Killing Life and Liveliness

Why are more and more people being diagnosed with mental illness? Laziness and narcissism are symptoms of mental illness, and they are at the root of all human evil.  Most of us would prefer to follow rather than lead, because it requires more thinking to lead.  When we give up our right to think for ourselves, we have entered a dangerous state of laziness, a condition ripe for others to control us.  Why are there more and more psychopaths? Could it possibly be due to the stench in our society? Is it just so much harder to cope while living surrounded by so much filth? Consider the mobility of our society and the fewer meaningful connections we are making with each other? Could there be any correlation between mental illness, psychopathy and tossing God out of the public square? Can it have to do at all with how the cultural and intellectual elite want the common folk to be managed, kept quiet, under wraps, controlled and manipulated so we will not display passion about Jesus or about the corruption permeating our culture? I believe they want us drugged into submission, complacency, mediocrity and tolerance so their evil fog of progressivism can freely infiltrate this land and its people. They want us drugged so we won't display all of the emotions with which God created us, so we won't engage our brains to think for ourselves. They want us drugged so we will remain silently tucked away in our homes, not caring about the ever deepening pit of evil into which our country is wallowing. They want us to believe all is well. They want us to be a nation of cookie cutter people, unable to display our original creativity, for that scares them.  It makes us unpredictable, and, therefore, harder to control. They want us to mind our own business, and to swallow the lie that the choices other people make for themselves won't affect us. As Martin Luther King Jr. said in 1963, "Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly ... I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. And you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be." Progressives will stop at nothing to acquire and maintain their covert agenda. Like Lazarus in John 12:10-11, "So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in Him." they want to kill me too. There are ways to kill life and liveliness without committing murder, and with their control, they want to destroy my liveliness. We may "break" a horse or even a child without harming a hair on it's head. Erich Fromm was acutely sensitive to this fact when he broadened the definition of necrophilia to include the desire of certain people to control others - to make them controllable, to foster their dependency, to discourage their capacity to think for themselves, to diminish their unpredictability and originality, to keep them in line. Distinguishing it from a "biophilic" person, one who appreciates and fosters the variety of life forms and the uniqueness of the individual, he demonstrated a "necrophilia character type," whose aim it is to avoid the inconvenience of life by transforming others into obedient automatons, robbing them of their humanity. Evil, then, is that force, residing either inside or outside of human beings, that seeks to kill life or liveliness.

We are all born knowing God, with a conscience to divide between right and wrong.  The truth, which is Jesus, leads us to right thinking, wisdom and robust mental health.  Sadly, the seduction of this corrupt world begins its relentless assault on our minds and souls as soon as we are born into it.  The mental WILLness begins as we freely reject Him.  Robbed of righteous, clear thinking, the more we choose to follow the wide path to destruction, by making choices that lead us in the direction of death, instead of life, the more our minds are rendered incapacitated and we become ever more mentally ill, deficient or diseased.  The only answer to mental illness is for one to be transformed by the renewing of one's mind in Jesus.  Personal purification is required not only for the salvation of our individual souls, but for also for the salvation of our world.

Talk About Layin' Down Your Life for a Friend!

This is a true story, folks. An eight year old boy had a younger sister who was dying of leukemia, and he was told that without a blood transfusion she would die. His parents explained to him that his blood was probably compatible with hers, and if so, he could be the blood donor. They asked him if they could test his blood. He said sure. So they did and it was a good match. Then they asked if he would give his sister a pint of blood, that it could be her only chance of living. He said he would have to think about it overnight.

The next day he went to his parents and said he was willing to donate the blood. So they took him to the hospital where he was put on a gurney beside his six year old sister. Both of them were hooked up to IVs. A nurse withdrew a pint of blood from the boy, which was then put in his sister's IV. The boy lay on his gurney in silence while the blood dripped into his sister, until the doctor came over to see how he was doing. Then the boy opened his eyes and asked, "How soon until I start to die?"

CHILD OF MINE

God’s thoughts are so far above our own.

His ways much higher and are not known.

Uniquely her own are my child’s thoughts, ideas, plans and dreams.

Rejoice do I, as she is fearfully made in God’s grand scheme.

This treasure sent to me from heaven up above.

Entrusted with her care - for a while mine to love.

The decisions she makes for herself are not up to me.

Called to train and instruct her am I, but then to set free.

Growing together as we will to travel His narrow way.

Because of her, more like Jesus I’ll be with each passing day.

Ginny Bain Allen

My Gardening Bug

Enthusiastically catching the enchanting gardening bug as a girl, laboring alongside Dad, my ardor blossomed through the decades. Devouring myriad reading materials regarding my passion, indulging in classes, acquiring usage of efficient tools, perusing public and private gardens alike, coupled with dreaming, designing, digging, amending, planting, mulching, watering, weeding, pruning, and manicuring my own "yardens" have fueled my immense love, while expanding my knowledge. Pure ecstasy is plunging my fervent hands into the warming earth each spring as the fresh green emergence of sleeping plants resurrect. Healing for me, gardening allows all woes - Adam and Joseph who? (my twin teenage sons) - to slip away as I toil peacefully, in my secure refuge, with my omnipotent Creator. Differentiating garden rooms, placing comfy perches for viewing the beguiling results of my efforts, portraying intrigue as vanishing paths meander to hidden destinations, layering plants with varying aromatic scents, textures, colors, and heights in my curvaceous beds, affording a sense of wonder for my children, arranging rocks I glean from friends and family, adding objets d'art and hardscapes as focal points of attention, while providing nutrition, water, and safe havens for God's creatures are essential ingredients in my romantically distinctive, rejuvenating gardens.

Hannah Rose, My Lovely One

Grace and mercy is what thy lovely name means,

Before you were born, you were much in my dreams.

To me, in His plan, thy life God foretold,

He created your form in thy unique mold.

Expectantly awaiting your birth that year,

How we rejoiced when you were finally here.

Our miraculous gift from heaven above,

Placed in our family to treasure and love.

Entrusting you, darling, in my arms to hold,

An example thou art to both young and old.

In living for God, you have nothing to fear,

Thy faith in Him makes you believe He is near.

Your loving spirit is a beacon for Him

Keep nurturing so it will never grow dim.

God wills you to work beside Him and be bold,

You run for the prize that is made of pure gold.

Thou art such a joy to spend time with and rear,

My Hannah Rose I will forever hold dear.

by Your Mother Dear

(Ginny Bain Allen)