I have updated my thoughts because today’s cruelties, insanity, ignorance, and treachery have already brought us into the “next” civil war in this country. We can’t remain apathetic and despairing: if we do, what is going on in the political arenas that has even now torn apart communities and families will yet destroy the nation that most of us held most dear until the rot from within became inescapable to our senses.
We need to treasure each 24 hours, even if we’re being ripped and verbally bludgeoned by people so rigid, so set in the cement of earlier generations, that they might as well have a broomstick up their backsides. Our lives are so exhausting that we need to sleep more than other people think is necessary. Don’t you love their pious attitude? Hah, don’t we wish we could sleep for even a straight seven or eight hours as worries pile up!?
We are not promised that tomorrow will come for us on this earth. We may awake in a far better place with no more anxiety, struggles or suffering, but then again, we might not like where we end up for long years.
Yesterday is past and cannot be changed. However, the record can and should be corrected! That does not mean we are rewriting history. The massive gaps in the history books and the schoolbooks, especially in the United States, serve to remind us that “history” is written by the temporary victors. Only in tyrannical societies is history deliberately wiped out forever, unless it has been smuggled out by heroic souls. And we will face that scenario if the wrong person is elected.
With terror attacks everywhere, we don’t know when we might be in the wrong place at the wrong time, thanks to demented fanatics who are full of hatred for everyone who refuses to follow their version of “religion”.
God surely loves all His children but I think that Love is a little thin in some instances. His arm is always outstretched for all to return to Him in heaven, but some sinners are beyond redemption because they will never repent of what they’ve done. They are blind with hate and bigotry of their own choosing. Our Savior’s Atonement extends only to the truly repentant and remorseful. Some say we should pray for terrorists, domestic and foreign, but only that their hearts might be softened. Well, it won’t hurt to try, I suppose.
The Savior’s Atonement for the sins of humanity gave us all immortality but I can’t imagine the lifestyle of those who have condemned themselves to eons in Hell, regardless of your particular definition of it. I am quite sure that Hell or the lowest of all kingdoms, whatever you call it, is going to be a very crowded place.
I say that because there is other evil going on in the world and we need to hold our young ones tight and teach them right from wrong. Yes, even when we’ve made a few mistakes of our own along the way. Love them, cherish them and teach them. Because if you don’t teach them the right, other people will teach them the wrong, especially in our public school systems where teachers are damned if they do, and damned if they don’t.
Other Kinds of Evil
So, what are other kinds of evil? Some are quite obvious:
· Young girls and boys fleeing abusive homes, only to end up on the streets and being kidnapped into even more evil – some are kidnapped right out of their own homes.
· Other forms of torture of children, including emotional torture. This includes forcibly removing a child from a family she has bonded with since she was a toddler. Being 1/64-anything doesn’t make you a member of that culture nor do you belong there, misguided laws notwithstanding. I could be 1/64 Jewish or 1/64 Irish and I wouldn’t belong in either nationality or religion. Ditto for Native American, Asian, or Latin, etc. 1/64 equals 1.5%. I’m a Muggle, that’s all, nothing more, nothing less.
· Unspeakable, disgusting abuse of animals that wracks our souls with horror. This crime alone will almost entirely fill Hell with the perpetrators! We are supposed to be stewards of this earth and all of God’s creations, not destroyers of either.
Some evil has not previously been so obvious but it’s happening all around us and we need to be vigilant to maintain our individual freedoms and to keep our nation free. But as our military brothers and sisters will tell you: Freedom isn’t free! Neither do we show them the respect they deserve for putting their lives on the line, sometimes every day for decades, or losing their lives, minds, or body parts.
Other heinous crimes include:
· Flat out disobedience of the Ten Commandments that are as relevant today as when they were written – we cannot put other gods ahead of God. That is first and foremost, but all commandments are brazenly broken on a daily basis.
· Outright theft or embezzlement of other people’s money, especially pension plans and other retirement savings. Some of this is carried out by labor unions, some by Wall Street thieves.
· Running for political office when you are not qualified and never will be. (Certain female members of Congress come to mind, as well as males.) When we are supposed to choose between an arrogant, foul-mouthed, megalomaniac and a candidate beholden to labor unions who despises independent contractors, we can’t in good conscience vote for either one but somehow, we must hold our collective noses and reject the wannabe dictator who wants to strip us of the few remaining rights that SCOTUS hasn’t already forcibly removed from us.
· And don’t get me started on those who file frivolous legal action that should never have seen the light of day. What a horrendous waste of everyone’s time and money, including the taxpayers. The damage can never be undone, nor the money recovered and put to benevolent use.
We Can Do So Much Better
There is so much we can do with today, so much good that the world needs. To roughly paraphrase what one of our local TV anchors recently said, “We love these stories of people helping families and wish we could bring you more of them. But we just don’t know about them.”
Big suggestion…send heartwarming stories into the TV stations when you are involved with them or have a neighbor who received needed help. They may not run them but then again, they might. But don’t do it to get a photo op or media attention for your organization!! That’s underhanded and will backfire, especially in today’s unstable, firecracker world.
There is so much we can do with today, so much good that the world needs. Even if we start by focusing on our own lives and trying to forge ahead to the next stage, our effort is not wasted. Every action we take, good or bad, reverberates around the world. “Bad vibes” are not a figment of the imagination. As another example, how do you think grapevines spread their gossip?
Kindness rarely fails but if it does, go on to the next person. We may only have today to throw that stranded sea star back into the sea, only today to stop polluting that same life-giving ocean.
Register to vote and then vote when you survive until the next election! Millions of people and God’s other creations need YOU and your goodness. Prayers help but action is what is needed the most.