Sermons

 I preached many a sermon as a 'pulpit supply' student minister.

It's merely a message within worship, usually biblical or at least associated.

Sermon has also had a negative connotation for a long time.  Some kind of holier than thou judgement; a condescending critique that brow beats.

Churchwise, I always aimed to preach re Jesus.  I tried to be conversational, not stale.

My first was over 20 minutes long.  What did I know as people looked at their watches lol.

All inspired by HS.  I merely chatted for a few.  I tried to imitate J.

When I was blacklisted, all it did was free me.

I've done all the things I did before, but on a broader scale.

My endeavors here have been honed down to 4 a month.

I realized these are my sermons, for weal or woe.

I tell tales of free thinking, restoring the Republic in, I hope, a thought provoking even entertaining way.

Gifts freely given.  

More to come til there is no more and I go elsewhere.  Beyond.

Soft Control

 Like most things, whispers serve a dual purpose, for weal or woe.

Subtle power instead of earth shattering events.

Secret agents might be a little melodramatic.  

Yet, power wielded quietly might go farther  and not gathering notice might either undermine or strengthen something.

The darkside might be quiet and seem weak to escape retaliation and to acquiesce.

Gentle surrender is the goal and just roll over is the whisper.

Now, one can respond in kind.

Whisper Freedom and Light.  Gentle dawn.

Or shout.

Weal or woe.

Your move.

Stranger

 I love small towns.

There was a time Zionsville was so, before the huge yuppie/lib influx.

I spent a lot of time there with my GreatGrandmother.  It was a second town to me.  

So, noone really stared at me.

Yes, in some places people actually stare at new folks in town.

And even after some time there, townspeople still stare.  Always new!  Stranger!

The motive may vary like a pendulum, for weal or woe.

Just an observation.

I lived in a small town 2 years.  A local pastor said in answer to my observing townsfolk plainly staring at me that, even after years there, he was still stared at plus was the new guy in town still.

Now this was a town/area beset with devil worshipping drug dealers.  I kid you not.

Leave it to me to be in a 'weird is normal' situation.

More on that another time.

Actually, small town folk can be insular.  Not bad long as they are based in good will.

Maybe all of us should be a bit wary of things.

I'm a proponent of keeping your head on a swivel and observing.  Wait and see, unless something is obvious.

We both survived our stays.

One or two odd things.  Left town to visit a nearby town.  Noone knew.  Next morning someone called me where I was and asked why I left.  Hmmm.

When I moved back to Indy, I was asked why I wanted to leave.

I just said it was time, that I enjoyed my stay but I had to go.

Mind you I didn't owe anyone an explanation.  I just indulged lol.

I think these places each have sort of a personality.  

Then again my fave bar ahd a plaque that said 'You are a stranger here but once'.

Go figure.

Stronger

 Body, Mind, Psyche, Spirit.

It's how I explain spiritual makeup.

Body is the physical house we rent for a life.

Mind is the person we are in that body.

Psyche is the X factor, God's presence.

Spirit is our immortal selves.

Just a pallette for a portrait.

Every now and then, I think of the TV series Millennium.

It's a remarkable work touching on the spiritual and all the above points.

Some is procedural while some more is definitely spiritual.

Frank Black is a profiler with abilities to read a situation even get in the head of perps and solves horrible crimes.

There are allies on all levels as well as enemies.

I'll have to do an in depth analysis one of these days.

One of the chief villains is Lucy Butler, a shape changing sorceress.  She is older than she looks and it's a result of having sold her soul.  Her gifts were perverted and she now serves the darkness.

Frank tangled with her several times and with her conspirators.

The last on the series was in the form of a boy who destroyed those around him and attempted to do so to Frank's daughter.

As flames consumed him and a family/father destroyed, he yelled 'Who's stronger Frank, me or you?'  

It's that hellish challenge like Paradise Lost between the Creator/Father and the fallen.

Frank is quiet.  Not beaten in any way as Lucy plays cat and mouse.  His faith is there unspoken.

I recommend Millennium and wish there was a better resolution.  It is what it is.

Me, I'd answer 'Not me or you.  Jesus.'