Courage.  Anger at the way things are, and Courage to see that they do not remain as they are.

This is a really interesting way to look at determining what you should be doing in the world.  It seems a little un-Christian. We are taught not to be angry.  It’s a sin, right?  Well maybe only when it is uncalled for?  Even Jesus got angry, calling leaders hypocrites and turning over tables.

All I know is that I am angry about the state of many things in the world and sure would like to work to change them.  Maybe anger is a good place to start in order to reveal what you are passionate about improving in the world.  That passion will serve to fuel a desire to take action.   Give it a try and see what happens.

I’ll share my vision next week.  In the meantime, have a Hope Filled Happy Thanksgiving!

Scott

There have been a lot of references recently to the George Orwell book 1984, originally published in 1949.  I remember thinking it was crazy talk back in high school.  Then I reread it in the mid-80’s and found it a little less unbelievable.  In the 90’s it was unfolding slowly right before my eyes.  It took firm hold of society in the 2000’s and continues to accelerate.  I tried to reread it recently and had to stop to maintain whatever sanity I have left.

On another trip in the way back machine, I woke up this morning thinking about Paul Harvey’s famous, “If I Were the Devil” talk from 1965.  It was his warning about the evils he saw coming to take down the United States.

While it too is a little depressing in its accuracy, it helps me to put current events into perspective.  I thought it might do the same for you.  So for your reference below is the transcript of his talk.  And following it is my attempt to update it based on more recent events.

I warn you up front that it can be disturbing to think about what we have allowed to happen thus far.  Yet it may be the wake-up call we need in order to gain the motivation to fight back and do something about it.  Here goes:

PAUL HARVEY’S ‘IF I WERE THE DEVIL’ TRANSCRIPT

“If I were the devil … If I were the Prince of Darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness. And I’d have a third of its real estate, and four-fifths of its population, but I wouldn’t be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree — Thee.

So I’d set about however necessary to take over the United States. I’d subvert the churches first — I’d begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve: ‘Do as you please.’

To the young, I would whisper that ‘The Bible is a myth.’ I would convince them that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what’s bad is good, and what’s good is ‘square.’ And the old, I would teach to pray, after me, ‘Our Father, which art in Washington…’

And then I’d get organized. I’d educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting, so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I’d threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I’d pedal narcotics to whom I could. I’d sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I’d tranquilize the rest with pills.

If I were the devil I’d soon have families that war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves; until each in its turn was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings I’d have mesmerizing media fanning the flames.

If I were the devil I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions — just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you’d have to have drug sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door.

Within a decade I’d have prisons overflowing, I’d have judges promoting pornography — soon I could evict God from the courthouse, then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. And in His own churches I would substitute psychology for religion, and deify science. I would lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls, and church money. If I were the devil I’d make the symbols of Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle.

If I were the devil I’d take from those who have, and give to those who want until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious.

And what do you bet I could get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes and hard work in Patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on the TV is the way to be. And thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure.

In other words, if I were the devil I’d just keep right on doing what he’s doing.  Paul Harvey, good day.”

I miss Mr. Harvey’s daily dose of reality and common sense in his “The Rest of the Story” segments.  These aired from 1952 to 2008, 56 years, amazing.  We lost him 2009, God rest his soul!

I’m certainly no Paul Harvey, but I do have thoughts on additional ways the devil is currently succeeding.  There are so many I’m just going to briefly list my top ten without elaboration.  Take a look and feel free to comment with more of your own.

If I were the devil I would:

1. Use fear to cause people to willingly give up their freedoms.
2. Censor truth and promote lies.
3. Demonize those who promote inconvenient truths.
4. Create the illusion that evil is good, and good is evil.
5. Make it difficult to do what is right and good, and easy to do the opposite.
6. Put people into groups, and put those groups at war.
7. Deem churches to be non-essential.
8. Teach people what to think, not how to think.
9. Crash the economy to create a dependent people.
10. Promise everybody free stuff to gain their support and loyalty.

Just for fun let’s turn the question around.  What would you do if you were God?  If I were God I’d end this thing right now before it gets any worse.  I have never been more embarrassed for us as a people as I am right now.  We are faithless cowards living by lies and deceit.  Not you dear readers, but those running the show and those complying without question.  When does this end?  What comes next?

Did you hear the announcement that Pfizer has a vaccine that is 90% effective?  The stock market skyrocketed and the company CEO sold 60% of his stock for a cool $5 million.  Smart man.  He knows that a vaccine for a corona virus has never been that effective.  They have been trying with the flu for over 30 years and it is still only between 40-60% effective.

I looked at the announcement and tried to find the detailed analysis.  All I could find is that the 90% is based on the study of 94 individuals out of the 43,538 people participating in the study, or a 0.2% sample of an already very small sample.

But the scary thing is that based on this tiny sample, governments around the world are already talking about making this vaccine mandatory for its citizens.  A vaccine that has been in development less than a year, where testing began no more than a couple of months ago, and where they have no idea what the down the road side-effects may be.  Yet it’s going to be forcefully shot into people, really?  Oh, and the pharmaceutical company has been granted immunity from all liability.  Gee, what could possibly go wrong?!

With all the hysteria and media hype I still sometimes forget the simple facts.  We already have a 99.74% survival rate if we become infected, nearly 100% if we are healthy.  We know who the at-risk individuals are.  Why are we still not focused solely on protecting them and letting the rest get back to living life as God intended?  The devil is laughing at us and dancing for joy.

Really scary stuff!  So what is God going to do about it?  Probably what He always does, leave it up to us.  He gave us life, simple rules, and free will.  It is up to us to do the rest.  We all have an important role in this world.  Our goal?  Get to heaven and help others to do the same.  We need each other to succeed.  We need you, the community of striving saints!  You are the answer.  You and those you can influence.  Nothing is going to change until we the people demand it.

I do have great confidence that our faith in God and country will prevail as it has for the last several centuries.  The battle seems to be at a critical stage.  Too many are willing to go along with the prevailing popular view in order to get along.  But as the few have been able to control the many this year, so too can the many rise up and take back their country when armed with truth and faith in a loving God.

I urge you to share your knowledge about what is really going on with as many others as you can.  And to get them to do the same.  As we saw with the drastically flawed voting polls once again, there is a silent majority out there fighting for truth, justice, and the American way.  It’s time that we speak out boldly.  What do we have to lose?  Better question, what will we lose if we don’t?

More to come next week about developing a Community of Striving Playground Saints.  How about calling it Playground Saints Alive?  If you have a better name, please let me know.

Good Day!  Scott