How We Can Thrive In the Coming Catastrophe III

Part Three

We have a lot of time on our hands now, floating on the wide ocean; waiting, hoping, and doing everything we can for ourselves and others to keep up our health. Physically, we're well provided for. But mentally and spiritually it's a daily battle to keep morale high, smooth over petty squabbles, and deal with serious conflicts. Everyone's nerves are strained to some extent, but a few are often near the breaking point, and we as a group work to keep things calm and cool as much as possible. 

Still, nights are the toughest to get through. In the daytime we're acutely aware how small and insignificant we are under the vast expanse of blue. Cumulus clouds liven things up with their everchanging forms, sometimes an animal, or a fairytale mountain fortress. Many planes fly right over us, but they're at 32,000 feet and going 450 mph. We're a bare speck to them. When the sun goes down, the moon isn't up, and everyone's asleep or trying to fall asleep, the sense of our nothingness is overwhelming. We're just memories to our loved ones back home. At any time a storm could sink us, a definite possibility; or a ship might slice us in two and not be aware that they'd struck anything. We have battery powered red and green marker lights on, but the ocean these days is largely populated with monster container or passenger ships. Human eyes aren't focused on the blank sea. The officers at the helm and on the bridge are watching and glued to the radar, GPS, and engine room data. They're looking down from the equivalent of a 40 story building. 

Fears of death and oblivion are hard to ignore or suppress. Often one of us will scream in fright because of a dream, and a lot of us are awakened. Anger at our Fate, or God, or the spinning roulette wheel of accident, afflicts us all at times. 

Forgiveness is the key. It's much too easy to begin blaming the captain and crew of our magnificent ship that now lies on the ocean's bottom. Who screwed up? How can we punish them? And the shipping company; there must be some gross mismanagement at the top. Then there are the ship's builders. Why did the vessel go down so fast? Weren't lessons learned from the Titanic? And the Andrea Doria? Stewing in these thoughts leads nowhere, and they're damaging us if left unchecked. How can we forgive? Must we forgive? 

There are three kinds of forgiveness. The first is exoneration. If someone harms us but then sincerely admits it, apologizes, and wants to make amends, we must exonerate them. We, too, are imperfect, and have made mistakes. If we want exoneration for ourselves, we must grant it to others. It's good for everyone in the short and long run, especially if a child caused the harm. 

The second kind of forgiveness is forbearance. If the gulty person is insincere, blames us in part, or blames someone or something else for the harm, we should consider forgiving them, with reservations. They should be informed of their guilt, and held responsible. If we need the relationship, it's incumbent on us to be forbearing. 

The third kind of forgiveness is release. If the guilty party denies all responsibility, blames us or another person or thing, they've placed themselves beyond forgiveness. But we must release our thoughts of vengeance and not let anger fester. If we don't, we're giving the guilty person or group an invitation to set up house in our heads and hearts, rent free.  

 

Speaking in cosmic and religious terms, it's important to note that all sins against God are forgivable, except one. The Third Commandment says, literally, "Do not carry God's name in vain", that is, commit evil or murder in the name of God. This harms Him, and He says, "This will not be forgiven":

"Pope" Francis has tried to deny this, promising "mercy for all sinners". This is insane. Stalin, Mao, Bin Laden, and millions of other cold-blooded mass murderers cannot be given a dwelling place with us who faithfully love life and our Creator. 

How We Can Thrive In the Coming Catastrophe II

Part Two

It's fortunate that since the 1912 Titanic sinking, the whole seagoing world met and agreed on basic designs and provisions for lifeboats. There weren't enough lifeboats on Titanic. Over 1,500 passengers and crew died, who otherwise could have been saved from the icy deep. 

World War I was destined to start in 1914, and if these lifeboat reforms had not been made, hundreds of thousands of lives would have been lost to German U-Boats. Disasters can reap benefits over time if we choose to learn from them.

Our lifeboat is the best, with a radio locator, chronometer, paper maps, a satellite laptop with GPS, and flares. It's mostly covered from sun and weather, but has an opening for a sail; a battery powered motor; a solar panel; a de-salinator for drinking water; enough food, drink, medicines, blankets, books, toys, and internet cellphones to keep kids and adults as happy as possible. There are spears and rods for fishing, and a few wetsuits. Thanks to Elon Musk's SpaceX program, satellites are now providing internet connection everywhere on the globe. 

We filled our boat with adult survivors and a few kids, so comfort is minimal. Everything tangible is provided for us, but morale can't be. It's crucial, and everyone must learn to work and live with each other, or things will get very ugly. 

We'll have to keep up a double watch with vigilance, 24/7, or we could collide with ships. We'll use the charts and locator to steer clear of the major shipping lanes. A  collision would destroy us instantly. 

The first thing we did when our lifeboat hit the water was turn on the Mayday locator, a powerful nonstop emergency beacon.

It's a sad reality, but large ships no longer stop to rescue small craft, except on rare occasions. It's costly for the companies to stop, pick people up, house them, and feed them. But if they see us, they will certainly send a message to coast guards and the military. 

There may be habitable islands nearby where we could find rest and refreshment, friendly natives, and a chance to stretch our legs for awhile. But there are a lot of miserable, disease-ridden, bug and snake infested islands also. Here's an example, Quiemada Grande, off the coast of Brazil:

Using the internet and GPS, we'll head toward any island where friendly people live. Right away we need to determine what ocean current we're in. Oceans are always moving, and we are certainly moving at up to 8 knots in some direction without doing anything. The closest island is not necessarily the one most close in miles. A farther island may be located in the current we're in, so we must keep that in mind when plotting our course. 

We have the supplies needed for around three weeks, and if we're smart and lucky, landfall can be made in that time. But any storm will be a very serious hazard that will push us off course, and possibly swamp us. These are shark infested waters.

Long days of idle time are a real challenge for children, the fearful, and faithless people. Prayer is going to be our only weapon against terrors of Davy Jones' Locker. If we're fortunate, some of our fellow survivors will have stories to tell and songs to sing, corny though they may be. Singing is a surprising morale booster, as every combat soldier in the world knows. We'll find salvation together, or perish together. We'll tell the kids we're on a pirate treasure hunt, and the situation will be transformed for them. 

No individual or group  should be allowed to dominate us or drag others down into enmities. Cliques typically form up whenever people gather in numbers, and will inevitably reveal a few of the best and the worst types. 

It's crucial that we remain focused on all the things we have working in our favor. Many people over centuries have survived for months at sea with a lot fewer comforts, medicines, and food. Some of us will break down and begin whining and complaining, but they must be silenced. There are an infinite number of things to complain about. Focusing on gratitude for everything we have going for us will raise our odds of success. 

The adventure in store for us is epic, and we have an opportunity to discover earthly paradises like these:

We will be changed, and if we never worried about the reality of death before, we won't be able to brush it aside again. If we're fortunate enough to find an earthly paradise, the prospect of returning to our old lives may become unpleasant. If we were on the wrong track before, this will be a terrific opportunity to make a major course correction. 

How We Can Thrive In the Coming Catastrophe

Part One

First, we need a lifeboat. It's a sea of despair we'll be floating on, and there are others who will need to be rescued.

How did this happen? 

Pride, which led to overconfidence; going too fast at night through a field of icebergs; no headlight to show the frozen white mountain dead ahead; believing the gorgeous new ship could never sink. Of course we screwed up. Irony always wins, doesn't it? 

What kind of lifeboat is best? The philosophical one is time-tested and proven to keep us sane through every kind of tragedy. The religious lifeboat, too, is extremely good if we can understand its complexities. Both are proven life savers, and better than the one called "reason", which is unreliable due to the faults of pure logic.

Example: If we want to cross a room, reason tells us we must go halfway, then halfway again, and halfway once more, ad infinitum. We can't ever get across. This leads to despair, probably the greatest enemy in our lives. We must never give up and lose hope. 

Rescuing fellow survivors is a great way to form alliances for the future. We should gather as many as we can find. There's a lot of work that needs to be done to improve the safety of ocean travel; which is a perfect allegory for our journey through life. We all need maps and charts for our trip, and a reliable compass that will keep us going in the direction we choose. Without a compass we'll end up going around in circles. The vagaries of wind, tides, storms, and currents can easily sink us, no matter how large our ship is. We can learn a lot by studying the sky and sea. Ocean swells indicate a storm that's coming days before it can be seen. 

The vast deep contains islands of paradise and archipelegos of hell, as well as invisible rocks and shoals that can destroy every kind and size of vessel. 

Tragedy and death at sea can happen any number of ways. Suffering is the rock upon which all religions and philosophies founder. We just have to endure the pain when it comes, and not cast blame automatically upon ourselves and others. 

                                                          Sailing in the North Sea

                               Why we have to suffer; the Book of Job:

Censorship Is Active Everywhere In Our Digital World

Arificial Intelligence algorithms are fully employed in the global media, and have been keeping readers away from The Second Temple of Solomon. They scan all media of every kind 24 hours a day and 7 days a week.

In January, 2021, we received almost 7,000 readers a week, 364,000 a year. But  every month since then we were strangled; to the point now where we don't receive more than 1,260 a month. 

It's now a well established fact that the US government employed and paid all the media giants to block, shadow ban, or destroy all dissent and opposition. When Elon Musk acquired Twitter, he and his computer engineers found piles and piles of evidence, in the form of emails and other communications, that the FBI and other federal authorities were preventing any and all negative articles and comments from appearing on Twitter. And not just Twitter, but all media in the US and some overseas.  Here's an explanation of what we're talking about:

This video dates from 2019

Science Has Begun To Prove the Existence of A Creator

Dr. Rupert Sheldrake is a Cambridge educated biologist who has - along with his wife - opened up large areas of research that have been ignored for 120 years. He's a controversial figure, but only the most dogmatic and inflexible scientists fail to see what he sees, and what is becoming more and more obvious every day. Particularly, due to the global catastrophe of the Wuhan Virus and the so-called "vaccines", which neither stop the spread or protect its users, a philosophical change of course is vital. Our response to the virus has done vastly more damage than the viruses themselves. In fact, terrible vaccine side-effects like heart inflammation and immune system breakdown are sickening and killing a shocking number of victims.

The problem is, actually, that money, status, and power have corrupted our medical systems all over the globe. Philosophical differences are holding back true progress for humanity:

        Dr. David Berlinski, world renowned molecular biologist and physicist.                   Author of The Devil's Delusion, a treatise on Darwin and evolutionary                   theory. He proves that it's a failed concept with no real answers to the                   mystery of life. 

Can You Read the Signs of the Times? If You Are Not a Believer, It Is Too Late. God has spoken, taught, and displayed His powers. But you did not listen...

... and went your own way, denying Truth and God. Now a shroud of delusion is trying to permanently blind you, and the wondrous salvation of the LORD you will not see, nor anything that's True. Perhaps you have a few seconds left to tear away the black shroud?

Our Days of Grief Were Foretold Long Ago; But They Will End

"Many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am He', and will deceive many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains." Jesus, through Mark 13:6-8

We live in an age of moral relativism, thanks largely to misunderstood advances in science. In 1905 Albert Einstein discovered an amazing truth in astrophysics, that gravity warps both time and space; and in 1915, he proved that the speed of an object, and its mass, also do this. Both of these theorems - called special relativity and general relativity - led to many more discoveries that unlocked the mysteries of atomic energy and the sub-atomic, or quantum, world where ordinary physical laws disappear. 

The general public came to believe that science had disproved our Creator; that our classical understandings of God, morality, life and death were passe; and hopelessly old fashioned. Atheism flourished in education, culture, and law. 

"Men do not differ much about what things they will call evils; they differ enormously about what evils they will call excusable." - G.K. Chesterton, 1874-1936.

Our inability to stand for right in the face of wrong has plagued us, and will always plague us until we awaken. We know it's cowardly to bow to tyrants. Abraham Lincoln spoke of this in 1865, at his inaugural, and his words resonate now more than ever: "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue, until all the wealth piled up by the bond-man's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash, shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said, 'the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.'" 

Reckonings and consequences for our lawlessness are unavoidable. God is balancing His scales, sifting out the hearts of men before His judgment seat: 

    The Battle Hymn of the Republic; the Mormon Tabernacle Choir at West Point 

                         Daniel Day Lewis in the film Lincoln, by Steven Spielberg

President Lincoln lives even now in honor because he lived these words of our Savior:

 "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden." - Matthew 5:11-13