Peace-Loving – Path Without End

“Lot was a Righteous Man”

March 7, 2019March 7, 2019 Path Without End

20171202_173614 The story of “Yinney the Sloth who needed to Poo” is going great and will continue, but I have felt led of the Lord to take a small break and share some thoughts I’ve had relating to the Yinney story, Predator Cities, and Predator People.

The nephew of Abraham, Lot, has always intrigued me. By his own choice he found himself living just outside the gates of a predator city, and he was very involved with that city, even choosing to sit at the gates. Which was a strategic place to be, where the powerful and rich usually had some kind of presence, keeping tabs on what was coming in and out of the city, and political power.

Lot had a very questionable history of walking with the Lord. When Abraham, his uncle, who had been good to him in so many ways, gave Lot a choice of which land to take, he took the best for himself and left his older uncle with the worst! Hardly seems like the Christian thing to do.

Soon we find he has made his home outside the gates of a very wicked city called Sodom, as in Sodom and Gomorrah, and he sits at the city gate. When two angels show up to see how bad the city has become, he persuades them to stay at his house and not enter the city. Sodom and Gomorrah were definitely predator cities full of the kind of people who want to eat you! (I’m not talking cannibalism, but murder, rape, thievery, and sin of every kind was rampant.)

He even ends up offering his two virgin daughters to the angry mob who confronts his home desiring the visitors be handed over. Things were different back then, but I do find it somewhat surprising when II Peter 2:7 says: “But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. Yes, Lot was a righteous man …”

II Peter 2:9 tells us he was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he heard and saw day after day. Now I hate to say it, but I have experienced the same thing here in America. Perhaps the whole world is becoming this way. Lot chose to live near Sodom. He had a choice, but do we? Or are we stuck in this Lot situation with little choice in the matter? Admittedly, it’s very hard.

This is one reason I’m so interested in Lot, his story, and the details of his rescue. I am convinced we are more and more surrounded by a world turning into Sodom and Gomorrah. Are there things for us to learn from Lot? Important things? Jesus speaks of Lot when speaking of the last days. (Luke 17:28) We do know that angels were very heavily involved in the rescue of Lot and his family. Are we mindful of our angels?

So we see that Lot was surrounded by wickedness, even by his own choice, and his soul was tormented by what he heard and saw every day, and yet somehow he remained a righteous man in the eyes of God. So I guess we can too! That’s encouraging.

The other night I went to a video store looking to rent a good movie. This is a perfect example. I could choose not to watch movies or TV, but I have not and I entered this gate of my own choice, just like Lot?

If you want an example of how far the mind of man can sink into depravity, just look at the awful movies some people are making and a certain percentage of our society love to watch. Hate, violence, sex, violence, murder, sex, gore, violence, dark grossness, sorcery, violence, revenge, stealing, sex, nudity, violence, gore, darkness, wickedness, sickness, depravity, and more violence.

Now folks, even if you’re not a religious person, it’s pretty scary to think of a growing population of people out there, who love things of that nature. Perhaps you are not a predator. You just want to live and let live. You’re a wonderful person who simply wants to go on a date with the person you love, have a nice meal out, see a good movie, but we have to be aware all these other people are out there too, and who knows what they might do? Even if we don’t believe in God, is that the kind of world we want to live in? But without God, how can we even say what is wrong? How can we say there is a normal, or a standard? And if society as a whole sinks far enough, eventually anything becomes your truth, your right, your delight.

This is also the story of Yinney. Every seven days he needs to leave his tree, go to the ground and poo! All he wants to do is poo in peace! But there are predators down there. It is the most dangerous thing he does.

I ended up renting a movie called “The Bookshop”. That movie would probably bore a lot of people to sleep, but I found it most interesting and left me with much to think about. I love a movie that leaves me thinking. But it was slow moving; the hopes, dreams, and interaction between characters was the glue that held you. Nobody was murdered, but there were predators, and a dream did get murdered. We can be attacked and die in many ways.

This one old lady and her husband, but she wore the pants in the family, they were definite predators, but they used money, manipulation, politics, and power to get what they wanted. Unfortunately for this one peace-loving lady with a beautiful dream, she got in their way. Her lovely dream got in their way.

This paragraph: spoiler alert! This lady was brave and fought back, but she did not have the teeth and claws they had. She became their victim. She loses everything! (But her life.) And as she is sailing away in sadness, the movie projects forward something beautiful is still born out of the sacrifice she made. We just never know.

So let me say this, predators may not know it, but they never win in the end. All us God-fearing and God-loving people? WE DO WIN! And it can be seen even in the present, not just one day in heaven. The predators will never admit it, but theirs is a very sad and empty life. LOVE really is the only way to live and be happy. We win every day. I was so happy I actually found a good movie that strengthened my spirit man, rather than attacking it. That movie was a win in my book.

In “Part 2” of this article I want to look more at the details of Lot’s rescue. I’ve seen the trailers of movies I can’t believe anyone would want to make or watch. Those people are out there! They are a growing population! If the Church don’t get her act together, we will be in the days of Lot as prophesied! It won’t be pretty! Only the predators will be loving it until they realize, that those who eat others, eventually get eaten themselves, and it is a horrible way to die, that is the sting of death! Think about it.

But if I am right about the last days growing all around us, then Lot is someone we would do well to consider. His story has much to offer if we are the kind of person who like being “prepared”. It may not be pretty, but God does know how to deliver his people. That is what God’s word says. But do we know?

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“Yinney” – Chapter 11

January 31, 2019January 31, 2019 Path Without End

download (2) With all the rich color of her blue feathers, and the bright yellow around the eyes and beak, Lu-Lu had suddenly landed upon a limb of Yinney’s 7th Day Tree.

“So this is it!” she declared. “This is where my favorite sloth will center his life.”

“Yup,” he affirmed. “This is it. And look! I have a lagoon!”

“I see that. What an awesome place you have found. This truly is a wonderful spot.”

“Thank you. I am very happy indeed. Go ahead and take a look around. I have not been to the top yet. I might do that today.”

Yinney knew Lu-Lu could check out his tree on her own and save him the energy. She quickly jumped from this limb to that, as he watched with amusement. Could she really appreciate every fine detail of this special tree, as she moved so quickly, he wondered? He watched her turning her head when she studied the lagoon below.

“Hhmmm, very interesting!” she declared, and then flew to the uttermost top branch of his tree, to look about. After a hard look, she returned.

“Well, what did you see up there?”

“I saw the smoke has not reached this area yet. Even from your highest branch, it still cannot be seen.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, “What smoke? Is there a fire?”

“Oh, there is a fire alright, but not the kind we think of. A fire burning in the belly of man. Since we last talked I flew towards the east and checked on the road man is attempting to build through the Amazon.”

“What?” Yinney asked, and then slowly blinked three times before saying, “A road!”

“Yes, can you believe it? A road in the Amazon jungle? But don’t laugh, they are doing it. Its been a major challenge, and progress is fraught with set-backs, but man intends to tame this jungle for his purposes. Their machines belch smoke, are loud, and stink. I was looking to see if you could see it from here, but your safe, for now. In other places many animals are running deeper into the jungle.”

When Lu-Lu mentioned animals on the run, Yinney realized it was part of the vision he was given at the bottom of the lagoon.

“Lu-Lu, you’re not going to believe this, but the All-Creator gave me a vision of this, while meditating at the bottom of this lagoon.”

“What?” It seemed Lu-Lu’s yellow around the eyes got bigger and brighter as she reacted to Yinney’s statement. “Wait a minute. Let me see if I understand what you’re saying. “Did you just say you meditated underwater? And you had a vision?”

“Yes.”

“You’re a strange one, Yinney, but I like you. It’s a wonder you didn’t drown! Are you crazy?”

“It’s one of the beauties of slow. I can hold my breath for a very long time. I always wanted to do this, so I did not waste any time. The very next day after finding my tree, I went into the lagoon. I found a tree settled on the bottom, and latched hold of it. I was resting down there for a while, when suddenly a voice began speaking, and I knew it was the All-Creator!”

“Wow…” Lu-Lu was still trying to imagine doing such a thing. No wonder sloths are sought after as spiritual teachers in the animal kingdom. Who else would do such things? “So what did the voice say?” she finally asked.

“Well… it’s sort of a ‘big picture’ vision. Not a lot of details were given as far as the ‘how to’ is concerned. The vision said bad things were headed this way, but this tree and lagoon would be a protected place, and animals on the run would come here. I am supposed to set this tree as a refuge and develop a special place of community and communion. It said I had three years to prepare.”

“Oh my,” the blue macaw said with worry in her eyes. She was silent for a time before finally saying, “That would seem to make sense. Three years. Yes, I can see that. With the way the jungle is fighting back against the progress of man, it could easily be that long before it affects you. So even without me telling you of these things, you would already be preparing even though you knew not what was coming?”

“Yes, the Spirit prepares us for many things, even though we don’t always have the details before it actually happens,” Yinney explained. “And there is one more thing…”

Lu-Lu waited in anticipation of what the “one more thing was”. She could tell it was something important from the way he was acting. This sloth who lived such a simple, peaceful, and slow life, centered around a particular tree and his need to poo, actually was better prepared for the future than she was, even though she flew all about with much flapping, constantly keeping an eye. What was Yinney about to reveal to her now?

“There will be a man.”

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“Yinney the Sloth”

January 20, 2019February 13, 2019 Path Without End

I have been inspired to try something. Grandpa White Feather is the “Story Teller” in this family, and I have a story I want to try. So for the next few articles they will be small chapters of a character I’m introducing: “Yinney the Sloth”. We will see if people want the story to continue, or not. The story will also be an analogy for messages of deep meaning for our modern times. I hope you enjoy. I think I could really enjoy developing a whole world around this character. Here we go. (Oh! To fully appreciate what this story shall be, you might want to read the article just previous to this one, “Do No Harm”.)

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“Yinney the Sloth”

Chapter One

Yinney was born in the jungles of South America, the Amazon Rain Forest, during a very hot summer. All summers were hot in the Amazon, but as a sloth, he never gave it much thought. Today was just another day of hanging out high in trees while a slight breeze caused the motion of the swaying limb.

He enjoyed the swinging little branch, the gentle movement relaxing and soothing. In this way Yinney could move without moving, and sloths loved that. To move without moving. Such was the life of a sloth. He felt in motion and yet he was wasting no energy.

Everything moves slow for a sloth, very slow. His people were masters at the beauty of slow, a treasure under appreciated by most other peoples. Sloths considered the wasting of energy very rude. “How rude,” they would say, and all would do a slow nod in agreement. One nod would be enough. Two nods a waste.

But today Yinney was on the hunt! Now for a sloth to hunt, the prey must be very slow indeed. As a mater of fact, it is better if the prey cannot move at all. This was true of his hunt today for he was in search of a tree! A very special tree, and they cannot run away.

As vegetarians, sloths really never hunt in the way predators do. Yinney ate leaves. Delicious green leaves. He never had to kill anything! But down below, in the jungle, lived many predators who would love to eat him if they could. It was very dangerous on the ground, his mother had instructed, and this was one reason the tree would be very special, and he would bless the tree with his very own fertilization once it was found.

Yinney’s mother’s name was Minney, and his father was Dinney, but he mostly remembered his mother. She taught him everything a sloth needed to know and now shared her territory with him as he headed out to live his own life in the trees. His mother told him, “Yinney, you must find your special tree within seven days, because you know what happens every seven days!”

“Yes, mother,” he had answered. Yinney knew in seven days he would need to poo. That is a polite way of saying he would need to go to the bathroom. Yinney the sloth would need to poo! And that meant going to the ground, the most dangerous place in the world for a sloth! He knew his time to find a special tree would pass quickly, but he would never hurry or rush, for the beauty of slow was the sacred way of his people.

Minney had warned her son that their territory was the hunting ground of one of the worst bullies around, a jaguar named Jag! And Jag considered a sloth pooing to be easy prey, and indeed they were. She taught her son the bathroom was the most dangerous place, because Jag, and others, were always looking for easy prey. They lived hungry all the time. You could see it in their eyes, never satisfied, always looking for something to kill!

But sloths were peace loving, respected the sacred, and had no weapons to fight. Even those long claws they had were simply to hook tree limbs and hang all day long high in a tree, invisible to the world below. Their claws were for peace, not fighting. There claws were for living in the high places, the refuge of great trees forming a green canopy, a world of its own throughout the Amazon jungle.

“Jag is very strong and fast. He is a great hunter. He has sharp claws and teeth. If he ever finds you, he is a killing machine!” his mother warned.

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