Everything!

 Have you ever thought you had woken up from one nightmare only to find yourself in another? It’s an odd feeling, this notion of a dream within a dream, and although it might only take a fraction of a second for you to realize that you didn’t actually wake up and that you are still dreaming, it can be disorienting, to say the least.

This morning the world is feeling much the same way, wherein we haven’t fully awoken from one nightmare, only to be plunged into another. There was no time to breathe, to collect ourselves, to assess, take stock, or do the things people do once they’ve survived trauma. We’re back in the deep end with no floaties, and this time a few sharks were thrown in for good measure.

If a generation from now those still left have the necessary critical thinking skill and literacy to write our history, I believe one of the biggest questions with which they will have to contend is whether it was incompetence, hubris, or madness that kept the ruling class from seeing the writing on the wall.

I have always appreciated the specificity of words. They are like a warm blanket on a cold winter’s night for me. I think this is why I take umbrage with the notion of redefining words to make them mean whatever you want them to mean. Cold is cold, hot is hot, boys are boys, and girls are girls. There is an undeniable rigidity to vocabulary that cannot be trifled with simply because we don’t like the conclusion it comes to.

I am also a literalist when it comes to Scripture, especially prophetic passages speaking of a then future time. When the Bible warns that everything that can be shaken will be shaken, I take it at face value and assume that everything will be shaken, not just some, a few, or even a majority.

When Jesus spoke of wars and rumors of war during the last days, I live with the expectation of seeing these things play out, but I also take His counsel to heart, and when I see these things I am not troubled, because He told me not to be.

It’s an either-or proposition; Either I believe the Word, take its warnings to heart, and stand firm knowing that we have been told of what is about to unfold beforehand, or we cower in fear and bathe in uncertainty second-guessing ourselves into madness.

Assume that everything will be shaken, and proceed from there. I know it’s not as pleasant as being reassured that you’re not going to be here for the things you’re here for, but then again, there will be no big letdown when everything unfolds before your eyes, and you’re still here.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.