Who Is This Woman?

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Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters.  With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries."  Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.  I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. Rev 17:1-6

     As I don't understand much beyond the first three chapters of Revelation, it's not my preferred reading. However, we are currently immersed in a study of this book. This first jumped out at me though, and a lively discussion ensued about who the woman is.
     Most people believe it to be a church. Some believe this depicts a government. However, I see this as today's society because:
1. Society is obsessed with riches. Look at the stars. Our TV shows--from the ordinary to the reality ones on HGTV. Society loves its life glittering with gold.

2. Society is adulterous. How many people jump into live-in relationships? How long before one sleeps with one's date? Moves in?

3. And the filth of society's adulteries has morphed from the traditional heterosexual to homosexual and pedophilia.

4. Who is the only fair game to lambast? Christians. We cannot portray any other sub-group in an abominable manner. Muslims on their prayer mats are admired. Ethnic groups are celebrated. But let TV zoom in on a cross worn on a character and you know, that one is the evil one.

Any suggestions, with reasons for them, as to who is this end time whore ? I'd love to know. And if you have links, I'd love that, too.

The Real Swamp Monkeys of Nassau County

     The Florida of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings still exists. In the little hamlets of northeastern Florida only a few miles from the famed Okefenokee lay dirt roads leading to dirt roads wending their way through tupelo plantations, long pine and palmetto.
     It's here my niece and her family make their home. And here these "swamp monkeys" (so dubbed from my previous posts) live much like Jody and Penny and Ma of Rawlings famed book The Yearling.
     Every morning Kaitlin rises, grooms Joules, her pony, and rides her. And should Kaitlin be thrown from the horse, she climbs back up and keeps on going. Will and Zach lead me down the dirt roads where we scare up deer and armadillos, see no snakes or alligators even though they live around here.
     And two-year-old Callen? He comes along whenever he can.

This is me. I'm NOT one of the Swamp Monkeys

     What a world of "forts" off overgrown paths--isolated homes of neighbors who know their neighbors--of ponds of crystal water and the whitest sand where one can swim or fish or hunt.
     Of course these swamp monkeys love video games--Zach delighted in completing too many levels of my "Angry Birds." They enjoy TV, love to cuddle. But they still relish the lost culture of the outdoors--of reveling in the glory created, not by man, but by God.
     It's a delightful wilderness filled with lakes and fresh air and adventures. Both fortunately and unfortunately a part of Florida no tourist sees.
    

Florida Fandango: Okefenokee Pt. 2

     We continued our search for alligators along the car route and were rewarded with three juveniles swimming in a little pond as well as a young one sunning himself with head resting on a log. But our main objective was to see the Chesser Island Homestead.

     If you ever heard of this place, you would have read a much copied, word for word version of the settlement of Chesser Island. (Has anyone ever heard of plagiarism?) Our boat guide told us another tale.

     W.T. Chesser shot a man in a brawl. He did not want to go to jail, so he fled to the swamps and built his homestead. Forty years later he discovered a judge ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide. Therefore, W.T. essentially jailed himself for forty years in a mosquito plagued swamp known as "Trembling Earth" or the Okefenokee.

     This begs the question: Isn't it better to admit our failings and accept the consequences? Although the homestead is charming, I've been in enough swamps to know there's a reason people don't settle in these places.

     And an aside that has nothing to do with history, the water pump to the left intrigued Callen and the rest of the Swamp Monkeys. They all drank from it until the water ran green. At that point we all agreed, perhaps we shouldn't drink the water.

Florida Fandango: Okefenokee

     Okefenokee--what a way to start my Florida vacation. In size, it's bigger than 300,000 football fields. (Even the Pats would find touchdowns difficult in a field that size). This last summer, much of it burned up--but like God refining us in the fire, this will restore the swamp. If fire didn't kill the growth, the vegetation would suck up all the water and we'd be hunting gators on a freeway.
     As a matter of fact, engineers did try to drain the swamp, but they ran out of money and never connected it to the St. Mary's River and the outlet malls went elsewhere.

Getting up close and personal with the gators

Sandhill Crane

     And that was a good thing. The swamp is home to myriad species: Sandhill cranes, alligators, great blue herons and bunches more.
     The water looks like tea, and like tea, is dark because of tannic acid. But don't drink it! The temp is only 68 degrees and tepid tea is not tasty.
      One critter that is not as well known is the swamp monkey. Out in the midst of the swamp where methane rises like the bubbles in a lava lamp you can find this creature. One must lean over the sides of the boat and stare into the depths of the water. Inevitably, you will see the swamp monkeys. I was lucky enough to capture photos of six of them.

Swamp Monkeys Neil, Zach, Will

Kaitlin Swamp Monkey

rare picture of mamma & baby

 

Whom Do You Trust?

The ILT

     I love my GPS--or as I've called her once before, my ILT (I'm Lost Too). With faith I program her and believe wholeheartedly she will get me where I'm going. But...

1. In Madrid, she told me my hotel resided under a four mile tunnel.
2. In Wilmington, NY she believed my route followed EVERY cemetery in the area, and she took me to Malone via Plattsburgh (50 miles east of my destination)
3. She told me Target lay in the middle of a four lane highway.
4. She thought a side trip through Washington D.C. would be a nice diversion forgetting I've already seen the Washington and Jefferson Monuments and my destination was Charlotte, NC not D.C.
5. She had no idea that South Tryon Street existed. It's a major thoroughfare through Charlotte.

     Still, every time I travel, I turn ILT on and with faith follow her lead. So why don't I do this with my Lord and Savior? Who best can direct my steps? God never leads me astray, never loses satellite connection and knows every twist and turn of my being. If I trust the fickle ILT, I certainly can believe my Creator.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

Little Known Bassoon Facts

     My annual Christmas cantata has ended to thunderous applause and requests for us to return in the spring. Before I, personally perform, I want to clarify some little known facts about the most wonderful instrument in the band.
     Did you know?

1.  The bassoon is indeed the prototype of a bazooka. If you wet tissues, roll them into the size of a golf ball and shove it down the bell joint, when the bassoonist hits a high C, it will easily shoot one thousand feet. I have heard that the designers of the game "Angry Birds" use a bassoon at its highest level.

2.  The bassoon also is the forerunner of an IED. Watch a bassoonist roaming around before a concert and see how many innocent attendees she bops with the horn. Few survive.

Bassoon

3.  The bocal is not a hookah.

4.  The bocal is a good substitute for a water balloon. Innocently look ahead as you blow the condensation out of it at the end of the concert. Your neighbor will be saturated.

5. It does not make the same noise as a dying cow or a moose in heat.

6. When someone points at a bassoonist and says, "das faggott," they are NOT insulting her. That's the German name for it and it means those sticks.

7. No ships are ever lost at sea when a bassoon yields its low notes.

8.  The bassoon is not an oboe.

A Sword Shall Pierce Your Heart

“Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: "This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too" (Luke 2:34-35)

  Have you ever wondered at some of the hard Scriptures concerning a time we epitomize as pure joy?

  Picture Mary waiting forty-one days of her purification (Lev. 12:4) before bringing her son to the temple. Here Simeon greets her and tells her wonderful news: a sword would pierce her spirit.

  His words proved true. Mary knew sorrow as she watched the life of her son unfold, culminating in his crucifixion. 

  For Jesus, his birth came at a great cost—not just in his brutal death, but He was equal to God and owned the world. Yet he came as a defenseless child dependent on sinful man for His survival.

  Today we sing happy songs and focus on the joyful season. And it is joyful solely because Jesus came to earth to reconcile us with the Father. For that reunion, the heavens rejoiced.

  But as we go about our lives, also realize this is a season of sorrow for many.

  My son-in-law works in a psych ward in Salem Hospital. Christmas time brings a plethora of patients overwhelmed by the emphasis on family when they have none and giving when they have nothing. They worry about debt to buy the elaborate gifts our culture demands and feel guilty because happiness eludes them even though the world rejoices. 

  On top of this loved ones die, siblings become ill, babies are miscarried, children are abused and addictions abound.

  Don’t be dismayed if you don’t feel the joy the world tells us we must feel. Realize that our faith and faithfulness are not pain free. We will be challenged in all things human, even as Christ our Savior was. Like Mary, great blessings will come, but swords will, too.

  Rest in Him through the hard times, and He will give you peace that passes understanding.