This morning, I read a report that people who have gotten the COVID vaccine and who decide they want it removed from their body can bathe in Borax, a toxic substance that will allegedly “remove” the vaccine from their body (and nevermind what the Borax will do to your skin.) This “cure” is nonsense, of course. But it is an indicator of how desparate people in our society have become–what sorts of fantastic notions they believe, and how far they would go to seek miracle cures. As yourself “Is someone pulling your strings?”
If you’ve read my blog, you know I believe in vaccinations. Yes, 8,000 Americans have died after getting a COVID shot (out of more than 220,000,000 million Americans who have gotten at least one shot, but that’s still 8,000 too many. Sadly, this is the limit of our abilities. And, many of these people were chronically ill, perhaps on dialysis, some immunodefficiency, in the eighth or ninth decade of life, etc.) I’ve read heartbreaking stories this past week. One was from a woman who lost a loved one after he received his COVID shot. Proof that vaccines kill was the unspoken message. He did what he was told and now he’s dead. Another person was in denial over the death of a family member from COVID. Apparently, while he was never vaccinated “He had been taking Ivermectin prophylactically” she wrote. Why did that not work?
Ivermectin? Not!
I’m not particulary concerned that Ivermectin was designed to deworm horses, a different species than humans. Drugs can have many applications. Elavil, an antidepressant, also helps some people who have migraines. In vitro, Ivermectin has the ability to work against some viruses such as Zika and HIV. But the dose needed to be reasonably effective to defeat a virus like the SARS-CoV-2 virus would need to be one hundred times a hypothetically safe dose, according to the NIH. The cure would kill you if the virus does not. Scratch that.
No matter whether you are a pro-vaxxer or an anti-vaxxer, stories such as these should cut to your heart.
The devil is a liar
In this life, this world, there is ample opportunity for people, nay, entire countries, to become deceived and believe a lie. It was a lie, for example, that served as the pretext for Hitler to invade Poland, which launched the Second World War. Like lemmings who were said to rush madly to their destruction, occasionally so do we. We’ve heard a lot about “herd immunity” these last two years, but how many are talking about herd mentality and what herd mentality is? What if thousands of Germans would have stood up to Hitler and insisted that Poland’s rights and borders be respected? What if thousands of Romans would have called Nero’s bluff when he blamed the Great Fire on the Christians? How many lives might have been spared on those occasions? But the truth is, many of us live in fear. Fear of Caesar, fear of the Gestapo. Fear of each other. Or, just plain fear. And that’s why events today are spinning out of control. We live in fear. We believe that no one cares, that elections are rigged, that we’re all on the Highway to Hell. So, we drift from one crazy idea to another, walking the fine line between irrationality and lunacy. We let puppet masters such as Charles Ponzi, Jim Jones and Q control us. Even now, the next one is working on the perfect con.
Jonestown revisited
Jim Jones was a charismatic minister in California who cared for the poor and loved his flock. He checked all of the right boxes on his resume. Then, he took his congregation of hundreds to the jungles of Guyana to build his own Utopia. When Congressman Ryan came to visit him to investigate troubling rumors, Ryan was killed. Shortly afterwards, on November 18, 1978, Jones passed out spiked “Kool Aid” which may be where the term “drank the Kool Aid” came from. Here is a transcript of the last few minutes in the lives of nine hundred and eighteen men, women and children. But it is disturbing, so you may not want to read it. My point is that five years earlier in 1973, even a year earlier, the lives of these people in the jungle were on a completely different trajectory in life. The people in the Branch Davidian compound in Waco, TX who were brainwashed were nurses, school teachers, professional people who knew better. And they may have been among the seventy-six who died in that cult’s fiery finale.
We each have some emptiness in our lives at some point, but we need to be careful what we fill that emptiness with. It might be an abusive partner, or drugs, or anger, or just plain sin.
Sadly, even Christians aren’t immune to these puppet masters who manipulate us and pull our strings (if we let them.) When we as Christians take out eyes off Jesus, when we depend on other people to tell us what’s in the Bible instead of checking it out for ourselves, we become fair game to some “other gospel.” The problem is, we claim to speak in the name of the Almighty, and if we’re crazy as loons and charismatic enough, we can do great harm to others.
Some of these manipulators pulling our strings (especially online) claim to be Christians in order to begile us, or they are deluded, themselves. People from other parts of the world attack us this way (and some are not even human, but bots!). Many attacks try to stoke racial animosity. In spiritual warfare, there are very powerful demons that lend their voices to increase racial tensions. Demons of hate gratify themselves and live vicariously with people who hate others. This is also true for lust and perhaps other powerful emotions or states of mind such as paranoia or madness in general. Some demons apparently love fire and look for people they can exploit. They are at work “while we wake and while we sleep” to paraphrase the English poet John Milton.
When you see attacks in social media or reader comments in online newspapers, consider: (1) The substance of these attacks are not supported by facts; (2) the authors of these memes or rumors and propaganda do not include their names, or (3) their true location. These perps laugh when they see us dance to their tunes. They look for some vulnerability in Uncle Sam and do all they can to harm us from the keyboard of their computer in the comfort of their home while their family is sleeping. These dimwits would make great anarchists if you could get them off their lazy butts and into the streets, but that is another matter. And many Americans believe them, Christians as well (if not especially so!)
Think for a minute how many depressed (despondent) and vulnerable people have confessed online to their “friends” or to no one in particular how close their are to harming themselves. Cyberbullying is a major cause of calamity in this country today.
Hope and healing are possible
If you’re feeling like life is unbearable, that you are alone and unloved, that someone is pulling your strings, you can recapture your life. A good first step is to find a church near you that preaches the Word of God. I, personally, am a Lutheran, but any good Protestant church would serve you well. And, with just a few caveats, I would recommend a good Catholic church as well. In liturgical churches, it is easy to get sidetracked or overwhelmed with the liturgy, ceremonies, and everything you see in a church sanctuary. These will become meaningful to you over time, but in my life growing up as a Lutheran, they kept me from understanding that I could have a personal relationship with Jesus. As far as the Catholic Church goes, I’m not particularly ecumenical, but I see Catholics as our brothers and sisters in Christ. If they confess the creeds and they love the Lord Jesus, then who am I to judge? We have many of the same favorite saints (Tertullian, Perpetua, Augustine, Francis of Assissi, Anselm, Marco d’ Aviano and others.)
I would personally avoid megachurches or those that are pentacostal or overly involved in secular politics, but there is nothing “wrong” with these groups per se. I just believe that hurting or searching souls need a firm foundation and one on one mentorship. It’s easy to get lost in a megachurch, and many other churches seem to be straying from their first love in favor of politics. Neither democrats nor republicans can save you or save our country. Look for a church that emphasizes submission rather than defiance. And a church that teaches grace and forgiveness rather than works or condemnation. As far as pentacostalism, God can speak to your heart without an intermediary or laying on of hands. Groups such as The Navigators, Cru, Youth for Christ, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes and Intervarsity Christian Fellowship are excellent groups in which to grow as a Christian. And, I’d personally be glad to hear from you, too!