Pattern

What is this pattern?

What is its purpose?

Where do we see it?

Is it for communicating?

In what direction?

Why is this pattern used?

Who uses it?

Who really uses it?

Click to enlarge

Where is this?

Do you see the pattern?

Do you see what surrounds it?

A pentagon?

Five sides?

Who does that represent?

What is this place?  What is its purpose?  What is "Burning Man"?  What happens there?  Look it up.

How long has this pattern been around?

Where is it used?

To fill minds while they are young?  At the optimal age, when brains are still forming?

Who should be doing this?  A father?

Yet, who do we allow to do it?

Who is really doing it?

Where else do we see this pattern?

Is it for the same purpose?

Again, who uses this pattern?

Who really uses this pattern, and why?

Can they only be in one place at a time?  Do they need hierarchical structures to maintain control?

Do we want to be under control?

Or, do we want to be free?

What happens if the "pattern" isn't big enough?  What has been invented to increase the reach and influence of those who use the pattern?  How can one person communicate to the entire world at once?

Can we, instead, individually follow the Holy Spirit?

Is He able to communicate with us directly?

Is it two-way communication?

Can He coordinate what we are doing?

Is He always right?

Is He righteous?

Can He make us righteous?

Can He guide us onto the narrow path?

...That leads to life?

 

Repent.  Turn your back on the way you have been living.  Before it's too late.

All glory to God.

-----------------------

UPDATE, August 26, 2022...

My "personality type" typically spots patterns, and sometimes we have difficulty expressing our ideas to others.  (See updates to Engineer.)  I feel led to elaborate about this particular post and explain my thoughts.

Jesus went to where the religious Israelites were, ...the synagogues.  Taking advantage of their tradition, he spoke to the group...

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”  (Luke 4:16-21 NIV)

Any of the men could get up and speak, in fact they were expected to take their turn.

That does not happen in a modern church.  Only a few people speak; the rest sit and quietly listen.  That is what "the pattern" is about.

Paul gives us some insight into what Holy-Spirit-led worship¹ is like...

If, therefore, the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your minds? But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you.

What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. If any speak in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three², and each in turn, and let someone interpret. But if there is no one to interpret, let each of them keep silent in church and speak to himself and to God. Let two or three² prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged, and the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets. For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

As in all the churches of the saints, the women should keep silent in the churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but should be in submission, as the Law also says. If there is anything they desire to learn, let them ask their husbands at home. For it is shameful for a woman to speak in church.

Or was it from you that the word of God came? Or are you the only ones it has reached? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet, or spiritual, he should acknowledge that the things I am writing to you are a command of the Lord. If anyone does not recognize this, he is not recognized. So, my brothers, earnestly desire to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues. But all things should be done decently and in order.  (1 Corinthians 14:23-40 ESV)

The Holy Spirit runs the show.  Everyone is involved.  Men are the ones under authority.

I know my job is to go find the lost sheep of Israel, but most of them are in churches and "the pattern" controls access to them.  I cannot do as Jesus did and start reading Scripture in front of everybody.  I am not approved; I have not gone to seminary; I am not controlled.  The Darkness has boxed me out.

This is what amazed me about the coffee shop.  It is a church lobby without the church.  I can go in and talk to anyone who is there, and for the most part I can do that without interference.  I can find the sheep, and then go from there.  And while I am doing that, I can watch my bobber to see if I am getting any nibbles.

Sorry, I can't help but mention the metaphors.  That's how I am.

 

This is so much fun!

UPDATE, August 27, 2022...

¹ I do not think Paul was talking about "worship" here, but "service."  Bible translators have inserted the word "worship" into headings, which influence people to think about the "Going to Church" model and its forerunner, the tabernacle and temple activities of the Old Covenant.  But Jesus already made the Sacrifice we need. 

The Father does not want us to spend our time showing him obeisance.  He desires mercy.  He wants us to go find the lost sheep of Israel.  He wants subjects for His Kingdom.  He wants us to do what Jesus showed us how to do.  He wants us to make disciples (apprentices).

Our job is to go out into the public, demonstrate the power of God through miracles, speak the Good News about the Kingdom, and build each other up in private.

Paul said...

...present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind ... Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, let us prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let us use it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, with liberality; he who leads, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness.  (Romans 12:1-2, 6-8, NKJV, without paragraphs and headings)

It's about service, not holding a service, but getting the job done.  It's about achieving results.

UPDATE, August 30, 2022...

The NIV translation uses the word "pattern" in Romans 12:2, although it is only one of four that does...

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:2 NIV. This link lists all English translations.)

The Greek word translated as "pattern of this world" is aión, meaning:  a space of time, an age...

Usage: an age, a cycle (of time), especially of the present age as contrasted with the future age, and of one of a series of ages stretching to infinity.

...properly, an age (era, "time-span"), characterized by a specific quality (type of existence).

Example: Christians today live in the newer age (165 /aiṓn) of the covenant – the time-period called the NT. It is characterized by Christ baptizing all believers in the Holy Spirit, i.e. engrafting all believers (OT, NT) into His mystical body (1 Cor 12:13) with all the marvelous privileges that go with that (Gal 3:23-25; 1 Pet 2:5,9). [Biblehub.com #165]

The NIV translation of Romans 12:2 seems to support the point of this post, which is about one particular pattern found in the world.

Someone told me yesterday they attend a regular Bible study session and suggested I am welcome to join it.

This morning, I realized Bible study sessions are a form of the "pattern," and they are probably things I do not want to get involved with, although there may be reasons why the Holy Spirit wants me to go and investigate this particular situation.  We shall see what happens.

UPDATE, September 7, 2022...

² Notice Paul says "two or three" should speak in tongues or prophesy -- more than one and no more than three.  God is the one speaking in both cases, and he holds himself to the biblical standard of two or three witnesses.  This demonstrates it is about God giving instructions to his people, and has nothing to do with praising God.  Praising himself makes no sense.  I believe this further supports my observation that these activities are about service and equipping people to serve, not obeisance or "partying."

UPDATE, October 10, 2022...

I was led to listen to a sermon yesterday, and I think the experience illustrates "the pattern."  Who gave it and where they were does not matter.  It was typical.  A man spoke in front of an audience and everyone listened quietly.  I viewed it on-line.

The topic was the Gospel, and I was eager to hear how it would be presented.  I ended up having concerns about what he said, and if I had been sitting with him in private I could have made it into a conversation, but contributing to the discussion yesterday was impossible due to "the pattern".  I was boxed out and the audience did not benefit from what I believe the Holy Spirit was leading me to say.

He started out by describing some false gospels.  One of them was...

Be right -- about everything.  Say it confidently, and it's right.

My question was, "Shouldn't we strive to be right about everything?  Isn't that what worshiping in Spirit and Truth is all about?"  I agree many people confidently preach error, but is being right somehow wrong?  Wasn't Jesus right... about everything?  If this guy I'm listening to isn't right, then why am I listening to him?

He went on to say that trying to use these false gospels to transform people to be like Jesus is like trying to push a boulder up hill.  He's right about that.  Leaving things out of a gospel presentation is a big problem.

He eventually got around to saying:

The gospel is a scripture-based declaration about who Jesus is, what He has done, how He fulfills prophecies, and how we should respond.

That was from a book written by a couple of guys.

He then talked about some things from Scripture:  the Kingdom of Heaven, the Messiah, Jesus' death and resurrection.  Then he discussed what our response should be:

• Repent
• Believe
• Follow Jesus

He described the first two a bit, but was vague about what it means to follow Jesus.

Then he quoted someone else who wrote a different book...

The gospel about Jesus without the gospel of Jesus becomes destructively incomplete.

He said, "Having a partial definition of the gospel, but not a full definition, is something that is dangerous because it lacks clarity."  Clarity?  No, ... it's error.  That is why it is dangerous and destructive.

Again, he mentioned repentance and belief, but did not describe what it means to follow Jesus.

He challenged his audience to do this exercise.  He said each day this week they are to focus on one of the six sentences of this statement...

The Gospel is...

The Kingdom of God has been ushered in through Jesus of Nazareth.  Jesus is Christ, the King, God in a human body.  This Jesus suffered and died on a cross and on the third day, was resurrected according to the Scriptures.  Through Jesus' sacrificial death and God's grace, the separation between people and their creator was bridged.  Therefore, anyone who repents of their sin, believes the good news and demonstrates this belief by following Jesus, God rescues.  It is only through the Holy Spirit that we are able to live this new life as Jesus' disciples.  When King Jesus returns as He promised on the Day of Judgment, everyone who is following Him will enter into God's eternal Kingdom.

Actually, that's seven sentences.  Count the periods.

This is the only time I recall him mentioning the Holy Spirit, and he said nothing more about it.  No mention of baptism.  No mention of deliverance.  And he still did not explain what it means to follow Jesus.  He alluded to some classes they offer, but the details apparently don't warrant any discussion in his Gospel presentation.

I have been frequenting a particular coffee shop for ten months.  The Holy Spirit led me there and has worked through me there almost continuously.  He had me get to know everyone, and in particular he wanted me to get acquainted with the elders of the church that sponsors it.  He wanted me to make sure they know who I am.

So far, I have found one person who wants to follow Jesus and who listens to me.  One.

“Whoever listens to you listens to me; whoever rejects you rejects me; but whoever rejects me rejects him who sent me.”  (Luke 10:16 NIV)

I am following Jesus.  I publicly state it on this blog and social media.  I tell everyone I am following Jesus; that I am His apprentice.  I even took my physical tool bag into the coffee shop for several weeks as a prop to reinforce what I am doing.  Hardly anyone noticed.

The one person who listens to me turns out to be a spiritual sibling, and we spend a lot of time together.  We are frequently inside the coffee shop, but we usually take our relationship out onto a public bench so we can talk more privately.  Everybody in the coffee shop and everybody in the public area knows we are "an item," and that we are having a great time.

This spiritual sibling and I began talking because they happen to have visible, physical handicaps.  Like Jesus, I began visibly praying for them to be healed, with their permission of course.  I was trying to demonstrate how to follow Jesus and do what He did.  People didn't like it, ... surprise, surprise.  We altered our behavior to maintain peace.

Our discussions eventually led to my spiritual sibling wanting to be baptized, and that happened in September after a long wait for a "baptism service" on the church calendar.  The baptism made a big difference in their life, but most people don't seem to notice.  They are busy socializing and serving the neighbors.  It appears to me they think that is following Jesus.

I listened to the sermon yesterday because the speaker is one of the leaders of the institutional church that sponsors the coffee shop.  In my opinion, he left out some major chunks of the Gospel, and those are the very aspects missing in the coffee shop.  I believe the Holy Spirit will continue to guide me to help these folks realize what it means to follow Jesus.  Serving coffee is just a way to interact with people.  Knowing what to do once we have their attention is the real mission.

UPDATE, November 23, 2022...

My spiritual sibling and I had a good laugh about some creative verses for the traditional song The Twelve Day of Christmas, and the Spirit led me to compose a version summarizing what I have observed during my past year in the coffee shop.  My sibling and I had another good laugh and agreed we believe it contains a lot of Truth.

My sibling says she can sing, despite her speech difficulties.  She says she was in choir in high school.  She has yet to prove it to me, however, and I tease her about it.

I am going to share the lyrics here out of love.  My intention is not to offend but to share Truth, so that some might realize what is really going on and make some changes.  Repentance is key, but we must know we need to repent before we can actually do it.  As I said, I share this out of love...

I would love to hear my spiritual sibling sing it.  After all, it is about her.

Good God

The Holy Spirit had me listen to David Pawson's lecture on "The Goodness and Severity of God," which is a reference to Romans 11:22.  You can listen to the lecture by clicking the title link.  I made some notes and have summarized them, below.

What kind of a god is God?  That is the primary question of the lecture.

 

Many Christians preach "God is love" to unbelievers, but that immediately begs the question, "Then why all the suffering?"  The unbeliever ends up complaining about the job God is doing and implies they could do a better job.

The next thing the unbeliever will ask is, "How can a loving god send anyone to hell?"  But Yeshua said that God would do exactly that.  In fact, what we know about hell comes from Yeshua himself.  Nobody else in the Bible talked about it.

Some people talk about the "unconditional love of God," but that adjective does not even show up in the Bible.  That notion is a lie, and it communicates to unbelievers that God will never judge them.

There is very little in the Bible about God's love, and not a single verse about it is directed at unbelievers.  It is only directed at God in praise, or as encouragement between believers.  God's love is one of the "pearls" Yeshua referred to in Matthew 7:6.

Many people use John 3:16 to evangelize, but that is a mistake because it is always taken out of context.  David talks about how the verse is poorly translated.  The word "so" is in the wrong place and implies God's love is vast, but the word should be at the beginning of the sentence and means "thus" in the Greek.  Also, the word "loved" has a "d" on the end, meaning it is past tense, and the Greek word is special and means it only happened once.  A more correct translation would be "once loved."  The Greek also says God gave his Son once.

The actual context of the verse is a comparison to the bronze snake Moses made in the wilderness.  God said the people could look at the snake on the pole and be healed from the snake bites.  They had complained about the food God provided, and God sent snakes as judgement.  The people asked Moses to ask God to remove the snakes, but God left the snakes because the people deserved the punishment.  He provided a way out because he was merciful.  Likewise, the whole human race is under the threat of death because of how they have treated God, but he has provided a way out through Yeshua.  Yeshua is the "antidote."

The Greek language is richer than English, and there are at least four different words that we call "love."  There is the "love of addiction," the "love of attraction," "brotherly love," and "love of action."  The last one is agape, and it is the kind of love God practices.  We may take action to love those who love us, but God takes action to love those who hate him.  While we were still enemies, Yeshua died for us.

Those who are redeemed are the only ones who appreciate agape.  Only the forgiven understand what God's love is like.  We need to keep that pearl from the pigs.

David cited a survey that asked people why they were leaving church.  Many said they were tired of hearing about "love."  Instead, they wanted to hear more about holiness and righteousness.

God is a raging fire.

Part 2

God is good.  In Genesis 1, everything God did was good.  The word "good" has been devalued, like "love."  Good should mean "absolutely perfect."  That is what God is, absolutely perfect.

When the rich young man called Yeshua "good," Yeshua responded and said there is only One who is good (Matthew 19:17).

David asked if there is an English word that is not overused and can better describe God's absolute perfection.  He cited the word "righteous."  In the prayer in John 17, Yeshua called God "Holy Father" in verse 11 and "Righteous Father" in verse 25.

God cannot ever do anything wrong.  David said that he had once listed 30 things God cannot do.  He cannot lie, cannot have impure thoughts, cannot break a promise.  He has no favorites; he cannot be bought or bribed.  His judgement will be absolutely fair because he knows the whole truth.  God said to David, "I know the worst [about you], but I still love you and use you."

Everything God does is absolutely right.  The God who runs the universe cannot do anything wrong, and will always do what is right.

Some people asked David if their baby was in heaven, and David said that he did not know.  The Bible doesn't say anything about that, but David told them whatever God has done with their baby is absolutely right.  Whatever God does about anything will be absolutely right.  That's comforting to realize and know.

(Search for "mortamoda" on Instagram.)

One day, God will punish all evil.  Nobody will get away with anything.  Books will be opened.  Evil will be banished.  There will be a new heaven and a new earth where everything is right.  The only people who will get in will be righteous, perfect people.

...In other words, none of us stands a chance of getting in.

David cited a Gallup poll in the USA that said 70% believe they are going to heaven, and 70% know someone going to hell.  When people try to be righteous, they end up being proud and having contempt for others.

There is good news, however.  The offer is righteousness from God.  He is offering his righteousness to us.  This is done in two stages:

• Stage 1 -- Imputed righteousness.  This is through Yeshua.  It is justification by faith.  Once we do that, God treats us as if we are already righteous.  In God's view, his forgiveness wipes out our past.
• Stage 2 -- Imparted righteousness.  This is through the Holy Spirit.  He is God, and he helps us practice God's righteousness.  This is why we need both Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

It would be immoral for God to overlook sin in our lives.  It would be wrong for him to forgive sin unless it had already been paid for.  God paid that cost at the Cross.

We must also repent.  It would be absolutely immoral for God to forgive us without our repentance.

If God is love, repentance goes out the window.

"Repentance is being sorry enough to stop."

Paul said in Acts 26:20 that we must prove repentance by our deeds.  [John the Baptist also said the same thing in Matthew 3:8.]

The Gospel (good news) is an offer of righteousness.  It is an offer to make bad people into good people.  Sinners into saints.  Repentance is turning our back on the way we've lived.  The Holy Spirit will guide us how to do it, if we listen to him.

Telling people God is love does not get the job done.  Telling people God is righteous and will eventually deal with all evil can get it done.

The Law can punish a wrongdoer, and that punishment can deter other wrongdoers, but the Law cannot make a bad man into a good man.  That's what the Gospel does.  What the Law could not do, God did.

Unrighteousness is no problem for God.  If a person repents, God can make them into a saint.

The relationship between Yeshua and us is two-way.  He imparts his righteousness onto us, and he takes on our sin.  It's not fair, but it's a great deal for us!

Many people are happy to take on God's righteousness, but they are reluctant to give up their unrighteousness.

God can do nothing with self-righteousness, which is what we do when we compare ourselves to others.

One of the most difficult things to repent from is our good deeds.  They won't help us get into the Kingdom.

Isaiah:  Our righteousness is like a used menstrual cloth to God (v. 64:6).

Paul:  I counted my righteousness as shit [yes, he used that word in the Greek], that I might gain Christ (Philippians 3:8).

David said that self-righteousness is like a little boy going to God with a handful of his own poop.  Self-righteousness keeps many people out of the Kingdom.

I highly recommend listening to David Pawson.  He passed away last year, but his material has been preserved and is freely given.  He seems like a very kind and humble man.

The photographs are my addition.  I think they accentuate the contrast between God's righteousness and our evil.  We may not participate in those things ourselves, but we condone them by not exposing them and by not preaching the true Gospel.  We must repent.

All glory to God.

 

UPDATE, September 24, 2023...

I would like to elaborate a bit more about the English word, "love."  We use that word to describe our attitudes and actions towards others in relationships, but the context of those relationships is important.

The "love of addiction," the "love of attraction," "brotherly love," and "love of action" are four distinct words in Greek, and I believe I expressed all four towards my wife.

I used to tell her, "I love living with you," and she would reply, "I love living with you, too."  It was a "love of addiction" kind of thing, like loving dark chocolate cake with cherries.  Being with her was like that for me.

We obviously were sexually attracted to each other, and I discussed that elsewhere.  That's "love of attraction."

We were best friends.  That's "brotherly love."

And, of course, there was agape love, the "love of action."  I did everything I could to provide for her and help her in every way possible, and much of this blog is devoted to discussing that love.

Agape love, the "love of action," is what we are called to have for everybody.  It is what the Godhead has for us, and we are called to do the same.

 

My mother tells me she loves me, and I reply that I love her, but it is not the love I had for my wife, and my mother does not expect that.  What I really have for my mother is honor.  I honor my mother, and that is right.  It is what The Book commands me to do (Exodus 20:12), and I gladly do it.

 

My children tell me that they love me, or at least they did the last time I heard from them, and I believe that, but what I really want from them is respect.  Again, Exodus 20 says children owe their parents honor, whether they think their parents deserve it or not.  This is God's expectation, and it is what I deeply crave.  If we cannot honor our parents, who we can see, how are we ever going to honor God, who we cannot see?

I wish my kids would listen to me.  I have their best interests at heart, and The Book says if they do listen to their parents they have a better chance of living a long life.  I am afraid my children have made some tragic decisions concerning their health that may compromise how long they live, and I tried to warn them about those things.  I know that Jesus can heal all sicknesses and diseases, but if people do not believe that, he won't.

I believe the LORD has used my spiritual sibling and me to teach people in the coffee shop about koinonia, which is a transliteration of the Greek word describing the fellowship of Yehoshua-believers.  When we both first started frequenting the coffee shop, many people referred to each other as "brother" and "sister," as is the common practice among Christians who participate in the Institutional Church, but when my spiritual sibling and I realized we had a special relationship, she started talking about it all of the time.  Everyone heard about it; it was priceless.  She is very outspoken.

Today, there seems to be a common understanding and acceptance that she and I have a special relationship.  I think this has caused some people to become envious, which is probably a good thing.  It has exposed hearts and hypocrisy, which I think was The Father's intent all along.  Fellowship in Him (koinonia) is special, and only those who are in Him have it.

Others are starting to join us.  The light shines in the darkness, and some are beginning to understand it.

Jesus Wept

The shortest verse in the Bible is...

Jesus wept.  (John 11:35 ESV)

Having shed a few tears of my own over the past few weeks, I found this verse intriguing.  When God weeps, it is significant and we should take note.

What was Jesus weeping about?  We have to look at the context.

Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, and he wanted to help them believe, so he planned to raise Lazarus from the dead.

Lazarus had to die first, so Jesus waited two days before going to Bethany.  By the time Jesus got to Bethany, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.  His sisters knew he was truly dead.

Everyone was weeping and mourning.  Both sisters told Jesus that if he had been there Lazarus would not have died, presumably because they had seen Jesus heal many people.  Others also had the same opinion.  Some saw his tears and attributed them to his love for Lazarus.  Looking at the entire context, however, I think Jesus was on an entirely different plane from these people.

 

Was Jesus frustrated and perturbed with those he loved?  Here's the key text...

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”  Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone.  (John 11:32-41 ESV)

The Greek word translated into "deeply moved" here is ἐνεβριμήσατο, which means:

...to be moved with anger, to admonish sternly; to snort (with the notion of coercion springing out of displeasure, anger, indignation, antagonism), to express indignant displeasure with some one; to charge sternly; to snort like an angry horse; (literally) "snort (roar) with rage," which expresses strong indignation, i.e. deep feeling that is moved to sternly admonish.

It seems to be a very strong word that borders on anger, and the translation seems to underplay it.  It is used twice, both times after people had said Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying if he had been there.

The Greek word translated into "greatly troubled" is ἐτάραξεν, which means:

...to stir up, to trouble; to disturb, agitate, stir up, trouble; to put in motion (to agitate back-and-forth, shake to-and-fro); (figuratively) to set in motion what needs to remain still (at ease); to "trouble" ("agitate"), causing inner perplexity (emotional agitation) from getting too stirred up inside ("upset").

Again, this word also seems to convey a strong reaction by Jesus to what he was experiencing, and it seems to add to the indignation.

Some translators seem to attribute Jesus' emotions here to bereavement or anger at death, as this footnote from the DLNT demonstrates...

a. John 11:33 The emotion in view must be determined from the context. Some think Jesus shared their bereaved perspective, culminating in the weeping in v 35; others think anger at death is in view. If this intense emotion was expressed, this may be rendered ‘groaned’.

But the full context of the story is Jesus was going to demonstrate the power and glory of God for those he loved by raising someone from the dead, and what he saw was they just didn't get it.  Jesus is God, and He is from outside of space, matter, and time.  He created those things.  His whole mission was to rise from the dead himself to give hope to others that they will do the same.  But these people did not understand.  How could they?  They had not been given the Holy Spirit, and their experience was limited to what Jesus had already shown them.

I think Jesus wept because he was frustrated with those he loved.  They did not comprehend what he was doing.  I've been there.  When those I love don't understand what I believe I understand, I weep, too.

When we attribute Jesus' weeping to bereavement or anger at death without considering the context of what he was doing, we are also missing the point, and we are projecting our carnal, worldly perspectives onto Jesus.

I have been living mostly alone for the past two months, except for occasional interactions with a few people.  But I am not lonely.  I am probably closer to God right now than I have ever been.  With parts of society still in 'lockdown mentality,' I am in a form of prison, similar to the Apostle Paul when he wrote a number of his letters.  I am right where God wants me to be -- with Him.  That's why I am writing so much.  It is part of the way I process things.

One of the things I have been realizing is that separation of spirit from body is not a big deal for God.  We see it as a big deal because we cannot see beyond it.  When a person's spirit leaves, their body immediately becomes inanimate and quickly decays.  That is why we must do something with the body.  But where did the spirit go?  God knows.  It is not a big deal for him.  We need to learn to trust him.  I need to trust him.  I need to have faith, and He gives me that faith.

 

God is doing great things, and He will continue to do so.

All glory to Him.

UPDATE, November 5, 2023...

The Father speaks to us through His Creation.

I just took this photo.  Those are leaves on the patio where she and I spent time together.

Six months ago those leaves were fresh and new.  Now they are dead, and will soon decay.

Six months from now, there will be new, fresh leaves on the dogwood tree.

I understand.

Damsel

Chivalry, 1885 (public domain)

My wife's spirit left her body on the 21st day of the 21st year of the 21st century.  That type of numerical coincidence happens every 101 years, which is once in roughly 36,865 days.

Her departure also happened during "Grand Climax" on the Occult Ritual Calendar, and one day after Presidential Inauguration Day in the USA.  The gematria of her death date (1/21/2021) reduces to 9.  Her pronounced time of death (10:58 PM) reduces to 5, and the military version (22:58) reduces to 17.  I discussed both of those last two numbers in Pearls.  Those are all facts; you can decide if it means anything.  I believe God is in control of all things.

As I have become more and more aware of the tremendous spiritual battle taking place around us, I have increasingly fought for those I love, especially my wife.  I understand she is "not my project," but she is my responsibility, or at least she was before her spirit left.

 

Periapsis

The driveway of the house where I grew up.

When I was a child, I wondered who I would marry.

During the summer of 1969, when I was 11 years old, the girl who lived behind me walked up my driveway with a friend.  I saw them from the kitchen table.

Many years later, my wife told me she went to summer school with the girl who lived behind me, and she remembered walking from the school to her house to do a project.  They graduated in 1970.   The population of Midland was 38,176 that year.

Another close approach happened after I finished college and was working.  The girl who would become my wife played softball with someone who had a chemical engineering degree from the school where I got mine.  That engineer knew some engineers I knew, and she had a party at her house.  My friends and I went to the party and I remember playing Frisbee with the girl who would become my wife.  I also remember her helping her engineer friend when the friend had had too much to drink.

We both worked at the same large chemical manufacturing plant, but we didn't really notice each other.  I remember specifically seeing her in the 113 Building corridor, near the doorway to 114.  She was with her friend, Pam, and they were probably heading back to their work areas from the cafeteria.

College co-ops had filled a specific role in my department, but the bosses decided to expand the role and fill it with a full-time employee.  They offered the position to the girl who would become my wife.

Colleagues

When she started her new role, I sat down with her to explain her duties.  I began by drawing a diagram of the chemical process and explaining the chemistry.  She sat and listened.  Then she went home and lamented to her chemical engineer friend that she had made a terrible mistake.  She knew nothing about chemistry and was afraid she was going to fail.  Her friend gave her counsel.

The next day, we picked up where we had left off, and the first thing she did was ask me if she really needed to know everything I was telling her.  I still remember staring at the diagram and being so disappointed.  I was used to dealing with other engineers.  I told her no, and she asked me to just tell her what she needed to know to do her job, which was entering information into a computer.  This became a joke between us for our entire relationship, and it certainly taught me a lesson.¹

She did her job very well, and soon took on more responsibilities.  I really appreciated what she did, and so did her bosses.

She struggled with her weight her entire life, and had become a "yo-yo dieter."  As I got to know her, I noticed she ate cottage cheese for lunch and not much else.  She told me later she basically did not eat.  She did lose weight, and after she had been working in my area about six months, I noticed she was wearing some new jeans as she stood in the doorway of my small office.  They looked very nice on her.  Soon after that, she told me about a party at her engineer friend's house.

The weather was very stormy, and I wasn't inclined to go until my former roommate showed up at my apartment door with a mutual volleyball friend from college.  He was in town and they were looking for someplace to go.  I told them I knew about a party, and so we all went.

I think I was on my first beer when my former roommate's girlfriend observed that the girl from the office was really cute.  She suggested I ought to spend some time with her.  I acknowledged that that was my plan, and I was soon alone with her in the kitchen.  We shared our first kiss, which was very nice.  It wasn't long before I asked her if she wanted to go out to my new sports car.  She looked up at me and silently nodded, giving me a look I would frequently see and cherish throughout our entire life together.  The rain pitched down on the car, but it was dry inside -- at least until the windows fogged up.  We got to know each other and had a fun time.  We were adults.

I have a heavy beard, and it was well past five o'clock when we had our encounter.  She did not go to work while her face was raw because she was terrified the men in the building would tease her.  I came down with mononucleosis soon afterward and was away from work for large portions of the next three to four weeks.  My boss had her deliver me some paperwork when I was at my parent's house, which I recall was both nice and awkward.  I was really conflicted and felt it would be very unwise to date a colleague I would have to work with every day.  If things went bad, it would be very bad.

Late in the summer, I was offered a new position on the other side of the plant.  As soon as I accepted it, I told her, "We can date now."

 

Our first date was part of a "two-date weekend," the only one I ever had.  My dad had dated a lot of women when he was young, and he told me he often went out with more than one woman in the same weekend.  I had never done that.  My dating, when it rarely happened, almost always ended up being "one and done."  I don't know why.  Actually, yes I do!  God had not brought me the right one yet!  Anyway, I took someone else out on Friday night but don't remember anything about it.  Then I took her out on Saturday night.  We went to see Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.  It was awful, but who cares?!  When it was finished, I opened the passenger door of my sports car for her, and she unlocked my driver's side door for me.  I recently told her it was that moment when I knew she was the one.  At the time, I wanted to be with her, and no one else.

Physical

Our relationship turned very physical right away.  We pretty much started up where we had left off in the foggy car.  I got what I had been looking for:  sex.  She had her trailer and I had my apartment.  If there was any "foot dragging," it was by me because I had been taught it was wrong and I was a "rule follower."  The culture taught otherwise, and we were products of our programming.  The Holy Spirit has since taught me that I was both right and wrong.  Those were some of the most joyful days of our relationship.

I had wanted to have a girlfriend and to have sex ever since I had reached puberty.  Our culture told me I needed to go to school, and then to college, and then to get a job.  And I did those things, because I was a rule follower, and my studies came first.  I now know I was being groomed to be a slave.

God's ways and His designs are perfect.  People are ready to begin procreating before they are ready to live on their own and be adults.  That is why we are ready for it in our early teens, when we reach puberty.  I find it interesting that the Bible says...

...a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.  (Genesis 2:24 NIV)

It doesn't say the wife leaves her parents!  Is it God's intent that she stay with her family so they can help her through her first pregnancies?  Seems logical.  Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited Elizabeth during the last months of her pregnancy with John the Baptist.  Did God give Mary that experience to prepare her for giving birth in Bethlehem?

I have learned to strip away cultural and religious requirements to expose God's actual requirements.  His requirements for marriage are three things:  consent, commitment and consummation.  Civil and religious traditions and practices may help bring those things about, but in God's eyes, it is only those three things that matter.

My problem was I lacked commitment, until God forced me to make a decision.  I was offered a temporary, nine-month job assignment overseas.  I had two decisions to make:  1) Do I take the job, and 2) Do I take her with me?  Taking her with me meant we had to be civilly married so her passport and visa could be obtained.  It didn't take me long to make the first decision, but the second one was harder.

Emotional

I didn't know anything about oxytocin at the time, but I had heard of the term "making love."  These things bond people together, and it is God's design.

I decided I would take the overseas assignment, but I would go alone.  It was only for nine months, after all.  She remained silent and let me make my own decision.  Later, she confided that she was afraid I would find a "Sheena Easton^"2 and forget about her.  I think she applied the wise advice:  If you love something, let it go.  If it comes back, it's yours; if it doesn't, it never was.

When I woke up the next morning, I was lying next to her as the radio played Laura Branigan singing How Am I Supposed To Live Without You.  I wept.  At lunchtime we were at her trailer in the kitchen and I decided I wanted to get married.  What a jerk I had been.  I can't listen to that song without crying.

I remember being with my dad in his living room, probably the evening before.  I was conflicted, and he said that she would make a good mother.  He was right.

Friendship

From the beginning, we became friends.  Best friends.  We enjoyed going to movies, and we left work on Fridays to get lunch at a Chinese take-out restaurant.  I remember taking an afternoon off from work on a beautiful, Spring day and sitting in a particular restaurant next to the window and just talking until mid-afternoon.  We had common things to talk about from work, but we moved well beyond that.

We spent a couple of years in Britain being newlyweds, although I had to work.  She had been an only child until her brother was born when she was 15, so she was self-motivated and liked to explore.  And shop.  She took full advantage of the strong dollar.  She found places to show me, and planned trips we could take.  We went on a 21 day tour of Europe, and spent our first anniversary in Vienna, Austria.  We also went to Scotland, Ireland, London, Paris, a tulip festival in Holland, a wine tour in Germany, and drove many places to see many sights in Wales and England.  We also went on a skiing vacation in Seefeld, Austria, although she did not ski because she thought she might be pregnant.  She arranged it all.  I would have been miserable without her.

We spent four years in Kentucky, where we bought our first house and brought our children into the world.  Before the pregnancies eclipsed our lives, we went to movies and spent money on our home.  Once she was pregnant, and moving around became difficult for her, she ordered things from catalogs and we would spend the evenings returning items she didn't want.  Well, I did.  I always got fed, though.

We returned to Britain in the 1990's for my work, and this time we had children.  It was a completely different situation, and we did very little touring, although we did go on canal-boat holidays.  We really enjoyed them.  And we learned to take vacations like Europeans -- we went where there was sun.

We returned to the States and shepherded our kids through their school days.  We lost interest in most theatrical movies, and instead preferred to re-watch films from our young adult days and earlier.  She liked old movies, although she usually deferred to my preferences  She said that she didn't really care, as long as we watched something.

As I began to discover the sinister secrets in the films produced by the media, I began to analyze them.  She saw those things, too, but probably would have just preferred to simply enjoy the stories.  She immersed herself in clean, romance novels about Britain and similar places.  She wanted to go back there again, but it never happened.  Evil has come out of the shadows and the world is not what we thought it was.

Our friendship was always real, however, and it carried on until our last day together.

Parents

She was in her 30's when we got married, so we didn't wait too long before trying to start a family.  We were still in Britain, and there were at least a couple of miscarriages.  Every one is tragic, although we learned that they are more common than many people realize.

When we returned to the States in the late 1980's, she consulted with some doctors who specialized in difficult pregnancy situations.  With a few hormonal adjustments, she was pregnant.  With twins, girl and boy.  I had been successful at my job, and I was going to be the father of twins!  I was proud.

We lost them.  They were not quite viable, and I was grateful that we were not burdened with crippling medical costs.  I was devastated, and I still think it was the worst day of my life.  It broke me, and seeing the "Footprints in the Sand" poem on the wall at my parents' house started me on the road towards God.

My wife did not get to see her babies, but I got to hold each of them.  I think this left a gaping hole in her heart, but I am confident she is with them now.  I didn't realize it, but she had a photo of their headstone as the lock screen on her phone for a long time, and it was there when she died.  You can tell what is important to a person by what they put in places like that.

I was with my mother a couple of years ago when she was having blood drawn for a test.  The phlebotomist's name was the same as my twin daughter's name, spelled the same uncommon way I spelled it on her birth certificate.  At the same time, a young woman was behind a screen in the same room stating her birthdate to ensure proper identification.  It was the same month and year our twins would have been born if they had reached full term.  We later saw that woman sitting in the hallway, and the Holy Spirit pointed out to me that my twin daughter would have been the age of that woman.  He was telling me that the Father remembers.

We were eventually successful.  We have two daughters, and they are now about thirty years old.  Our parenting years were joyful and fun.  My wife always wanted to be a mommy, and she did a very, very good job.  Just ask her daughters.

Spiritual

I am convinced that God picked us both for each other from the beginning.

Our first mutual "strange experience" happened on our civil wedding night.  We got to the hotel late and checked into room 225.  (What does that reduce to?)  She was "off limits" due to a recent medical procedure, but we expected that.  What we did not expect was our bed was about two feet short!  We thought the mattress might have been turned sideways, but the bedspread and sheets fit the short mattress.  It seemed like a practical joke, like "short sheeting" a bed, but it wasn't that, and no practical jokers came forward later to find out what had happened.  No, this bed was just short!  We were very tired, so we just got in to go to sleep.  I had to sleep all night with my legs pulled up because they hung off the end of the bed if I stretched them out.  I have always associated this with God's displeasure at our fornication, but I now believe the circumstances of that night had more to do with my prior failure to commit.  I have learned that God has an interesting sense of humor.

The next day was lovely and sunny.  As I drove home, I felt the ring on my finger, and I looked at her sitting next to me.  She was my wife.  I liked it.  I had made the right decision.

During one of our trips in Europe, we took an overnight ferry from Ireland to Wales.  As we waited to disembark, all of the passengers were lined up and vetted as they got off.  My wife was ahead of me, and all of a sudden a man stepped between us and said, "Excuse me sir, but where are you from?"  I stammered and told him.  He got a smirk on his face and stepped aside to let me go.  I ran to catch up with my wife, who did not know I had been detained.  I exclaimed to her that they thought I was "a provo" (IRA).  A year later, we were watching the news and they told the story of how they caught the "Brighton Bomber."  They said at a particular time they were watching the ports.  It suddenly hit us that they were talking about the time when we came back from Ireland.  I got the newspaper, and on the front page was a picture of the bomber, and he looked very much like me.³  It's a good thing I had an American accent!

Many other things started happening as we started attending church and reading the Bible.  The driver's seat in our new van came loose, and it was as if the legs had been sawed off.  The dealership replaced it under warranty, and we got the impression they had no idea how it happened.

I discussed some of the other "strange experiences" in previous blog posts.

I am now going to discuss some of my wife's health issues because I believe they contributed to her departure, and I think it might benefit people in similar circumstances.  Sharing the truth with candor is a loving thing to do, although I would not share some of this information if she was still around.  I know she cannot see what I am doing here because, as a wise person once said, if those in heaven could see what is going on here, it wouldn't be heaven.

For many years, we did things in our own strength, like most people.  The pregnancies affected her body a lot.  She did not nurse and she retained much of her prenatal weight gains, and because of that, she may not have adequately metabolized the pregnancy hormones.  Her years of taking birth control may have messed things up, too.  She elected to have her tubes tied after her last pregnancy because they had been difficult and she couldn't handle another one.  This seemed to kick her into menopause, which was not as traumatic for her as it can be for some women, thankfully.

Within a couple of years of that last pregnancy, she had a kidney stone that had to be removed surgically.  We were in Britain at the time, and she received a lot of antibiotics to fight a fever that would not resolve.  She was in the hospital for seventeen days.  That probably wiped out her gut microbiome, which we knew nothing about at the time.  The medical establishment promoted their "heart healthy" diet of low fat foods and high grain consumption, and we dutifully followed that advice.  This fed her craving for bread, to the point where we both gained a lot of weight and were miserable.

She always had headaches, and during her fertile years she had terrible migraines.  She became dependent upon pain relievers and caffeine.  The migraines subsided after menopause, but she almost always had a headache, even to the end.

In 2013, our nephew was concerned about her and recommended we look into the "paleo" diet.  At my insistence, we looked into that and other related ways of eating.  It made a big difference, and we both lost a lot of weight and felt a lot better.  I was able to demonstrate to my doctor that I could keep the weight off and insisted on coming off the blood pressure medication that was only treating a symptom and not addressing the root cause.  My wife eventually did the same with a different doctor, but mainly to escape the bondage.

We researched diet supplements and chose to follow what we considered to be wise advice.  We ended up finding that sea salt, iodine, vitamin D and a few others were the most helpful.  We drank purified water and avoided bromate in bread in order to avoid interfering with the iodine and the inevitable detox headaches that would result.  We also had to supplement with magnesium to avoid cramps, since we weren't getting any through our drinking water.⁴  These things all helped, but only went so far.

After her scoliosis was gone, I paid for her to have a personal trainer for a year.  It was wonderful to watch her do lat pulldowns with a straight spine, and her sled work firmed up her whole body.  We both enjoyed being stronger, until the "pandemic" ended gym workouts.

The stress and limited logistics during the "lockdowns" caused us to relax our diet discipline, although we had been indulging in ice cream before then.  She began having toast in the morning and introduced limited amounts of bread into our diets.  She served rice with many dishes, which is better than some things, but it's still a starch.  She was craving these things, and I think her gut was still messed up.

Before we went to Jacksonville, both of her knees swelled up and she got baker cysts.  We recently correlated that with a shingles vaccination, but there was no way for us to prove a connection.  She had surgery to deal with a torn meniscus in one knee, and the surgeon photographed some unknown tissue inside of it, but he didn't do a biopsy.  Later, we went to a rheumatologist, and he diagnosed her with systemic inflammation, confirming what we had suspected.  His recommendation was some drugs to inhibit her immune system, but we rejected that as unwise.  We wanted to know the root cause, but he admitted he had no clue.  He was also puzzled why the knee surgeon didn't analyze the tissue he found.

I was frustrated, and ended up praying for understanding, as I discussed elsewhere.  She was the reason I prayed that prayer, and she was the reason we went to Jacksonville.  When I was set free, I wanted her to be set free, too.  Prayer worked to reduce the swelling in her knees, helped resolve her headaches, and did some other things, but it never resolved what I think was an eating disorder.  It seemed logical that there was something there that needed to be driven out, but nothing ever manifested and the issue never went away.⁵

I believe the Spirit began to show me that renewing our minds will set us free from things, which is why I wrote Training.  It's about identifying sin in our lives and dealing with it.  When Yeshua healed the man at the pool, he returned to him and said...

...“See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”  (John 5:14 NIV)

I think this, and the totality of Scripture, point to sin being our whole problem, and getting rid of sin in our lives is our personal mission.  As I prayed for resolution of her issues, the Spirit testified to me that I needed to help her recognize and deal with her own issues.  At the same time, He pointed out that it was my marriage and if I wanted to see things change then I needed to speak up and lead.  It was hard for me to do that, but I eventually did.  She listened.  We talked.  She didn't always agree, especially at first, but as we would discuss things, and as I made my points by pointing at Scripture, she followed me.

I think it is really hard for both men and women to actually follow Paul's biblical portrait of marriage in Ephesians 5.  Giving yourself up for your wife is hard; so is submitting to your husband in everything.  Everything means... everything.  I had to learn to be clear to her when I was really firm about something and when I was just making a suggestion for her to consider.  That helped, but in the end there were just some things she could not do.  I think Yeshua's words about a prophet having no honor in familiar situations may have played into it.  She was almost six years older than me, and we had known each other well before all of our spiritual growth took place.

Some people may find the Shulamite post troubling, but it is one of my favorite posts, and I think it biblically addresses a lot of issues that prevent marriages from being what they can ultimately be.  The things it discusses truly led to great things in our marriage, and we restored a lot of the magic we had in our early days, plus much more!  God let us enjoy each other to the fullest, right up until the end.  The last time we made love was special; I'll just leave it at that.

I had her make this pillow.  She used to cross-stitch a lot in her younger days, but it was more difficult for her with her older eyes.  She researched various patterns and came up with her own design, and did a superb job, as usual.  I had not seen any commercially available pillows displaying that particular biblical concept.  It made me sad, but didn't surprise me.  That's why we made our own.

I told her the only thing I really wanted for Christmas this past year was respect from my wife and my kids.  She was learning to give it to me.  It's hard in our programmed culture.

In return, I had been praying for God to help me love my wife even more.  When He did that, I'd ask for it again.  And again.  And again.  My love for her was greater than it had ever been.  And then the music stopped...  Going from 100 miles per hour to 0 in a moment will literally destroy a person's heart.  It was awful.

But then, blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Thankfully, that is very true.

 

My wife is a damsel, and she was in distress.  That is a common motif that makes a good story.  There's a reason for that.

I am actually glad that she did not have to go through what I am going through now.  I am better equipped to handle the situation, and she is the one who needed to be rescued.  I clearly wasn't getting the job done, and maybe that's the whole point.  It's not my project.  It's His.

All glory to God.

------------

²Do you see the triangle, and the mirrored triangle in the video?⁶   Symbolism.  This is from 1981.  We didn't recognize it then, but we know about it now.

 

UPDATE, September 10, 2021...

⁵I was given more insight into her health issues after I wrote this post, and I discussed it in Sunlight and Root Cause.

UPDATES, June 27, 2022...

Changed footnote 3 to footnote 4 to maintain proper order in the main text.

³See this BBC article for a picture of the "Brighton Bomber." 

UPDATES, August 11, 2022... 

Changed footnote numbers to maintain proper order.

¹Right from the very start, our personalities were "enigmas" (puzzles) to each other.  I discussed this in some detail in updates to my Engineer post.

UPDATE, December 17, 2022...

Added the picture of the sports car.

 

UPDATE, June 15, 2023...

I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, ‘My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.’ (Isaiah 46:10 NIV)

 

This song (Take On Me by a-ha) was popular when my wife and I moved back to the States in 1987, and this video was on MTV a lot during those early days of music videos.  It takes me back to our time together before our children were born.  I was prompted to watch it recently and realized it is heartbreakingly romantic and echoes the theme of this post.

As I look back on my life, I can see God's "winks," as one of my coffee-shop friends calls them, and some have been prophetic.

According to my wife's wall calendars, we traveled to the Portsmouth area on Saturday, February 28, 1987⁷ so I could play in a volleyball match the next day (3/1/1987 --> 29 --> 11) against a Royal Navy team in Gosport.  As we approached our exit on the M27, the sun came out behind us and this sign appeared (picture).  I remember thinking at the time that there was something special about the place, and it continued as we went around the roundabout towards Gosport.

Notice on the sign it was Junction 11, and the highway number was 27 (--> 9), as was that of the motorway.  (Knowing what I know now, it doesn't surprise me that these numbers are associated with Portmouth and the Royal Navy.)

Sixty-one (61 --> 7) months later, shortly after the 15th of Nisan, we moved back to Britain and into a house half a mile from that motorway junction.

Before we had moved back to the States from Britain in 1987, we purchased a new Ordinance Survey Motoring Atlas, just to have an up-to-date version.  We did not ever expect to return to Britain.  It was a souvenir, and a reference we would not be able to get in the States.

The map on the cover of that atlas was of the region we would move to five years later.  The extent of that map included many of the places we would frequent when we were there with our children in the early 1990's, and our house was close to the center of the image.

The plaque on my dresser.

The Take On Me video affected me deeply the other day when I watched it.  I realized it reflects what happened with my wife and me.  I took her from her ordinary life and we lived a fairy tale.  I grabbed her by the hand and led her to safety.  I found the spiritual exit, and I got her into it; then I stayed behind to fight the Darkness.  I am confident we will be reunited in True Life.  She is waiting for me.

I'm a hopeless romantic. 💞

 

UPDATE, June 25, 2023...

⁶Linked to a different Sheena Easton video because the one I originally posted was taken down.

Renumbered footnotes to maintain order in the main text.

⁴I have found eating salad greens seems to adequately take care of the magnesium issue and I don't need to supplement as much to avoid cramps anymore.  This is a more natural way of doing things -- God's way, to be exact. 😉

UPDATE, July 7, 2023...

⁷Corrected a gematria arithmetic error.  2/28/1987 does not add up to 55. It adds up to 37 (-->10, 1), which is not significant.

 

UPDATE, February 10, 2024...

'80's music 😊...