Learned helplessness, taught victimhood and creation of a drone society

Folks, we have passed the tipping point.

For those who were enjoying the pretty scenery on the ride without paying close attention to the destination, we are now about to enter the era where we wrap up this earth's purpose and its creation.

We are in the last days long prophesied by those former seers who were in tune with God and by whom His pronouncements were made.

As an evidence of our moral slide into being a "victim" and a measure of the learned helplessness that leads us to be drones to a government that would own us as surely as Satan seeks to own his minions and followers, let us take an excerpt from an article from our local newspaper regarding a new policy to provide a free breakfast in the classroom:

"... every student regardless of socioeconomic background will get it."

Free Breakfast in the Classroom

Really?

I cannot see any reason for doing this. Children who are on the free federal breakfast and lunch program ALREADY receive both in a taxpayer funded program. Why does EVERY child require this. Surely there are some parents who are preparing a breakfast for their student and providing lunch for them or the money to purchase it at school?

This is NOT about helping the downtrodden as much as it is about CREATING the downtrodden. The article goes on to state bluntly that the schools receive a lot of money for having this program. So it's not so much about feeding the needy as it is about creating a "need" that may well not exist.

Let us scroll back through history a bit and see if we can connect the dots.

Every single time Satan has made himself manifest openly in ANY government, the first job is to rally the people behind a charismatic leader who spoke well and made the people giddy with excitement over the change that was to come, the hope in the new leader and the opportunity to receive much with little input.

Every single time, this is also followed closely on its heels with the creating of government programs that will "lift" the people from their present lowly estate and make them equal to the evil rich people who have trampled them and destroyed their opportunity.

Every single time, this creates a divided society where the now newly appointed and anointed "downtrodden", who prior to this largess of pig feed once considered themselves functional members of society, that loudly demand "MORE!". They aren't sure what they want more of, they just want more.

At this point, the government sends out their whispering campaign of lies. It starts as a groundswell movement that is sure to include a few good principles mingled with a great deal of very wicked freedom stealing and soul crushing ideologies that are guaranteed to destroy freedom and choice bit by bit.

Remember, a wild pig is caught over time by using bait corn to draw him in.

Much as these wild pigs, our society has become so enamored by "MORE!" that we have completely lost our way. More of what? How will this affect my ability to choose for myself? Who is making the decisions for me that I have abrogated?

All good questions.

But when the ultimate goal is mindless drones who perform what a government functionary demands,  you don't want people who think for themselves regardless of socioeconomic background. Rather you want everyone to be equal, everyone to be the same, everyone to be mindless.

It is no longer about using potential. It is now about channeling and squelching it.

When we actively accept the free corn as bait, we are giving away our ability to choose. We are giving away our ability to be part of those enjoying the blessings of liberty. And we are offering up our very lives to those who have set themselves  up higher than all - including God Almighty - the exact same way Lucifer/Satan/The Devil did.

Let us not be coy.

Satan is our common enemy. He wears as many faces and guises as are required to destroy our souls. He dons as many popular causes as necessary to make us lose focus on what really matters. And he plants the desire for externally applied control as necessary because the true danger is to HIM. When we are free to choose, most of us will not choose him.

And he cannot have that.

So, creeping into the government is beautifully clad, sharply attired, smoothly spoken, glibly phrased force, coercion and wickedness.

It has always been this way. There is always an opposition in all things.

Free men and women will never be drones to Satan and those who serve him so long as they willingly choose to worship  Almighty God and serve Christ as their Lord and Master. Those who make other arrangements for convenience sake do so at their own peril.

But it is a lesson we are slow to learn and slower to truly understand.

When we trade away our moral agency - our God-given right to choose for ourselves - we give away everything that this mortal life offers. We have indulged on the 'free corn' and become an enemy to ourselves.

And Satan laughs. He never intended we would enjoy any power in His kingdom. Ever. He never intended that we progress. He never had our best interests at heart. He only desired to make us miserable and sadly, in that event, he is a pro. And right now, though not forever,  his is a column of wins.

He will enjoy his day in the light of his own supposed glory.

And then it will be over.

But if we are not around to celebrate the freedom that the ultimate win brought by the Atonement of Jesus Christ has purchased in blood, we have truly lost all.

We cannot serve God and mammon simultaneously. We can't - none of us - truly can do so. We either choose God and good, or evil and the Devil.

So before you stab your fork into the "free eggs" please ask just how free that pricetag really is?

And also ask who is really serving them behind the guise of that hairnet clad lunchroom lady...

Students at four county schools will receive a free breakfast delivered to their desks through a meals program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Blue Springs, Owens, Piney Chapel elementary schools and Tanner High School will participate in the county’s pilot version of Breakfast in the Classroom, allowing students to dig into food at their desks and start the school day with a meal considered vital by nutrition experts.

The program is designed to encourage school systems to add the free meals while also helping to boost academic performance and reduce behavioral issues.

Teresa Rogers, director of the child nutrition program for Limestone County Schools, said during Tuesday’s school board meeting the county is launching the initiative on Feb. 3.

She said each of the schools approved by the USDA this spring have about 70 percent or more of its students eligible for federal free or reduced meals.

Grades K-5 at Tanner will receive the delivered breakfast, which will include pre-packaged items, juice and milk, while grades 6-12 will eat in the cafeteria.

Limestone Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk said every student at the participating schools would receive the free breakfast.

“Every child, regardless of socioeconomic background, will get it,” Sisk said during the meeting.

Chief School Finance Officer Ann Swanner said after the meeting the program provides another source of income for a school system through federal meal reimbursements, which are measured through the number of students receiving the free breakfast daily.

Limestone school officials said Athens has two schools already participating and Decatur City Schools started the program in August. Within the first 36 days, meals served at breakfast in Decatur swelled by 24,092, or an increase of about $40,000. - See more at: http://www.enewscourier.com/local/x1022873672/Breakfast-in-the-Classroom-to-begin-at-4-county-schools#sthash.ujz3B6PB.dpuf

Students at four county schools will receive a free breakfast delivered to their desks through a meals program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Blue Springs, Owens, Piney Chapel elementary schools and Tanner High School will participate in the county’s pilot version of Breakfast in the Classroom, allowing students to dig into food at their desks and start the school day with a meal considered vital by nutrition experts.

The program is designed to encourage school systems to add the free meals while also helping to boost academic performance and reduce behavioral issues.

Teresa Rogers, director of the child nutrition program for Limestone County Schools, said during Tuesday’s school board meeting the county is launching the initiative on Feb. 3.

She said each of the schools approved by the USDA this spring have about 70 percent or more of its students eligible for federal free or reduced meals.

Grades K-5 at Tanner will receive the delivered breakfast, which will include pre-packaged items, juice and milk, while grades 6-12 will eat in the cafeteria.

Limestone Superintendent Dr. Tom Sisk said every student at the participating schools would receive the free breakfast.

“Every child, regardless of socioeconomic background, will get it,” Sisk said during the meeting.

Chief School Finance Officer Ann Swanner said after the meeting the program provides another source of income for a school system through federal meal reimbursements, which are measured through the number of students receiving the free breakfast daily.

Limestone school officials said Athens has two schools already participating and Decatur City Schools started the program in August. Within the first 36 days, meals served at breakfast in Decatur swelled by 24,092, or an increase of about $40,000. - See more at: http://www.enewscourier.com/local/x1022873672/Breakfast-in-the-Classroom-to-begin-at-4-county-schools#sthash.ujz3B6PB.dpuf

Old people smell

I'm getting there myself, so this is in no way a slam against "old people". Rather, it is a look at what reality brings to the table when we are dealing with a situation that is both difficult but necessary, but which also has moments of humor that are quite unexpected.

While sorting out things at Daddy's house as we prepare it to sell for his care in the Senior Care Center, I came across a host of office supplies and paper that I felt Xan, as a qualified teacher, would best be able to use. Paper clips, pens, pencils, copy paper, post it notes... virtually everything a classroom teacher spends personal money to purchase that the school does not provide.

I boxed up a great deal and she gathered up the rest.

Today, she told me she had to make copies and while the Xerox process was underway, she noticed a strange smell as the machine heated up and spit out the paperwork. She was using some of the copy paper from the reams she had gathered from Daddy's house.

It was that undeniable "old people smell" that just seems to permeate the home of people of a certain age. I'm not exactly sure where it comes from, what causes it, or how to rid objects of it, but sooner or later, we will ALL have that old people smell.

As she was relating this to me, I could envision a grayish, greenish cloud of dubious aroma emanating from the Xerox machine. It was scented with a combination of heated papery musty, mothball-y, mildew spore coated oldness.

Picturing this, I was laughing my head off and so was she.

We kept laughing as I attempted to squeak out "So, what did you do with the copies?", amidst guffaws.

Deadpan as she could manage, Xan said "I passed those suckers out in class!"

I looked at her unsure if she was serious, then realized she absolutely was serious. After all, free supplies or not, one does NOT waste paper, no matter what!!

Hilarity reigned and we had tears rolling down our faces as we gasped for air, snickered, snorted and giggled while slipping high fives to each other and making all sorts of unladylike noises.

I hope those kids who received those Xeroxed papers got a faint whiff of Grandma or Great Grandpa as they did their work.

It is a good reminder that one day, they too will be "old people" and they in due time will smell less like Axe Body Spray and more like an old rotten log. Less like Chanel and more like English Channel. Less Old Spice and more just plain old.

Draw in a big breath, kiddies! It builds character.

A blogging we will go

So, Beth sends me an email indicating that she must create a blog for an assignment for the technology class she has decided to undertake.

Undertake... undertaker... either way, you get buried in an avalanche of epic proportions that compels you to do something that you hadn't planned and likely didn't want or desire to do.

In Beth's case, she is trying to check the box for the class in the most innocuous way possible without having to reveal either her breakfast or bowel habits to the entire universe.

I completely understand.

Having been at this "keeping a blog" jazz for a little while, sometimes there is a tendency to "overshare" or to reveal things that NO ONE needs to know. EVER.

Now, the navigation between the fine line of meeting the requirement in a way that is both satisfactory but yet tantalizing enough to draw interest begins. And unlike using a GPS, this navigation is self-directed... or self-inflicted. You take your pick which.

The trick here is to put in what is relevant for a grade but say it in a way that makes reading the blog worth clicking the link to find. Otherwise, it becomes an eternal digital part of the "glurge gallery" of useless pages that are found and discarded like the metal slugs that people thought were quarters from a distance --- which analogy reminds me of a funny story about my uncle Murlin.

Back when he was a young dude in the Navy, they were on leave and he was walking down a street and spotted something round and shiny ahead of him. Since money was scarce in the war years, he bent down enough to allow his fingers to skim the ground to collect the supposed coin on the ground.

Only it wasn't a coin... it was spit. SPIT... S - P -I -T. Spit.

Fingers covered in goo that he dare not wipe on his uniform, Uncle Murlin was faced with flinging and flicking his hand to remove the offending spittle until he could wash it off at the public fountain.

Aren't you glad you read this blog?

I'm sure you can sleep better having heard that little gem of a story. And, because I am absolutely certain you are now saying to yourself "I can do a better job of writing a blog posts than this!!", I look forward to receiving your link in my inbox.

I trust that there will be no unpleasant spit incidents in your halcyon hued offerings. Happy blogging!

Legislating from the bench

Friday, a Federal Judge in Utah overturned the state's constitutional provision that marriage was to be defined as "traditional marriage" between one man and one woman. Utah was compelled to put that into their constitution as a guarantee that polygamy would be stamped out in order to become a state recognized by the Federal Government.

Now, that same Federal Government, at the gavel of an activist judge, has ruled that men can marry men, women can marry women and previous to this, another judge ruled that polygamist relationships where only one is "legal" can exist and the other women can call themselves "wives" so long as they are not applying for a marriage license for all other parties who choose to participate in this unholy alliance.

We have lost our way as a nation.

Like all civilizations before us, we have dwindled in unbelief as a people. We have allowed good to be called evil, championed evil as a necessary "good" and put government dictate ahead of God's commandments in order to appease the evildoers who will continue to demand more and more real estate in our heart and mind until freedom disappears at the behest of the Father of Lies and those who willingly serve him.

It isn't popular to speak the truth. Prophets and those who choose to follow God have been subjected to ridicule, shame, persecution and even death for speaking out against the popular sins of every era. No one wants to be discomfited in their sins. They want to revel in them, bask in their "personal freedom" and tell everyone that differing points of view are biased, old-fashioned, evil and mean-spirited. They want to have legislative support for their wickedness to take the sting and the stench from what they KNOW to be wrong, so that it will be more palatable to them personally, and to those who will follow along not realizing that they are trip trapping down the path to eternal destruction led by the pied pipers of mayhem and wickedness.

Then, when it is truly everlastingly too late, like those desperate swimmers pounding on the sides of the Ark demanding to be let inside, they will perish.

Decent people are always compelled to suffer with those who support iniquity. It has ever been thus. Even if the direct effects of evil are kept at bay, the emotional and spiritual toll that comes as fervent believers in Christ pray for relief of suffering, strength to endure the trials place upon them and the hope of brighter days ahead are not entirely removed or ameliorated.

We pray for those who despitefully use us even as Christ enjoined us to do. But our praying does not always remove the sting and suffering.

We pray for those who are supplanting decency with decadence and hope for a mighty change of heart which may not ever come.

We petition God for relief of the burdens that are ever before our eyes in a society that wants to interpret all of God's words for personal gain, personal satisfaction and personal excuse for pet sins.

Yet we are told to patiently endure - which means plainly there will be something we must needs endure.

Sometimes that stinks.

The spiritual wickedness in high places continues to grow as our nation's moral compass has been trampled under the feet of those entrusted to lead us who have instead abrogated their moral responsibility for the praise and adulation of a sin-sick world.

That does not excuse individuals from choosing the right regardless of circumstances around them. We do not get a 'free pass' to indulge and still claim the moral high ground of a follower of Christ. Matthew 6:24 says it well. No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
The Apostle Paul spoke of our day in the New Testament. In the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, Paul spoke about the conditions in that time and forewarned about the conditions we are seeing in our own day.

In what can best be described as an admonition to arm ourselves with the protection we need in order to survive the world and be able to stand and receive the blessings of the next, Paul instructed:

 10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

 13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

 15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

 16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:

 18 Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;

 19 And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel,

 20 For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

We are not given to fear. We are given as living witnesses of God at all times, in a things and in all places where we may be. He will give us the words we should speak, the power to say what is needful without being hateful - though the world WILL take it that way because the message will discomfit them - and to preach the word as HE deems it be preached.

That doesn't remove freedom no matter what anyone claims. The Gospel of Jesus Christ provides freedom. It removes the influence of Satan. It breaks the chains with which we are bound down to sin. And it cleanses us from the oppression and guilt that holds us captive in the iniquity that bruises, bloodies and destroys.

Hold fast to that which is good even if others make different choices. God is mindful. We are sent for this time because He trusts us enough to give us the choice of whom we shall list to obey.

Joshua 24:15 ... as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.