You can't rush sadness

You can yell at it

Trivialize it

Patronize it

Or disguise it.

But you can't rush it.

If it settles, as a mist

You can observe it

Acknowledge it

Understand it

Process it.

Eventually, it will burn away.

And you will find yourself 

Where you always were.

In the path of the sun.

Photo Credit

-Kristen Meyer Harmon

Processing

Yesterday I enjoyed a refreshing yoga practice.  And some nachos with blackberry tea.

I sat outside and appreciated the cooling breeze.  And swept around the flowers on my porch.

We watched who stood and who didn't on the football field.   And drifted off to sleep, anticipating the tasks of the week ahead.

And somehow yesterday, some previously unknown person sat in a hotel room full of guns.  Waiting. Maybe eating, maybe not.  Maybe also observing the football field.

Until the moment.  The moment when he opened a window, and reminded the world that there is a hell.

What can go so horribly wrong in a person's life to unleash that moment?

How did he go from buying groceries and living in society to a fire breathing dragon.  Soon to implode himself.

I guess we will never know.

Lord have mercy on our world.

What if Revelation was not about a Beast

This weekend I attended a seminar on Biblical Prophecy by Professor Zdravko Stefanovic who has a lot of expertise in Biblical languages.  And his words confirmed a path my heart had started years ago.

As much as sometimes we might wish there were, there is no magical formula to reading Daniel or Revelation.  No secret code that will unveil the events of the last days.

We can study those books to be sure.  And we can learn how God has led in the past, and gain insight into His eternal wisdom and plan for today as well as the future.

But as Professor Stefanovic so aptly stated, "God is consistent, but full of surprises." 

In other words, yes, God will fulfill his promises, but he is not bound by our calendar of events.

In fact, Jesus plainly said in Matthew 24:44, " So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him."

Which means, even if there is no visible beast power, or mark on people's foreheads, or laws cast about which day we can worship on, Jesus could return tomorrow.   He doesn't have to wait for the Pope, or Obama, or Trump, or the antichrist, or anyone else.

Does that feel true to you too? 

What might change if it did?

Photo by Kristen Meyer Harmon: Haleakala Sunrise.