“We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.” –J. Robert Oppenheimer
Dear Q-Tree, Something apparently came up with Bako Carl so that he wasn’t able to get his usual Sunday post up. Seeing no other subbed in posts this is basically a Sunday placeholder. Please pray for Carl as we don’t know what is keeping him from his typical uplifting post.
This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
I went searching Bible Gateway for “be still and know” and found this timely inspiration!
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth.[b] A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c]
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. 5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. 6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields[d] with fire. 10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Footnotes
a. Psalm 46:1 In Hebrew texts 46:1-11 is numbered 46:2-12.
This SPECIAL CYBER MONDAY open thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA world.
Say what you want, comment on what other people said, comment on people’s comments. Keep it civil. Treehouse rules, but expect lots of QAnon.
Today we continue our Thanksgiving Holiday 2023 with the inclusion of the more recent FIFTH DAY of the weekend, CYBER MONDAY. We remain thankful that we still have CASH, and don’t have to pay for things via embedded RFID chips in our hands, and wireless transmitters in our heads.
W
PS – if you bought a firearm this weekend, consider paying for some TRAINING to go with it. You can NEVER go wrong with professional training WITH your new firearm. Put enough rounds through it that you know exactly how it behaves. Then, make sure you have a PLAN for safekeeping of it. Have a great week!
“Victory begins with a PLAN.”
To Y’All:
This post was based on our emergency Black Friday post. We will return to our regularly scheduled classic Monday posts, in Wolf’s version of Wheatie style, next week.
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving Thursday, Black Friday, relaxing Saturday, and serene Sunday. See you in the comments!
This SPECIAL BLACK FRIDAY open thread is VERY OPEN – a place for everybody to post whatever they feel they would like to tell the White Hats, and the rest of the MAGA world.
Say what you want, comment on what other people said, comment on people’s comments. Keep it civil. Treehouse rules, but expect lots of QAnon.
Today we continue our Thanksgiving, with thanks that we still have CASH, and don’t have to pay for things via embedded RFID chips in our hands, and wireless transmitters in our heads.
W
PS – if you do buy a firearm this weekend, consider paying for some TRAINING to go with it. You can NEVER go wrong with professional training WITH your new firearm. Put enough rounds through it that you know exactly how it behaves. Then, make sure you have a PLAN for safekeeping of it. Have a great weekend!
“Victory begins with a PLAN.”
To Y’All:
This was an emergency Black Friday Post. DePat has been very busy, she must be getting a well-deserved night’s sleep, and THE BOYS are jumping in with a quick substitute.
BRING YOUR OWN DRINKS!
Hope you had a great Thanksgiving and that you have a great Black Friday, Cyber Monday, or whatever. See you in the comments!
Some time back I was using Flep’s Twitter page–a longtime Q-Tree author–as a jumping off point to see what he was choosing to tweet about. He used to write nearly daily posts here at the Q-Tree sharing so much info on current events & his viewpoint was quite enlightening. He stepped away from the Q-Tree to focus on election issues in the lead-up to the 2020 election & hasn’t been by here much since then, that I am aware of.
Back then I was doing a series of posts inspired by Flep’s Tweets and actually had one in development still so I am taking Cthulhu’s advice again & working up one of my draft posts to fill in again for DP while she cares for her family.Please continue to lift DP in your prayers! I will leave what was gathered for that pending post below the black divider line that is about half-way down the page just to see what, if any, of the material is not being censored & to give us a snapshot from the pre-January 6 coup era to reflect upon.
DP stopped by yesterday to share news on her family situation here:
At about 1:30 this morning, my mother went to God. As per her family tradition, she waited until she was alone to do so. Both of her parents went that way, as well as a number of other relatives.
Thank you so much to all who have been doing the dailies. I anticipate being back for the Wednesday post next week. There are so many things we are in the middle of doing.
Please, pray for my sister who is exhausted. My dad is going to be lost.
Thanks for being here for us and praying.
DePat
So let’s see what is currently happening by using a number of resources to come up with leads on current events. By the way, I’m sorry if any of this material overlaps things that have recently been shared at the Q-Tree. Doing this fill-in back-to-back post work as DP is dealing with her family situation has made me realize how much of a sacrificial effort of love DP has been putting in, to develop FOUR back-to-back currently focused posts Every Week.DP has been doing such Herculean work to the benefit of the Q-Tree for such a long time–we owe her Many Thanks!!! Please keep her & her family in your prayers…
Note, I just added DP’s comment about her mom above but am not otherwise planning to tweak this post as it’s getting too near the midnight launching hour. I finished working on today’s post in the early hours on Tuesday & noticed that some of the links in this post were already shared in yesterday’s discussion. Thanks for ALL the wonderful thoughts & links the amazing Q-Tree family brings each day to keep Wolf’s Pack so well-informed AND armed for the many battles that are ongoing. You guys Absolutely ROCK!!!
Well my initial plan to begin with Flep’s tweets is now thwarted by the fact that his twitter account is closed 🙁 I wonder if Flep left Twitter of his own volition or if he continues to be banned there, like me? Here is the most recent version of the Internet Archive where his Twit World account was still active:
Here’s a link to the pinned tweet thread from November 13, 2020 where Flep was doing a detailed analysis of the electoral fraud in Georgia related to Dominion. It’s interesting that the pinned tweet appears to have been saved through some French language version of Twitter that May have assisted Flep to dodge the censors for a while.
I hope Flep is doing OK & has found a good place to land with compatriots who are continuing to encourage him in the fight. I would Love to see him drop by the Q-Tree…
A cursory search for him via Yandex and his longer screen name of Fleporeblog did not return current material, unfortunately. Here is the most recent working link to his old blog:
OK strangely it’s possible that the powers that be were actively messing with Flep’s blog for there is this one from February 2019 that survives in the archives still:
I’m not going to keep looking to see if there are other examples of the blog being restored after disappearing. It sure looks like Flep was over the target!!!
Please forgive the way this post will appear as the links won’t be as well organized as DP does with her epic posts. My feet of clay will be clearly on display 🙂 not that they are Ever very well hidden here at the Q-Tree!
Highlights from perusing Gab.com, no particular order:
So since I’m still banned on Twitter/X I now use Gab.com for primary social media interactions. I signed out of Gab to see what shows up on their main page of interest.
found at this Gab https://gab.com/David_Citizen/posts/111168000163454667
THE DEMONIC DEMS HEADED BY SATAN AND HIS HORDES WITHIN OUR U.S. GOVERNMENT are working 24/7, attacking those that have been in the forefront in the fight to uphold TRUTH, JUSTICE and THE AMERICAN WAY, like Mike Lindell. He’s not only stood strong for President Trump he stands strong and is outspoken in his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Men and women like them are sold out in their love for America and working hard to restore it to normalcy, sanity and the acknowledgement of the Great Creator, the Lord God Almighty!
The demonic Democrat hierarchs and their followers are evil to the core, illegally using our American Legal System with 100-year-old cases that are bogus garbage to take down and destroy our U.S. Constitutional sovereign Republic that’s been enjoyed by American citizens since the proclaimed Declaration of Independence of 1776.
Lara Logan dropping one truth after another about the current state of the southern border and all of the child sex trafficking being allowed to take place under the biden administration.
https://gab.com/KRYPTORNATION/posts/111167716122679727 has a really rude meme involving aka BHO that may or may not be true…perhaps KBK would appreciate this…
The history taught schools is nonsense. It’s all about memorizing basic facts and dates. People who really study history, understand the interconnectivity between government, finance, and industry, and that’s what they don’t want people to know.
2 minute video explaining how banks own & control government using Honduras as an example, from ClassicalLearner.com
It would be great if Gab posts would embed here like Twitter currently does. Copying the Gab content here doesn’t present nearly as clean of a look, unfortunately…sigh…
Not wanting to disappoint anyone who expects “too much information” from me…let’s see what’s currently playing at Whatfinger.com 😉
Please note that some of these items Appear like broken links to me, but they are still active, so I am including the URLs in the captions where possible…I’ll try to clean this up before the final posting but bear with me if it’s a bit chaotic (I was trying to find the correct links to put in captions for things that Had been working but then disappeared)
https://comments.whatfinger.com/2023/10/03/breaking-controversial-zero-bail-policy-takes-effect-in-los-angeles-allowing-non-violent/ Whatfinger take: ALL CRIME THAT IS NOT VIOLENT NOW LEGAL IN LA: BREAKING: Controversial zero-bail policy takes effect in Los Angeles, allowing non-violent… Rob any store you want, as that is the intention of the Democrats, to destroy all business
Whatfinger take on the above link: Preparing for the Coming Storm: Fraud in the 2024 Elections The road is hard: This is our time, and our fight, and our obligation to all those who have come before us to cherish and defend the dream of liberty and justice for all – CFP
JUST IN: Video emerges of Judge in Trump Fraud case discussing his ability to OVERRULE A JURY based on his assertions and feelings about the case.. pic.twitter.com/g3RO21LXYM
If this country's going down, and if we're losing the dollar, I'm going down fighting. And I don't care if that means fighting Republicans, Democrats, the Uniparty, the leadership, the PACs, the lobbyists. I've had it. pic.twitter.com/OqaSQrsBFs
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) on her effort to expel Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY):
“It’s not just the act of pulling a fire alarm … It was during an official proceeding. That is the same thing that they have gone after those individuals who walked into the Capitol on Jan. 6th.” pic.twitter.com/tVxzFQun1L
Wow. This video from inside the courtroom speaks volumes. Watch NY AG Leticia James stare at Trump. She looks like an obsessive creep. Then watch the Judge smile for his moment in the sun. These people are deranged, Marxist tyrants. pic.twitter.com/s11O9kshEP
This video is a masterpiece and documents the people who have been complicit in crimes against humanıty.
All these journalists, scientists, and politicians belong on the defendants’ bench, because their behavior has caused harm to millions. pic.twitter.com/DIOoMLgep1
Here’s the official trailer for “Police State.” Please watch and share! Movie is in theaters Monday, October 23 and 25. Virtual premiere is Friday, October 27. All tickets only at https://t.co/L3EAH8QJTZpic.twitter.com/zjlnn07hFc
How many coincidences can there be in #plasmidgate?
Clearly that is a Ton of material to chew on going forward. Below is the historic material I was gathering when then planning to update the Flep’s Twitter Travels items…what a difference nearly three years makes!
Time Capsule Incoming!
This is the beginning of that existing draft post material:
Well this is hoping to pick up where I left off in the last Flep post here:
[VC Note 10-3-23, the above link was the original post at the old blog but this is how it is accessed now: https://www.theqtree.com/2020/11/02/fleps-twitter-travels-5/ ]
Here’s is Flep’s twitter page where you can find his twitter journeys:
https://twitter.com/Baba9773
Well Score, Flep just put up a new pinned tweet thread so we’ll start there first!
Joe Biden’s plan to BAN FRACKING is an Economic DEATH SENTENCE for Pennsylvania. A vote for Biden is a vote to Ban Fracking, Outlaw Mining, explode energy costs, and totally DESTROY Pennsylvania. Get out tomorrow and VOTE #TrumpPence2020! pic.twitter.com/niFJw558En
#NC#EarlyVoting To those of you who are peeing in pants about NC, here's the Targetsmart model. D lead in '16 at this time was 10 pts and now it's 0.9 pts. How can Trump do less well in '16 in NC? No way no how. NC will be to the right of FL by a few pts. Trump wins easily. pic.twitter.com/ce0GX9yO0r
#FL#EarlyVoting 3pm update. D lead at 112566, up, from trickling VBMs, by only 4.4k since 8am. It will end less than 120k, in the lower half of my estimate range. It is much less than where Ds need it to be to have a chance. Trump wins FL hands down, and with it presidency!! pic.twitter.com/d71z6swvCM
Biden was a pathetic laughing stock all over Washington for the horrible way he handled the H1N1 Swine Flu. Even his own Chief of Staff said he didn’t know what he was doing!
#FL EarlyVoting 1pm update. D lead at 110798, up by only 2.6k since 8am. Even at tomorrow, it will be less than 120k, in the lower half of my estimate range. D lead is much less than where Ds need it to be to have a chance. Trump wins FL hands down, and with it presidency!! pic.twitter.com/vsiLuwz1No
For 47 years, Sleepy Joe Biden betrayed Hispanic-Americans. Now he wants to close your small businesses, eliminate school choice, and attack our Hispanic Law Enforcement Heroes. I will always stand with the incredible Hispanic-American community! pic.twitter.com/4KMnlRkg7c
The straightest electoral path to 270 for Trump is the Core 3 + 1
Core 3: FL, NC, AZ +1: one of MN, WI, MI, PA
As referenced on the Rush Limbaugh show last week, we believe Trump will win the Core 3. Per our last tweet we see Trump winning PA, thus securing the Core 3 + 1.
BREAKING: DOJ is sending personnel to 44 jurisdictions in 18 states to “monitor for compliance with federal voting rights laws.” pic.twitter.com/1XlaSFV6MN
Just learned that Sleepy Joe Biden is campaigning in Pennsylvania with Lady Gaga, a proud member of “Artists Against Fracking.” This is more proof that he would ban Fracking and skyrocket your energy prices…
This story is FALSE. They did nothing wrong. But the ANTIFA Anarchists, Rioters and Looters, who have caused so much harm and destruction in Democrat run cities, are being seriously looked at! https://t.co/3pmbMllPWS
#FL#EarlyVoting update D lead now stands at 108123, up by only 13k since yesterday am. This is at the low end of my estimate of 100k-150k. Last yr, it was 96k. With extra 811k VBM requests this yr, Ds came up with just 12k extra votes. A disaster for them. Trump wins FL!! pic.twitter.com/TjTy5Gk5EV
Allegheny County councilman in Pennsylvania: 'I'm an elected official. I have had at least a dozen Democratic elected officials tell me that they are voting for Trump… but as Democratic elected officials they can't come out and say it.' https://t.co/i4AH2zqS7q
This deep dive on early voting in key battleground states validates SPR recent polling in #pa, #wi, #Fl, #NC and #AZ showing close races and strong potential for Trump victories. https://t.co/yu6Oofg5ep
Pennsylvania: Biden said that he doesn’t want Fracking. Besides, and more importantly, his handlers won’t allow Fracking. That would be the end of Pennsylvania!
Biden did a very POOR job of handling H1N1 Swine Flu, yet all he talks about is Covid, Covid, Covid, like he would actually know what he is doing. He doesn’t. Plus, he would be TERRIBLE with the Economy!
Chris Wallace of @FoxNews, by far the lowest rated of the Sunday morning news programs, can’t get over his poor debate performance, probably even worse than Sleepy Joe’s. His show is a total “hit job” on your favorite President, me!
In my opinion, these patriots did nothing wrong. Instead, the FBI & Justice should be investigating the terrorists, anarchists, and agitators of ANTIFA, who run around burning down our Democrat run cities and hurting our people! https://t.co/of6Lna3HMU
For decades, Joe Biden let other countries rip you off and cheat America blind! The only people who’ve benefited from his policies are himself & his family. He shows up every 4 years, and then goes back to D.C. and caters to his special interests. My only special interest is YOU.
Thank you to all law enforcement for your service. I know the people of Pennsylvania and our country appreciate you keeping us all safe. https://t.co/tKzsQs6KOW
Toledo and Pittsburgh endorse @realDonaldTrump , first Republican endorsements in Democratic areas since 1988 and 1972, respectively. https://t.co/y3aj7g3tUo
— Rich Baris The People's Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) November 1, 2020
Biden will terminate school choice, eliminate charter schools, defund religious schools, ban prayer in public schools, indoctrinate your children with Anti-American lies, and force you to subsidize extreme late-term abortion. We believe that every child is a Sacred Gift from God!
#FL#EarlyVoting 6p update D lead now at 102538, only up 7.6k for the day. It doesn't include Miami-Dade or Sarasota, I think. But we're looking at 110k max, way below 299k minimum, or 650k (or even 900k) Ds needed. Trump wins FL, and by extension the nation!! pic.twitter.com/gdddlllx5J
Just delivered our family's ballots to a voting dropbox while a huge MAGA/Trump Truck parade was going on in Northern Los Angeles County. Was quite an experience! Loved it!
Joe Biden is the candidate of rioters, looters, arsonists, gun-grabbers, flag-burners, Marxists, lobbyists, and special interests. I am the candidate of farmers, factory workers, police officers, and hard-working, law-abiding patriots of every race, religion and creed! #MAGA
WISCONSIN! Vote to defend your family, your Country, and the American Way of Life. Get out and VOTE TODAY before In-Person Absentee Voting ends. Your vote will MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! https://t.co/1ZHvrX3Hgk
This newspaper has not supported a Republican for president since 1972. But we believe President Trump, for all his faults, is the better choice this year.
When I originally became your all time favorite President, the Great State of Michigan was hemorrhaging car companies and jobs. Plants were closing and moving to Mexico, and other places. No new plants for decades. I stopped the moves, & now many plants are and have been built…
The legendary actor, 007 Sean Connery, has past on to even greener fairways. He was quite a guy, and a tough character. I was having a very hard time getting approvals for a big development in Scotland when Sean stepped in and shouted,“Let him build the damn thing”. That was….
Tell me, what Republican candidate has won Iowa and Ohio in a romp, put Florida to bed by 9PM, and lost the election?
— Rich Baris The People's Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) November 1, 2020
#FL#EarlyVoting update 8am. Dem Lead now at 94905, down from 486k just 11 days ago, well below what they need to have hope. I think it'll end up in 100k-150k range by tomorrow. Given Ds had requested 811k more VBM ballots, Rs are in a great position to win FL. EC Landslide! pic.twitter.com/HiioMvkfvX
A vote for Biden and Harris is a vote to Ban Fracking, Ban Mining, and Completely Destroy Pennsylvania. A vote for me is a vote to remain ENERGY INDEPENDENT! Let’s WIN PENNSYLVANIA, get out and VOTE!pic.twitter.com/aR8iwO6Gvl
Joe Biden has vowed to ABOLISH American Oil and Natural Gas. Today I signed an order to strongly protect Pennsylvania's energy & fracking industry. If Biden & Harris get in, they will terminate this order and implement the Green New Deal. Get out and VOTE! https://t.co/gsFSghkmdMpic.twitter.com/VJMr2IeIgo
Joe Biden has been a disaster for African Americans and Hispanic Americans—I am fighting for citizens of every race, color and creed. We achieved record low unemployment rates. I signed landmark Criminal Justice Reform, and we will deliver School Choice! https://t.co/gsFSghkmdMpic.twitter.com/o6bZkdj4Fg
Similarly, we found Indy moves to Trump in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Florida and Ohio.
Really depends on the state. Think a lot of others too mistook a more partisan lean as an Indy swing when it was not. https://t.co/WZY8z8SNy7
— Rich Baris The People's Pundit (@Peoples_Pundit) November 1, 2020
#FL#earlyvoting 6pm update D lead is at 91065, -25k for the day. Accounting for still arriving VBMs + blue counties opening extra days for IPEV, it could go back up to 130k by ED. Even if so, Trump is all but assured to win FL. Rs will crush on ED. GO VOTE! #MAGA2020pic.twitter.com/BkWAENizCD
For the last 4 years you have seen me fight for you – and now I am relying on YOU to deliver another historic victory for our Country. A vote for me and the Republican Party is a vote for the American Dream! Get out and VOTE!#Election2020#MAGA🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/5EyXIHjfib
Thank you Pennsylvania! With your vote, we will continue to support our Military, Veterans and our Police Officers. Biden and Harris would pass legislation to slash police funding all across America. They stand with the rioters – we stand with the HEROES of Law Enforcement! #MAGApic.twitter.com/qqTZPLqzFV
It’s nice to see that at least so many of the people that Flep tweeted about still have a presence on Twitter/X & that all conservative voices there haven’t been silenced! Hope they are not actually controlled opposition meant to deceive us 🙁
I was thinking that both 9/11 and January 6 were extreme watershed moments in our nation’s history. The first was used to justify the satanically misnamed Patriot Act passing the Congress unexamined. The second was to justify the extreme weaponization of government, via the “Patriot Act” at least in part, against Patriotic Americans exercising their God-given rights. I often check copyrights on my reading material to see if they are pre-2001 or not. At this point the material saved from this original draft post represents what was being discussed after the debacle of the 2020 Presidential Election but before January 6, 2021 when some of us still had hope that Truth & Justice would prevail.
Like watching video from September 10, 2001, this saved snapshot of materials curated by Fleporeblog & captured by me in November 2020 reveals aspects of a more hopeful time; before the coup against America had been solidified and our society was fractured by so many deliberate & diabolical lies of genocidal totalitarian psychopaths. Those “good old days” are now gone forever. God grant us the ability to rightly restore the Republic so that our children AND grandchildren might know & love & live in an America that is Free & again founded on Biblical Truth & our precious Constitution. In God We Trust!
Well Dear Q-Tree family, I hope you have a blessed day. Thank you for indulging me as a substitute author while DP continues to focus on her family. God Bless You All!
Speaking of snapshots of another era, here is a link to a post I wrote just before January 6, 2021. The scriptural truth contained within remains timeless…
So I am taking Cthulhu’s advice & working up a draft post that has been pending for a while to use for one of my fill-in posts for DP while she is tending to the needs of her family in this challenging time. Please keep DP & her family in your prayers…and as Duchess reminds us daily, please pray for one another…
This post was originally begun as a reflection on our journey as my husband transitioned from purchasing, which he had done for more than 20 years, into truck driving. It was intended as a reflection on the past year but through procrastination now is from slightly more than a year & a half since jumping with both feet into that transitional time.
Note: if you don’t care to read what is a personal testimonial, please just scroll down to the next time you see the below page divider. Thanks for stopping by!
Some of you may recall that I was asking for prayer as this journey unfolded, when my husband precipitously decided to leave his long-time company, just months after getting a 25 year “award”, to go to trucking school. What was billed as typically a 6 week process in our particular case dragged on for more than 3 months in the schooling portion before the job search could officially begin. There were many ups & downs & significant frustrations as the system, including the state entities, conspired to keep my husband, & our household, in a seemingly ceaseless state of flux.
During this season of upheaval, uncertainty, & frustration there were a number of songs that really ministered to my husband & helped him hold on through all the changes. Some of these songs even ended up being part of the worship sets that Michael played as he continued to faithfully minister musically at church and have one area in his lifestyle that remained relatively unchanged. This post’s title, “Furious Love”, grew out of a reflection on some of the music that ministered to him during this very challenging time 🙂
The video below, being filmed near Michael’s birth-zone, is personally moving to him…
During transitions, upheaval, & uncertainty focusing on the Lord, His peace that passes understanding, His provision, & His comfort were keys to overcoming the obstacles…
God did provide for us in sometimes miraculous & very timely ways over the many months we were without direct income. A number of times God spontaneously moved on the hearts of people to give us money, just when we really needed it, & had mentioned it to no one but the Lord. It was scary, exciting, and even strangely serene to be in a place where God alone was the source of our supply & there was sometimes a sense of wonder and definitely a pervasive deep gratitude when He would come through Just In Time for our material needs, especially as He also continued to address those needs we both faced in emotional and spiritual arenas.
This next song has been ministering to my husband for quite a while, especially in relation to work upheavals. Years back Michael made a lateral move within his company to a different site & returned to purchasing after a few years as Shipping Manager at the company’s corporate headquarters. One motivation for this change was to get out from under the boot of a VP who was his direct boss while over shipping. For a season it was like M had been exodused out of Egypt and he really enjoyed his new boss & some of the perks of the location. Well, tragically M’s new boss had a massive heart attack at work & went home to be with his Lord. This unexpected vacancy in the company ended up being filled by the very VP M had rejoiced to previously escape from. The stress, sorrow, & intensity were overwhelming & Michael ended up playing this song on his way to work nearly daily as a way to shore himself up in the Lord.
It turns out that TobyMac, Toby McKeehan of DC Talk fame, wrote this song & filmed this video shortly before unimaginable tragedy struck in his own family. His son died unexpectedly & Toby’s music & faith was a huge part of what helped him get though that unbelievably painful season, as he shared in the clip below the music video…It is such a tremendous blessing to us all when others allow their pain & heartache to be molded in the Potter’s hands & used to minister to the needs of others–To God be The Glory!
One of Michael’s favorite songs & music videos, featuring wolves in an unflattering light
TobyMac shares about losing his son & God’s comfort
There are many uplifting and heartfelt comments at the above video, including:
1 year ago (edited)The fact that He said “God is kind” is nothing but the Holy Spirit. Human beings alone cannot do that by themselves after something like the loss of a child. Toby is a man of God, he is. And when you walk with God & you give your life to Him & things go terribly south in your life.. there’s gonna be many moments when you’re gonna be able to look at God and say, “You are still good.” God’s comfort is like no other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFwrsv0bdrI&lc=UgxmSUcrIWGtHeDRve94AaABAg
Details on TobyMac can also be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TobyMac
Getting back to our personal journey, Michael has mentioned a number of times how instrumental I was in helping him through some of the darkest days of his transition into trucking. He has wrestled significantly with areas of change in his life (don’t we all) & God has enabled me to really be a stabilizing influence for him, & our kids, in times of major upheaval. [At one point I was doing quite a bit of work on PTSD issues & began a blog as a repository of both the researches & the reflections–something I can return to and further develop as the seasons of life permit.] He has said that he thinks of this movie scene as a good representation of the way he sees certain of my interventions in his life…
This next song has spoken to me for many years especially in the “desert place”, the “wilderness”, & “the road marked with suffering”. The pounding of the special needs parenting situations created Many Times when the message of this music was so very relevant. Years ago our young assistant pastor & his wife were expecting their first child, who tragically died in utero just before her due date. They played this song at their daughter’s memorial service & I will always associate it with that loss laid on the Altar.
Although none of us will ever suffer to the degree that Job endured in scripture it is a beautiful thing to take the sufferings & hardships in our lives and pour them out like drink offerings to our Lord, allowing Him to transform them into beauty in His Kingdom.
This next song has been one that’s ministered to me over the years in times of heartache, stress, & loss; bringing key scriptural truth alive musically. Though perhaps a bit dated now the album from where I first heard it, Integrity Hosanna Music’s “My Refuge”, helped me through many dark days, broken engagements, & even deaths in the family. There is something so healing to the wounds of the soul in making the Choice to praise the Lord when it truly is a Sacrifice of praise. He is Always Worthy & focusing on Him in adoration during seasons of suffering can actually be a mechanism that He uses to ease our pain.
So now in hindsight, the journey to a stable trucking job was pretty interesting & challenging. In the natural world my husband worked for 3 different companies, one for days, one for weeks, & one for months, before landing his current job, which he’ll have been at for a year next month. The variety of work he encountered: fuel delivery, bottled gas delivery, & over-the-road training, plus gravel hauling exposure during an interview process for a job he didn’t accept, have served to make him especially thankful for the job where he landed. He is doing a daily route making local/regional deliveries for a large distribution center mostly associated with the heating & cooling industry.
He is often in the position of driving a B truck for A truck wages, which is an ideal scenario according to one of his truck-driving school instructors. His boss and co-workers are pleasant to work with, which hasn’t always been the case in his career trajectory. His job-related stress is Way down. Overall he is much happier at this job, is now in better shape physically, & is mostly adjusted to the Very Early weekly schedule this position requires–he wakes up at 3 am, leaves at 3:30 am, & starts his shift at 4:30 am.
He managed to pursue a number of hiking and backpacking adventures with some friends during this transitional time including 2 separate 55 mile hikes along Lake Superior’s Pictured Rocks lakeshore. We just returned home from his most recent backpacking trip last weekend! This major hike revealed to him how much better he’s doing physically since the same hike last year. He hasn’t had lingering pain nor fatigue, so even though he’s a year older it’s like his body is younger now than it’s been in years!
Pictured Rocks Lakeshore
Also I can thankfully report that just this weekend we discovered that he is apparently healed of what appeared to be a gluten allergy. I asked for help here at the Q-Tree in identifying what might have been going on with him physically after he had a sudden onset of troubling digestive symptoms following a weekend back-packing trip. Several of you suggested it could have been “Beaver Fever” or giardia, but Michael was convinced he had sudden onset gluten sensitivity. Regardless, whatever the condition was–& it caused him significant problems & missed work a number of times in the early months–it now appears to be healed or resolved. We even had an experimental pizza dinner at a favorite local restaurant to test his digestive status, without issue Finally. I am so thankful that Michael can now be liberated dietarily, though he plans to continue a number of his healthier eating habits going forward since there have been benefits to some of these changes. I cannot emphasize how much this represents a weight lifted from his shoulders! PTL…again!
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Lake Superior Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
We’ve also mostly adjusted to the many family changes that occurred in this transitional time. All of our kids also faced significant changes while Michael was going through his lengthy transition. Our oldest son & daughter-in-law became parents for the first time just a few months after Michael made his huge leap. They are actually now expecting another baby in a few more months! In addition Nathaniel has joined Michael in the creation of a new band that just recently started practicing in our home. They haven’t worked together musically before so this really is a new & exciting adventure for them & the guys that are rounding out the band. I am thankful to have band practice in our home for the first time after more than 2 decades of musical endeavors on my husband’s part.
Nathaniel recorded this cover for a contest, which is when we discovered that he has such singing talent…
Another aspect of family transition involves our middle son Brandon, who had been working as a hydraulics technician at Michael’s old company & ended up leaving some months after M did. This son had gone through Fire Academy while still a full time employee & was making efforts to change his career to that of a Fire Fighter. He ended up being hired on by the City of Detroit & is now almost done w/ his 6 month EMT training phase & about to begin Fire Fighting training for the city next month. Like my husband, each time he is facing a time of transition it becomes quite overwhelming. We are available to shore him up as needed, & to give him an outlet to process some of the crazy situations he’s encountered working for & in Detroit…He is in joyful pursuit of a lifelong dream!
Seeing our special needs son Josiah marry & move-out & then return to live with us part time, at a time when we were also having a dear friend stay with us for almost half a year as he was dealing with his own life’s upheaval, was a Very Challenging addition to the ongoing chaos. Helping Josiah with his marital upheaval was a very demanding & emotionally draining strain on both Michael & I but was also used in God’s economy to model marital reconciliation strategies for our friend who was reeling from his own marital trauma. Because of Josiah’s autism this very personal journey was lived out very directly in an unmasked manner before our friend, overlapping the majority of his stay with us.
Finally our daughter & son-in-law went through the dual changes of becoming parents & moving into their own home almost simultaneously. Thankfully by the time This baby was born Michael was settled into his new job so that we had steady income & the familiarity with the new schedule & lifestyle for me to be able to help Clarissa in the birth process while Michael & her brothers helped her husband in moving their belongings from his dad’s house to their new home while C & the baby were still in the hospital. They have not done all that must be done to have their home fully functional yet, so periodically Clarissa will come by to use aspects of our kitchen in the creation of some of her culinary masterpieces.
We are blessed to have our youngest & oldest kids & their spouses & kids live in our neighborhood now. Our youngest son alternates between living with us & living a couple miles away in our city with his wife & her multi-cultural & partially disabled family. Our middle son has been stopping by regularly, especially on Sundays, to have some dedicated family time. In fact he just left our home after doing “gear day light” with my husband as they are preparing for an upcoming bow-hunting trip next weekend.
Life is good, relatively stable now, & abundant in a number of ways–Praise the Lord!
Tomorrow I’ll try a post that is more current events focused. Today I hope our Q-Tree family will be happy to bring the links & the insights in our typical treehouse fashion.
If you need leads for where to find such material, please consider checking out some of the sites WolfMoon has suggested in this post:
I enjoy perusing Whatfinger.com for links among many other sites 🙂
Thanks for stopping by. May the Lord guide, direct, protect, & bless us as we all keep fighting the good fight in our individual lives, our families, our communities, our nation, & our world! God Bless YOU!
Hi Q-Tree this is a super quick post in case Carl is unable to post his usual Sunday teaching & encouragement. Per reports on sister blogs, Sylvia’s at least, Carl is pretty sick with Covid & needs our prayers.
So no matter what is swirling around us, or within us, Jesus is Still Lord…
Here is a site that has compiled a number of Bible verses that expound on Jesus as Lord:
In the New Testament, Lord is the most frequently used title for Jesus Christ. Although we rarely use this term in our daily lives, we are all quite familiar with another word: boss. That is basically what Lord means—one possessing authority, power, and control. The Word of God describes Jesus as the head of the church, the ruler over all creation, and the Lord of lords and King of kings (Col. 1:15-18; Rev. 3:14, 17:14).
Jesus is Lord: Scripture Meaning
Following the resurrection, the term “Lord,” being applied to Jesus, became more than an indication of devotion or respect. Stating, “Jesus is Lord,” became a way of recognizing Jesus’ divine standing.
References of Jesus as Lord started with Thomas’ declaration when Jesus arrived at the apostles after His resurrection: “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God!’” (John 20:28). From thereafter, the message of the Apostles was that Jesus is Lord, signifying that “Jesus is God.”
Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost carried that idea: “Let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah” (Acts 2:36). Peter later declared this in the house of Cornelius, stating that Jesus is “Lord of all” (Acts 10:36). It is important to note that in Romans 10:9 Jesus’ lordship is connected to His resurrection: “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
The declaration “Jesus is Lord” indicates that Jesus is God. Jesus holds “all authority in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). He is “Lord of the Sabbath” (Luke 6:5); “our only Sovereign and Lord” (Jude 1:4); and “the Lord of lords” (Revelation 17:14).
What Makes Jesus a “Lord”?
The realm of Christ’s reign covers everything that happens in heaven and on the earth. No one—not even those who deny His existence—can be free of His rule or outside His sphere of authority. Although Satan tries to convince us that liberty is found in doing what we want, true freedom is acquired only through submission to Christ’s loving lordship.
Even death cannot release anyone from the authority of God’s Son. He is Lord of both the living and the dead. All people must decide to either yield or rebel against Him, but they have the opportunity to make this choice only while they are still living. After death, they will acknowledge Christ’s lordship through accountability to Him. If we have not bowed the knee to Jesus in life, we will be forced to bend it in the judgment.
Have you submitted to Christ’s rule over your life? His authority causes anger or fear in individuals who have not yet yielded to Him, but those who have experienced His loving kindness trusted in His goodness and surrendered to His authority take comfort in knowing Him as the Lord of their lives.
These are long days of darkness & often despair, but we who know the Lord need fear no evil for the Lord is with us. He has promised never to leave nor forsake us, which is a great comfort in times of tremendous turbulence. So as we keep fighting the good fight let’s continue to look to the Lord, the author & finisher of our faith, our soon coming King!
May God Bless YOU Richly, Today and Always. In Jesus’ Love, Valerie
OK, straight up apologies, Dear Q-Treepers & Friends, for this likely stream of consciousness post very loosely inspired from our dear Daughn’s nostalgic posts. This is going to veer about in personal family history domains so is meant as a bit of a slice of Americana…
Detroit’s skyline as viewed from the Ambassador Bridge
Grandpa S. came to stay with us at some point for an extended stay while I still lived in my parents’ home. I think it was after my grandma had died but before I went away to college. Grandpa had been sick and so lived with us for a season as he regained his health & his strength. There were times he’d watch Price is Right with my brothers & I & encourage us to make guesses on the various games, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Grandpa was a bit of a gruff man having grown up in the Motor City & having a Northwoods lumberjack for a father. He was a self-made man of limited education, never having finished high school. An avid outdoorsman and good with his hands he knew how to work hard and he was respected and even loved by many people from practically all walks of life. He had deep practical wisdom & was even flexible in his lifestyle deciding to take up new hobbies as a widower, like candle AND candy making. He had a zest for life & perpetual twinkle in his eye!
Ty Cobb in 1913 in Detroit, the era when he let Grandpa & other kids into the ballpark by the back fence to watch the games for free!
Well one day while he was staying with us the phone rang unexpectedly. Being the oldest kid it fell to me to answer the call, as my parents weren’t home at the time. Some gravelly male voice on the other end of the phone was looking for a “Lefty” & I was concerned. The only “lefty” I could imagine would be some fictional gangster or ne’er-do-well. Anyway with tremulous voice I mentioned to Grandpa that someone was looking for “Lefty”. He snatched the phone from my hand & bellowed out in his own testosterone truncated tongue “Lefty here!” I was beyond flabbergasted, My Grandpa Was Lefty!!!
Obviously this was a pretty basic nickname for a man who was left-handed, especially growing up in an era when being left-handed was a “sinister” condition. Both he, my dad’s dad, AND my mom’s mom, were left-handed & suffered the indignities that went along with being different & the punishments typically meted out for errant usage of the “wrong” hand in those bygone days. Both of these grandparents had less than beautiful handwriting but were surely more ambidextrous than most. My youngest brother is also blessed with this left-handedness & it definitely contributed to some of his sporting successes, especially his ability to be a switch-hitter on his high-school baseball team! I think he was also more competent with both feet as a soccer player than were most teammates too.
Grandpa had been a pretty poor student during his formal education. In fact, after his death, when my parents were going through his things they discovered a lone report card saved from nearly 8 decades before. Apparently this “all S” card was the best he ever did. That was based on a grading system of U=Unsatisfactory, S=Satisfactory, & E=Excellent, I believe. Basically grandpa got the equivalent of an all-C, straight average report card & that was the treasure of the ages. How easily did the high marks of so many in our family line become blasé. We didn’t really understand what it was to suffer ridicule for poor marks, well most of us didn’t…
My dad is going over my post with me & said that on Grandpa’s report card there were 12 things to be graded on per marking. In the 1st card marking he got 4 S’s & the rest U’s. 2nd marking was 8 or 9 S’s the rest U’s. The final card marking he got all 12 S’s. My grandpa wrote on that report card “Best report card I ever had” & saved it all those years. Neither my dad nor his sister knew about that card before grandpa’s death.
Not Grandpa’s report card, but one from the era when he first attended school
Grandpa did throw things away, including stock certificates for companies that went belly up during the Depression, per my dad. He provided for his family during his lifetime & had less than $1,000 to his name when he died…& a new car that he called “my second to last car”. My brother got that late ’80’s Tempo after Grandpa’s passing.
Now according to my dad his dad had one of his grade school teachers as a regular customer at his gas station & garage in the heart of Detroit. Some three decades after she taught him she would berate him with “see I knew you’d never amount to anything” when she came to fill up or get some car service from him or his employees. Imagine being dogged like that as a self-made business man, yet Grandpa didn’t stint on the service in spite of the disrespect.
In fact dad is quite sure that Grandpa accepted Scrip during the war years, and my other grandpa, being a teacher, was paid in scrip too. It is quite likely that Grandpa S’s cruel elementary teacher paid in scrip AND much of that payment never was converted to Actual Money (I don’t know all the social reasons for that) so Grandpa took care of that teacher’s material needs even as she maligned his interpersonal & self-esteem ones. He truly was the bigger man.
Not my Grandpa’s gas station, but his brand in his era
When looking for possible images of Grandpa’s old Sunoco gas station at Junction & Toledo in Detroit I ran across this nostalgic discussion of old Detroit area gas stations.
During the Second World War, at some point rationing was on. This meant that even in the Motor City it was hard to get what one needed to maintain functional transportation for the masses. Dad said that Grandpa had an old vulcanizing machine, that could be used to patch tires, and that his dad practically single-handedly kept Detroit on wheels! If he could have brought that machine with him to Northern Michigan when he retired it should have ended up in a museum, how significant was it’s contribution to keeping Detroit moving!
1945 Ration Book from the region, this example from Illinois
Speaking of Northern Michigan let’s segue a bit. My Grandpa’s dad had grown into manhood in the Northern Michigan lumbering industry, though he himself was a mid-Michigan farm boy. He left home, possibly even before his teen years to work in lumbering. He drove the horse-drawn wagons, worked as a lumberjack, and later was some type of foreman.
The company he worked for was owned by a Mr. Lowrey and at one point Lowrey’s son made his way into the woods to get his lumbering chops with the working guys. Apparently the lumberjacks were a pretty rough group of customers & Great-Grandpa took the boss’s son under his wing, showed him the ropes, AND protected him from the brutish thugs. This was noticed by the boss so later on when operations were moved South into Detroit Great-Grandpa was invited to come along and manage the lumber yard. That’s what he did for the rest of his working life. AND that is how that side of my family came to Detroit, right about 1900!
Logging in Michigan, 1890’s, when my Great Grandpa was still working in the Northern Michigan woods
Apparently Great Grandpa S. was a pretty tough customer too. He was tall, over 6 feet, with a fairly slender build. Even so, he was incredibly strong. One time Grandpa, as a young man, or even teen, had occasion to do some work at his dad’s lumber yard. There were train cars to be loaded or unloaded of 50 pound bags of cement, I believe. Grandpa would carry a bag in each hand & fling them in a smooth motion up to stack even over his head. Dad said that his father had very strong hands & even used to play handball at the Y in Detroit. Anyway G observed GG breaking up a fight amongst some unrulies in the lumber yard. When they wouldn’t stop the fight Great Grandpa stepped in & with One Blow Each felled each man. My grandpa was in shock that his dad could or would do that, this was someone not to mess around with!
Ironically my dad & his friends also experienced Grandpa’s physical & character strength for themselves. There was a time in their teen years that dad & his buddies took out the family car joy riding, over 50 miles of driving without ever leaving the Detroit city limits. Apparently Dad didn’t think to put more gas in the car so the next day as Grandpa was headed into work at His gas station, he ran out of gas. Grandpa somehow got a hold of Dad’s buddy & lifted him one handed off the floor & stuck him to the wall. What happened to Dad during that timeframe has always been rather murkily glossed over. I know my dad inherited this skill set for I once witnessed him lift up one of my brother’s cocky little friends up off the floor & stick him to the wall, though he used 2 hands in this surprising intervention on the now more subdued teen!
So we’ve had Michigan’s North Woods in our blood for a number of generations. Now fortunately my Grandpa S. married my grandma, the daughter of a railroad engineer–both of her parents were children of immigrants from the British Isles. Grandma’s dad had a fairly cushy job that he’d worked into on the Michigan Central Railroad. One of the perks of working for the railroad was getting the family to ride the rails, for free, I believe. Grandma’s family used to regularly travel Up North and enjoy Summer vacations in Michigan’s beautiful North Country, far from their native Detroit.
Historic Arbutus Beach, on Otsego Lake, MI in the era when my grandma’s family vacationed there
Eventually Grandma’s parents settled on a small community in Gaylord and bought a Cottage, being the first such building in the newly platted resort community of Arbutus Beach, along the beautiful sandy shore of Otsego Lake. Nearly all of Grandma’s siblings and many cousins ultimately obtained cottages in that community. My grandparents married in the late 1920’s and somehow acquired one of the existing Cottages in Arbutus Beach, as its second owners. My dad & his sister, along with their mother, spent virtually Every Summer of their childhood in that Northern Michigan paradise. Surrounded by family & friends they’d leave Detroit the day after school let out & only head home the day before school started in the Fall. Grandpa would join them for both journeys, I think because there was only one car. Grandma & the kids either caught the train to/from town or perhaps bummed rides from relatives with transportation.
How my great grandparents moved their cottage to Arbutus Beach, details here: https://specialconnections.wordpress.com/2017/06/29/josiahs-story-about-the-4th-of-july/
Now that same Cottage ended up becoming my grandparents’ retirement home, somewhat unexpectedly. Up until the Race Riot era of the late ’60’s both sets of my grandparents expected to live in their Detroit homes for the remainder of their natural lives. However during that season of social upheaval block-busting real estate agents put the pressure on & ultimately both sets of grandparents winterized Summer cottages to become their then retirement homes.
The simpler times of my dad’s youth saw Otsego Lake rarely shackled, as it is now, by excessive docks or boats
The Gaylord Cottage would figure largely in my own life too. When my new husband & I decided to come to Michigan–we had met & married in Oklahoma, though I was a child of the Motor City–we ended up living temporarily in The Cottage that was now in my parents’ possession after Grandpa’s death about a half decade previously. Michael & I lived in The Cottage as newly weds AND as new parents. Our first child, Nathaniel was born while we lived in The Cottage (his height is marked on the 4 generation height-recording doorjambs between the dining & living rooms at just One Day Old!) & was gifted the nickname “The Jack-Pine Savage” because of this northern naissance. In fact I believe our son is the Only family member in 6 generations of our extended family associated with this Northern Michigan community who was born in Gaylord, though several have died there. Though our twins were born while we still lived in that community–we had bought our own house in town by that time–they were in fact born downstate because of the high-risk nature of that pregnancy & their anticipated medical needs…
If you’d like to see a Newspaper article from back when Michael & I and the Boys lived in Gaylord in the 1990’s check it out here, on pages 1, 4, & 5:
Anyway, at one point when Michael & I were moving into The Cottage we boxed up some things to make room for some of our belongings. One day we were going through some old kids books and discovered some doodlings & writings by my dad. Apparently Dad had fancied himself some type of cowboy AND given himself the moniker Wild Bill! I absolutely Loved It!!!
Whenever watching that perennial classic A Christmas Story, I can imagine my dad as a lad in the 1940’s into the ’50’s with his admiration for all things cowboy & his gun prowess. I’m pretty sure that he was Up North when practicing targeting some strategic mushrooms on top of a log. However, unlike Steve’s important Saturday reminders, he forgot to notice what was Behind his target. So successfully hitting mushrooms with his BB gun sometimes meant tagging one of his playmates inadvertently as the projectiles maintained their forward trajectory. Simpler times…
Boy with gun in the 1950’s, not my dad but similar to his era
It’s impossible to anticipate what type of gems one might unearth in an old family home! Years ago there was a major garage cleaning undertaken by 3 generations of the family. At one point an old scorched ironing board cover, complete with it’s “scorchless” packaging was unearthed. After much conversation it was returned to the archeological dig to be unearthed years, or perhaps generations from now, so the joy & consternation at our family ways can continue!
Saving that old ironing board cover reminded Dad about his mom’s dad, the railroad engineer. Apparently Great-Grandpa T. used to collect stamps. He would meticulously organize them into small piles and tie them together with small pieces of string & place them strategically in old cigar boxes. Well he kept some container labeled “String Too Short To Save” for this stamp-corralling work, apparently because that was about all such short lengths of string were good for! If you knew how much my packratedness AND that of some other family members has tormented those who are more comfortable with much less physical (& other) baggage, you would recognized that “String Too Short To Save” isn’t always a badge of honor here!
Several books had similar titles, so this metaphor goes well beyond just our family perspective & experience–yikes!
So back to Lefty AND World War II. Dad & his sister have some direct memories of the war years, though they were still Very Young when it ended. Apparently they kept a pail of pure sand in the attic in case the house were ever bombed or hit with incendiary devices. They employed blackout curtains. Grandpa was sometimes involved in some type of neighborhood patrol, well Dad says that actually the next-door neighbor Mr. Bush was the Warden, who’d knock on your door if any light showed through the blackout curtains. They sounded an air raid siren for a drill in getting into blackout conditions & the Warden would patrol the neighborhood looking for any errant lights during that drill. Ration Books were in play & plenty of food was hard to get. Street Signs were removed to prevent the enemy, should he land on our shores, from easily navigating these foreign roads. And of course rationing meant deprivations in many arenas.
One place of deprivation was in the use of gasoline. Even Grandpa, who owned his own gas station business, could not get extra gasoline. That meant that when hunting season rolled around he wouldn’t be able to head Up North to the Hunting Shack to do the traditional annual deer hunting pilgrimage, or wouldn’t he? Actually he had some cousins who were farmers and apparently the government wasn’t rationing their access to gas in Any Way. So some of these cousins arranged to leave cans of gas strategically along the side of the road, hidden in the ditch, so Grandpa could gas up sufficiently to make it to his war-time limited hunting camp!
teaser historic post card from Luzerne, MI our guys rarely see this many deer in the region nowadays
By the way, how The Shack came into the family is a bit of an interesting tale too. Grandpa, his cousin, uncle, & some friends used to hunt the state or federal lands adjacent to a farmer’s land Up North. They’d done this for some years in a remote area in Oscoda County near the Very Small Town of Luzerne. Many times these hunters had begged the farmer to sell them a small amount of land so they could put up more permanent hunting camps than their tent-based camps of yesteryear. One time they invited the farmer to join them for a meal in the large dining tent. Their camp stove gave off a spark that ignited that tent AND it completely burned before they could un-stake all the ropes & drop the canvas to the ground. The farmer decided it was no way to live so relented & sold them One Acre, which was subdivided into 2 plots & 2 hunting shacks were built there, both still standing.
The shack across the street used to have a custom-made wood burned sign (recently stolen) claiming “Piscopalian Valley”, which is what our original hunters used to call the area since the piss would go in the pail before the hunting shacks AND outhouses were put in. In fact Grandpa’s uncle Will was known as “the Mayor of Piscopalian Valley” since he would make the rounds of the many nearby hunting camps AND the “blue horse trail” camp (the blue horse trail marks an equestrian path that traverses the fingers of Michigan’s Mitten–no NOT that Mitt!–from Lake Michigan to Lake Huron and makes navigating “our” hunting zone much more interesting) & pick up all the news of the hunt & the community–what a rich history abounded there & many tales live on!
Blue Horse Trail near Luzerne passes through the family hunting grounds
Speaking of news AND WWII the way Lefty learned about the end of the war was pretty amazing. Now I don’t ever recall hearing my grandpa tell this story, but Wild Bill has good recall of it. Apparently as The War was waning Grandpa went on an extended hunting or fishing adventure in the wilds of Canada, dad said that it was a fishing trip. He was walking along a portage trail in the woods & came across a carving on a tree trunk declaring the date & time of the end of the war in Europe AND he ran across this within two hours of someone carving it, literally out in the middle of nowhere! What an amazing world!
If only that WWII was the war to end all wars & love reigned supreme
Boy were our forbears hearty & blessed people. We are blessed to carry their blood in our veins & some of their quirkiness in our behaviors & of course some of their personality & physical traits in our beings, as they continue to live on, in a manner of speaking, in & through us.
From C.S. Lewis in his Chronicles of Narnia, as recounted here: https://silo.pub/pocket-companion-to-narnia-a-guide-to-the-magical-world-of-cs-lewis.html. HONOR — To seek honor in obedience and to behave honorably may be said to be one definition of a true Narnian. In PC [Prince Caspian]15, Caspian is ashamed that he comes of such a dishonorable (Telmarine) lineage. Aslan replies, “You come of the Lord Adam and Lady Eve. And that is both honor enough to erect the head of the poorest beggar and shame enough to bow the heads and shoulders of the greatest emperor on earth. Be content.”
Veteran’s Day Addendum
Honoring our warriors, especially on Veteran’s Day!
We all owe so much to the many who have made tremendous sacrifices to fight for & ensure ongoing degrees of freedom for their fellow man. The complexity of the tapestry of lives, lifestyles, & social & family dynamics can never fully be done justice. So many different ways our warriors & their families & friends have laid down their lives for the family of man. Thank you!
I come from a family without direct modern experience in military service & warfare. However I know of numerous serviceman in the extended family who answered the call. This listing is to honor their service & sacrifice & that of so many others who have stood in the gap on freedom’s and our nation’s behalf.
Orringh Stoddard, Captain Massachusetts Line, Revolutionary War
Husband Michael’s Hagerman ancestor, United Empire Loyalist
Friedrich Bluemle, Mom’s birth great grandfather, compulsory German military service before immigrating to America mid 1800’s
Michael’s relations, both sides service Civil War, fractured family & fractured nation
William E. Curren, US Army Signal Corp, late 1800’s
Clarence E. Curren, Virginia Ship Building Co., WWI Navy
Patrick L., Husband’s father’s uncle, WWII Nave Sea Bee, construction battalion
Verner R. Shoup, Hubby’s grandfather & son of CO governor Oliver H. Shoup, WWI Army
David O. M., Mom’s birth grandfather, WWI Army
Robert D. M., Mom’s birth father, WWII Marine, action in Tarawa & beyond
Avis B. B., Mom’s birth mother, WAC WWII, service in Alaska & beyond
Hugh T., Grandma’s brother-in-law, WWII Army medical doctor
Maynard K., Mom’s brother, Korea-era Naval service, injured medical discharge
Zachary S., my nephew, Marine in modern service
My ancestor Orringh Stoddard’s letter February 3, 1780 preserved in George Washington’s papers, https://www.loc.gov/resource/mgw4.064_0179_0180/
May the Lord continue to equip us all with the tools we need to keep fighting the good fight!
Vignette of my Uncle Hugh’s military service, from his obituary “Dr. Thompson was a US veteran, serving with the US Medical Corps for three and a half years. He was captain of the 32nd Field Hospital in Italy. After VE Day, he was sent to the Philippines and Japan.” He moved his wife & kids into their Northern Michigan cottage while he was overseas during WWII, being concerned for their safety had they remained in their Detroit home during his extended absence. Service & Sacrifice!
http://otsego.advantage-preservation.com/viewer/?k=hugh%20thompson&i=f&d=01011903-12312013&m=between&ord=k1&fn=herald_times_usa_michigan_gaylord_19911024_english_23&df=1&dt=10&cid=2955 has further details on Dr. Hugh Thompson’s career & photos.
It started with this Gospel passage proclaimed on the morning of June 27, the Thirteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time:
MARK 5:21-43
21And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him; and he was beside the sea. 22Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Ja’irus by name; and seeing him, he fell at his feet, 23and besought him, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well, and live.” 24And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. 25And there was a woman who had had a flow of blood for twelve years, 26and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. 27She had heard the reports about Jesus, and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. 28For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I shall be made well.” 29And immediately the hemorrhage ceased; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. 30And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone forth from him, immediately turned about in the crowd, and said, “Who touched my garments?” 31And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, `Who touched me?'” 32And he looked around to see who had done it. 33But the woman, knowing what had been done to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him, and told him the whole truth. 34And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.” 35While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler’s house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” 36But ignoring what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” 37And he allowed no one to follow him except Peter and James and John the brother of James. 38When they came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, he saw a tumult, and people weeping and wailing loudly. 39And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why do you make a tumult and weep? The child is not dead but sleeping.” 40And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside, and took the child’s father and mother and those who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Tal’itha cu’mi”; which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” 42And immediately the girl got up and walked (she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. 43And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.
In some Lectionaries, the bolded passage is optional to read, and just the account of Jarius’s daughter is the point of the day. One Mass I cantored that weekend, indeed the presider chose not to read that segment. Essentially, the woman with the issue of blood, a character in the Gospels who appears in all three of the Synoptic Gospels, which is unique in and of itself, her story was considered to be so important that she could essentially be canceled on a given week.
(Another priest I heard talk that weekend did read the passage, but was dismissive of the incident in the midst of a father’s pain in potentially losing a child. Seriously, a twelve year period is no joke. The anemia alone is debilitating.)
In both cases, the presiders – light in the loafers, if you will, although celibate, I am quite sure – mentioned that Bishop so and so – a name famous in Catholic circles, and also quite light in the loafers – said that such and such should be mentioned in the homily, and what it all meant. No mention of the woman, though.
Blah, blah, blah.
Now, this is not to dismiss Jarius and his daughter by any means, but the two stories being one in essence have the same resonance: faith, pure faith, that Jesus could work a miracle for them.
And the story of the woman who suffered at the hands of the system was either ignored or dismissed in favor of the man’s story where the crisis was not chronic, but immediate.
There was another incident that escapes my head, and then there was this:
https://youtu.be/Iz-ELg_RrFw
There are simply no words as to how insulting this is to women. Real women, especially those who would have loved to have been mothers, but it didn’t happen for whatever reason, not to mention mothers who lactated for years. Dude, you just don’t have the equipment. It ain’t happening.
And then some genius decided to make a pregnant man emoji.
Guys, that’s called a beer belly. Trust me. They run in part of my gene pool and are a precursor to diabetes among other ailments.
There’s a few constitutional amendments these women need to read. Black women have been able to vote for over a hundred years.
And in all of this, where are the feminists? Where are the self described defenders of women’s rights?
Oh, that’s right. They are hell bent on women killing their children if their conception isn’t prevented in the first place.
What is really sick about this is in looking back at the women’s rights movements, women today have no idea how good they’ve got it, and the right to vote is the least of the issues. The suffrage/suffragette push started, actually, as an outgrowth of something far larger.
In England, and her sphere of off-shoots (that includes the U.S.), after the Cromwell years, women had no rights, and in a way that was the message of Jane Austen’s body of work: to demonstrate how unfair the social standards and rules of heredity were, and how women were just treated as chattel. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood women were thrown out of their home and forced to live by the charity of a relative. In Pride and Prejudice, the Bennett sisters were all tarnished by one sister running off with a man who seduced her at the age of fifteen. In Emma, her friend Harriet is the by-blow of God only knows who, and cannot aspire to a marriage of the caliber that Emma can. Life was not fair for women even among landed gentry, and their only hope to escape eventual poverty was marriage, and then the husband held all the cards, including her money – her dowry – which was a complete departure from the original purpose of a woman’s fortune which was supposed to be a safety net for her and any children she had. (See Mary Kate’s fortune in The Quiet Man for reference. In the west, a dowry was a pagan custom that survived in Christianity, so it couldn’t have been all bad.)
In researching the suffrage/suffragette movements, it seems it started in England with fathers wanting to be sure that their daughters’ money was not controlled completely by their husbands. (This is a BIG point made in the Romance sub-genre of Regency. Marriage settlements are always about how much a father provides to his daughter’s new husband.)
Yes, it was all about the money, and in the United States, it was somewhat about women being able to sign contracts, and having bank accounts without a husband. Widows were grandfathered in to an extent, but women owning property was not the norm. No, that was a man’s world. Women were to be the helpmates.
Forget the sexual aspect of it all and the voting rights. Women had nothing unless they were married or widowed.
At a political meeting in Manchester in 1905, Christabel Pankhurst and millworker, Annie Kenney, disrupted speeches by prominent Liberals Winston Churchill and Sir Edward Grey, asking where Churchill and Grey stood with regards to women’s political rights. At a time when political meetings were only attended by men and speakers were expected to be given the courtesy of expounding their views without interruption, the audience were outraged, and when the women unfurled a “Votes for Women” banner they were both arrested for a technical assault on a policeman. When Pankhurst and Kenney appeared in court they both refused to pay the fine imposed, preferring to go to prison in order to gain publicity for their cause.[25]
In July 1908 the WSPU hosted a large demonstration in Heaton Park, near Manchester with speakers on 13 separate platforms including Emmeline, Christabel and Adela Pankhurst. According to the Manchester Guardian:
Friends of the women suffrage movement are entitled to reckon the great demonstration at Heaton Park yesterday, arranged by the Women’s Social and Political Union, as somewhat of a triumph. With fine weather as an ally the women suffragists were able to bring together an immense body of people. These people were not all sympathisers with the object, and much service to the cause must have been rendered by merely collecting so many people and talking over the subject with them. The organisation, too, was creditable to the promoters…The police were few and inconspicuous. The speakers went by special [tram]car to the Bury Old Road entrance, and were escorted by a few police to several platforms. Here the escorts waited till the speaking was over, and then accompanied their respective charges back to the special car. There was little need, apparently, for the escort. Even the opponents of the suffrage claim who made themselves heard were perfectly friendly towards the speakers, and the only crowding about them as they left was that of curiosity on the part of those who wished to have a good look at the missioners in the cause.[26]
Stung by the stereotypical image of the strong minded woman in masculine clothes created by newspaper cartoonists, the suffragettes resolved to present a fashionable, feminine image when appearing in public. In 1908 the co-editor of the WSPU’s Votes for Women newspaper, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence,[27] designed the suffragettes’ colour scheme of purple for loyalty and dignity, white for purity, and green for hope.[28] Fashionable London shops Selfridges and Liberty sold tricolour-striped ribbon for hats, rosettes, badges and belts, as well as coloured garments, underwear, handbags, shoes, slippers and toilet soap.[5] As membership of the WSPU grew it became fashionable for women to identify with the cause by wearing the colours, often discreetly in a small piece of jewellery or by carrying a heart-shaped vesta case[29][5] and in December 1908 the London jewellers, Mappin & Webb, issued a catalogue of suffragette jewellery in time for the Christmas season.[30]Sylvia Pankhurst said at the time: “Many suffragists spend more money on clothes than they can comfortably afford, rather than run the risk of being considered outré, and doing harm to the cause”.[5] In 1909 the WSPU presented specially commissioned pieces of jewellery to leading suffragettes, Emmeline Pankhurst and Louise Eates.[30]
The suffragettes also used other methods to publicise and raise money for the cause and from 1909, the “Pank-a-Squith” board game was sold by the WSPU. The name was derived from Pankhurst and the surname of Prime MinisterH. H. Asquith, who was largely hated by the movement. The board game was set out in a spiral, and players were required to lead their suffragette figure from their home to parliament, past the obstacles faced from Prime Minister H. H. Asquith and the Liberal government.[31] Also in 1909, suffragettes Daisy Solomon and Elspeth McClelland tried an innovative method of potentially obtaining a meeting with Asquith by sending themselves by Royal Mail courier post; however, Downing Street did not accept the parcel.[32]Emily Davison
1912 was a turning point for the suffragettes, as they turned to using more militant tactics and began a window-smashing campaign. Some members of the WSPU, including Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and her husband Frederick, disagreed with this strategy but Christabel Pankhurst ignored their objections. In response to this, the Government ordered the arrest of the WSPU leaders and, although Christabel Pankhurst escaped to France, the Pethick-Lawrences were arrested, tried and sentenced to nine months’ imprisonment. On their release, the Pethick-Lawrences began to speak out publicly against the window-smashing campaign, arguing that it would lose support for the cause, and eventually they were expelled from the WSPU. Having lost control of Votes for Women the WSPU began to publish their own newspaper under the title The Suffragette.[33]
The campaign was then escalated, with the suffragettes chaining themselves to railings, setting fire to post box contents, smashing windows and eventually detonating bombs, as part of a wider bombing campaign.[34] Some radical techniques used by the suffragettes were learned from Russian exiles from tsarism who had escaped to England.[35] In 1914, at least seven churches were bombed or set on fire across the United Kingdom, including Westminster Abbey, where an explosion aimed at destroying the 700-year-old Coronation Chair, only caused minor damage.[36] Places that wealthy people, typically men, frequented were also burnt and destroyed whilst left unattended so that there was little risk to life, including cricket pavilions, horse-racing pavilions, churches, castles and the second homes of the wealthy. They also burnt the slogan “Votes for Women” into the grass of golf couses.[37] Pinfold Manor in Surrey, which was being built for the Chancellor of the Exchequer, David Lloyd George, was targeted with two bombs on 19 February 1913, only one of which exploded, causing significant damage; in her memoirs, Sylvia Pankhurst said that Emily Davison had carried out the attack.[37] There were 250 arson or destruction attacks in a six-month period in 1913 [37] and in April the newspapers reported “What might have been the most serious outrage yet perpetrated by the Suffragettes”:
Policemen discovered inside the railings of the Bank of England a bomb timed to explode at midnight. It contained 3oz of powerful explosive, some metal, and a number of hairpins – the last named constituent, no doubt to make known the source of the intended sensation. The bomb was similar to that used in the attempt to blow up Oxted Railway Station. It contained a watch with attachment for explosion, but was clumsily fitted. If it had exploded when the streets were crowded a number of people would probably have been injured.[38]
There are reports in the Parliamentary Papers which include lists of the ‘incendiary devices’, explosions, artwork destruction (including an axe attack upon a painting of The Duke of Wellington in the National Gallery), arson attacks, window-breaking, postbox burning and telegraph cable cutting, that took place during the most militant years, from 1910 to 1914.[39] Both suffragettes and police spoke of a “Reign of Terror”; newspaper headlines referred to “Suffragette Terrorism”.[40]
One suffragette, Emily Davison, died under the King‘s horse, Anmer, at The Derby on 4 June 1913. It is debated whether she was trying to pull down the horse, attach a suffragette scarf or banner to it, or commit suicide to become a martyr to the cause. However, recent analysis of the film of the event suggests that she was merely trying to attach a scarf to the horse, and the suicide theory seems unlikely as she was carrying a return train ticket from Epsom and had holiday plans with her sister in the near future.[41]
Sound familiar?
Things were never that violent in the United States, but still, eventually, the woman’s rights and suffrage movements were co-opted for something far more insidious: the breakdown of the family and traditional marriage forged through Christianity.
Now, men with psychiatric issues are trying to tell us biological women that, really, we’re all born eunuchs, and, well, we can pick and choose what we want to be later in life despite what set of chromosomes we are born with, and, oh, isn’t it wonderful that we guys are so in touch with our inner females that we are going to do your most important job on this planet for you? Guess what ladies! We’re going to birth and raise the next generation without ovaries and with borrowed eggs and wombs!
Sure.
Where are the feminists?
Where are the self described defenders of women?
Where are the loud mouthed squeaky wheels when we REALLY need them?
‘Cause this men pretending to be women is about the most egregious attack on women in the most natural sense since before even Jane Austen. It’s not rights which are under attack, but the entire idea of a unique sex.
And don’t you guys forget it.
Women and womanhood are under attack.
Where are our self-styled defenders?
‘Cause, you know, we girls raised to be ladies, mothers and the like are being pushed aside by the men who aren’t really sure that they are men and the ones who don’t quite appreciate the whole different sex thing.
It’s Fight Like a Flynn Friday at Wolf’s Pub. Welcome back! I think you would agree there is freedom, and then there is FREEEEDOMMM!
What does it mean to be truly free? Can the body be imprisoned but the mind free? How does one free the mind? Are there things worse than death? Is freedom worth dying for? How do we learn freedom?
I believe the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights attempted (and mainly succeeded) in enumerating how a self-governed nation would operate. Maximum freedom of religion, speech, self-defense, assembly, and then freedom FROM unlawful search and seizure and so on.
General Flynn had a compelling op-ed in the Western Journal a couple days ago that is worth taking the time to read and ponder. This stood out to me:
“Though the battle for the soul of America is fierce before us, we cannot afford to look away in hopes of finding retreat. There will be none.”
Speaking of the soul…for your listening pleasure, here is Loreena McKinnett singing “The Dark Night of the Soul”, a poem by St. John of the Cross, a 16th century Spanish mystic. It speaks to the time preceding the union of the soul with God, when the darkness within drives the soul to leave earthly things and seek God. I would say union with God is true freedom.
Lyrics:
Upon a darkened night the flame of love was burning in my breast And by a lantern bright I fled my house while all in quiet rest
Shrouded by the night And by the secret stair I quickly fled The veil concealed my eyes while all within lay quiet as the dead
Chorus: Oh night thou was my guide of night more loving than the rising sun Oh night that joined the lover to the beloved one transforming each of them into the other
Upon that misty night in secrecy, beyond such mortal sight Without a guide or light than that which burned so deeply in my heart That fire t’was led me on and shone more bright than of the midday sun To where he waited still it was a place where no one else could come
(Chorus)
Within my pounding heart which kept itself entirely for him He fell into his sleep beneath the cedars all my love I gave From o’er the fortress walls the wind would brush his hair against his brow And with its smoothest hand caressed my every sense it would allow
(Chorus)
I lost myself to him and laid my face upon my lover’s breast And care and grief grew dim as in the morning’s mist became the light There they dimmed amongst the lilies fair there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair there they dimmed amongst the lilies fair
In honor of the Spanish mystic, our special tonight is the Spanish Tempranillo wine, a bold tasting and vibrant grape that may have been brought to Spanish shores by the Phoenicians thousands of years ago.
You can learn more here with the added bonus list of 40 of the top-rated Tempranillo wines from Spain. Unfortunately, a good Tempranillo can be hard to find. The ones in the local grocery store are usually the lower end of quality, with bitingly sharp tannins and sometimes murky overtones.
That said, if you can find a good Spanish Tempranillo wine, it will often be a reserva (aka more expensive). We happen to have all 40 of the top-rated wines on hand tonight (wink, wink), so feel free to browse through the list and order a bottle for your table.
HOUSE RULES
Before we get back to Fight like a Flynn Friday, let’s review the rules. Make nice. Easier said than done in these trying times but give it your best shot. In case you feel like getting ugly, there’s the Utree. The Utree has more than one purpose, too. It is also a rendezvous place in case something happens to this site. Thanks Coothie, for reminding us that we have another place to gather in the event we can’t gather here.
Now, back to Gen. Flynn’s op-ed in the Western Journal. He describes how our nation was founded on faith in God as the bedrock of our freedoms.
“Faith and freedom can never be separated
from one another.”
General Michael Flynn
And then he begins to urge us to take in hand and read again our founding documents and the writings of the Founding Fathers.
“Anyone can learn more about our nation’s founding. Start simple. When was the last time you read the Constitution or the Declaration of Independence?
We tend to forget just how easy it is to read the Constitution from cover to cover. President Obama’s Affordable Care Act was more than 314,000 words long, but the document that frames our entire system of government is only 4,500 words in length. The average American can read it in half an hour.
Of course, if we really want to get into the mindset of our Founding Fathers, we must dig deeper. “The Federalist Papers,” de Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” Paine’s “Common Sense” and the writings of John Locke are all well worth the read.”
He goes on:
“There is a reason why the forces of darkness are trying so hard to eradicate the family as we know it. They see how powerful the bond of family can be, so they want to redefine it, water it down and replace it with a dependency on the state. We cannot allow them to destroy the family. As long as marriages and families are strong, freedom will always have a fighting chance. Never concede to those who say they know how to raise your children better than you do. God entrusted the care of children to parents, not to governments.”
General Flynn mentions the importance of friendship and the will to fight against the forces arrayed against America. He asks us:
“Will you join the fight?
For the sake of our children and grandchildren, I pray you will.”
Tragically, most of our children have not learned what it means to be free and the cost of it, and the history of it. They’ve been fed a load of crap in our schools for several generations now. Let’s face it, we have been allowing the enemies of freedom to indoctrinate our children for decades.
I found this video of five libertarians (as near as I can tell) enjoying a wide-ranging discussion about educational alternatives. It’s an hour and a half, but it discusses so many issues, mentions so many good resources, and addresses so many of the facets of educating one’s own children and grandchildren, that I urge you to give it a listen.
“But if recent findings are any indication, Americans’ acquaintance with the founders’ principles and practices seems to be at a nadir. According to a report of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a majority of college graduates can’t recall “the substance of the First Amendment, or the origin of the separation of powers.” Perhaps most alarmingly, “nearly 10% say that Judith Sheindlin—‘Judge Judy’—is on the Supreme Court.” A big part of the problem seems to stem from the fact that of the 1,100 “liberal arts colleges and universities” surveyed, just “18%” require students to take a course on American history or government before graduation.”
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF EXCUSES
The folks in the video above talk about a plethora of educational options for getting your kids out of the government schools. We talk freedom, but the government schools (yours included) have been teaching servitude, and our children have been learning to LOVE IT.
At the end of the book by Viktor E. Frankl, “Man’s Search for Meaning”, Sigmund Freud is quoted. Freud basically believed that the primal urge of hunger would bring uniformity to a diverse group of people. Frankl writes:
“Sigmund Freud once asserted, ‘Let one attempt to expose a number of the most diverse people uniformly to hunger. With the increase of the imperative urge of hunger all individual differences will blur, and in their stead will appear the uniform expression of the one unstilled urge.’ Thank heaven, Sigmund Freud was spared knowing the concentration camps from the inside. His subjects lay on a couch designed in the plush style of Victorian culture, not in the filth of Auschwitz. There, the “individual differences” did not blur but, on the contrary, people became more different; people unmasked themselves, both the swine and the saints. And today you need no longer hesitate to use the word “saints”: think of Father Maximillian Kolbe who was starved and finally murdered by an injection of carbolic acid at Auschwitz and who in 1983 was canonized.
You may be prone to blame me for invoking examples that are the exceptions to the rule. ‘Sed omnia praeclara tam difficilia quam rara sunt’ (but everything great is just as difficult to realize as it is rare to find) reads the last sentence of the Ethics of Spinoza. You may of course ask whether we really need to refer to ‘saints.’ Wouldn’t it suffice just to refer to decent people? It is true that they form a minority. More than that, they will always remain a minority. And yet I see therein the very challenge to join the minority. For the world is in a bad state, but everything will become still worse unless each of us does his best.
So, let us be alert—alert in a two-fold sense:
Since Auschwitz we know what man is capable of.
And since Hiroshima we know what is at stake.” (My bolding above)
As we now face a global enemy that seeks to deprive us of every one of our God-given freedoms, of even mental autonomy through the great evil of transhumanism; that seeks to control our movements, our medical decisions, our financial and political decisions, we have no choice but to join the fight with Gen. Flynn.
The Cult of Globalism believes
REASON IS TREASON
Let us fight for our freedom and for our children’s freedom by freeing their minds of the poison of globalism, socialism, progressive theories, and communism. The ruling elites are eaten up with a soul sickness that will not hesitate to reach beyond the depths of the Holocaust.
WE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE CAPABLE OF. We have seen them kill off thousands of vulnerable seniors and others through the CCP virus. We know of the trafficking of children and women, of the vaccine injuries inflicted thoughtlessly on African children by psychopaths like Bill Gates. THEY WON’T STOP. The only way to stop them is for the United States of America to remain FREE. The battle must be engaged. Search your soul and find where God will take you in this battle. And then get to it. Politics, education, religion, agriculture, business—whatever your bailiwick—turn it to the battle for freedom.
“In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.”
(Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Chapter Three, Attack By Stratagem)
Welcome back to Wolf’s Pub! It’s Fight Back Better Friday, and bouncing off Deplorable Patriot’s Sun Tzu mention, it’s time to go all in.
The Reds in our government, whether it’s Red Raggedy or Red Chinese tools like Joe Biden (who didn’t win) or the globalist tools like Queenie Liz Cheney, are going to be defeated. We the People are invincible.
One with God is a majority. And we have 85 million “ones” with God. The communists and the globalists are fighting against that which they cannot overcome.
Right makes Might. You can bank on it.
She ain’t no queen…
We are going to take back that which is ours by right. They will topple and fall. That Liz Cheney had to retain her position by a secret vote speaks volumes. They had to vote IN SECRET. They are afraid of us. And they should be. UNITED, we cannot be defeated.
We will take back our political parties, entire. We follow our President Trump. He is confident we can conquer the Republican Party and take it back from the UniParty. We the People can do this. The states are awakening. North Dakota and Florida and Texas and others are not going to put up with unconstitutional pronouncements from the fakers in D.C. Those people in the Pretender administration are so desperately unserious and unqualified that it is embarrassing.
“Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.”
The Art of War, Chapter 13, The Use of Spies Sun Tzu
I say this holding my nose, but one way to serve our cause is to get involved in the local Republican organization in your community, if only for reconnaissance. Getting involved gets you information that you can’t get if you are on the outside of the SYSTEM. And the local and state organizations are the SYSTEM up close and personal.
Who wants a cocktail before we go further? Honest to God, thinking about attending local political party meetings makes me thirsty as hell. Today’s special is the SINGAPORE SLING. A lovely and potent concoction of gin, cherry brandy, Cointreau, Benedictine, grenadine, pineapple juice and lime juice. According to legend, the Singapore Sling was invented at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore in 1915 by the bartender. It was supposed to be a drink that ladies could sip at the hotel and not bring scandal upon themselves. Uh, I bet a lot of scandal was happening. Just saying. A little history here and a video here:
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
The bartenders are dressed as Japanese ninjas today, so watch out. The Japanese word ninja means to persevere, conceal, move stealthily. Let us be civil with one another. If you need to do some Kung fu fighting, head over to the Utree, which our fearless Wolf has provided for those who like the martial arts. Otherwise, here’s the Rules to review and keep in mind as the day moves on to whatever God has in store for us.
“Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.”
The Art of War, Chapter 13, The Use of Spies Sun Tzu
I don’t know about you, but my nature is not one of deception. But I can and do attend local meetings. I know the local officials. I know who you have to apply to if you want to run for office. I know who has a line to the state capitol. I know who works and who pretends to work. I know who puts on a good show, and who is really committed to serving our community.
Unfortunately, my community is not well served. It’s a CLUB. It’s the SYSTEM. They talk a good game, but they are as committed to keeping their power as Mitch McConnell or Liz Cheney. And they are also China tools without even knowing it. They haven’t a clue.
“…What enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.”
The Art of War, Chapter 13, The Use of Spies Sun Tzu
If we don’t know the enemy, if we aren’t knowledgeable of the Who, What, Where, When, Why and How of their plans and actions, then we cannot overcome them. How well do you know the SYSTEM? We see it from the outside, but knowing its guts is vital.
“Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose.”
The Art of War, Chapter 11, The Nine Situations Sun Tzu
You might be surprised to know, but the SYSTEM is really good at training up CLUB members. The local and state organizations have many resources to show you how to get along in the SYSTEM. And especially in smaller locales, they are eager to have new people come in and relieve them of some of the burden of attending training sessions, cocktail parties, conventions, conferences, and so on.
It’s true.
Let them show you how to defeat them.
“Spies are a most important element in warfare, because on them depends an army’s ability to move.”
The Art of War, Chapter 13, The Use of Spies Sun Tzu
How is the MAGA Army to move if we don’t have MAGA people in every locale learning the ropes, soaking up information, methods, and contacts? I know there are MAGA people in my locale. They stay quiet, though. They are the ones who are volunteering right now, not the ones in office. It is important to know who is MAGA and who isn’t.
“We cannot enter into an alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted with their designs.”
The Art of War, Chapter 11, The Nine Situations Sun Tzu
Right now, MAGA is small in numbers in the SYSTEM. That’s why it is up to us in our own communities to step up. The least you can do is spy. All that takes is sitting through the meetings, chatting up people, learning who is allied with whom, who is weak and who is strong, who will help and who will hinder the MAGA Movement.
I had occasion to listen to an elected county official the other evening. After a number of jokes (used to disarm an unusually large group) he spoke on every subject except the one he was supposed to speak about, and which everyone had come out to hear him speak.
When reminded about it by an audience member he spouted off for a moment and then was conveniently cut off by the facilitator who apologized for cutting the talk short, but it was late and all, doncha know. This is how the SYSTEM works. The CLUB protects their own. They have each other’s backs even if they hate each other.
IT IS TIME
“Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Chapter Three, Attack By Stratagem
We know the effects of the UniParty. We’ve been dealing with their treachery for a long while now. It is time to know them INSIDE and OUT. We have the numbers, we have the momentum. They are SMALL IN NUMBER, though they currently hold the power.
MAGA, IT IS TIME TO MOVE
“To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.”
Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Chapter Four, Tactical Dispositions
The UniParty is revealed. They can no longer hide. The SYSTEM is betraying itself. In their efforts to retain power, the UniParty is showing us their weaknesses.
THEY ARE NOT TOO BIG TO FAIL. THEY ARE TOO BIG TO SUCCEED.
Peruse history to see what happens when an empire, a power of any type, grows too large. They cannot hold the center. This is the way of things. The Great Resetters and their Chinese attack dogs have bit off more than they can chew.
