Conspiracies: Theories and Otherwise

Jesus said ... "Everything that is secret will be brought out into the open. Everything that is hidden will be uncovered." Luke 12:2

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So this morning through Netflix, I watched much (not all) of  TWA: Flight 800 and came away convinced that the 'conspiracy theorists', including the seasoned NTSB guys and hundreds of witnesses, certainly had some valid concerns. It appears to me, anyway, there was a mega cover-up of the 1996 tragedy in the waters near Long Island, NY.

Yet also while watching, I recalled the verse above, especially the 'everything that is hidden will be uncovered' part. And here's what I began thinking:

When we reach Heaven, earthly conspiracies will be cleared-up. Uncovered. That is, we'll understand the conspiracies God believes we should know about, either through being taught about them or just automatically knowing what actually happened. Or what proved only a theory.

Of course, some conspiracies will be made clear while we're still upon Earth, but many others? Others will always remain a mystery to our human minds.

And well, I think God calls us to two things when it comes to mysteries/conspiracies/injustices: either He equips us with His strength to fight to solve them or He asks us to remain living peacefully with great trust, even in the midst of unanswered questions. The type of trust that rests in knowing someday we'll understand what He wants us to know, yet in the meantime, we can live like this:

"... (You) set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand... you will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon You because he trusts in You."   ... Psalm 40:2, Isaiah 26:3

Since God is not a God of confusion, but of peace (1 Corinthians 14:33), I believe He's pretty thrilled when we choose trust and calmness, instead of frustration and worry. Especially in the middle of just plain not understanding what's happening at this present--fleeting--moment. 

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"... if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."   ... from Philippians 4

"Only in returning to me and resting in me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence shall be your strength."   ... Isaiah 30:15


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We become stronger after we learn to live peacefully with a certain degree of not knowing.


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Oh, I highly recommend yellow/mustard/autumn gold curtains to anyone who lives where winters are long. It's been wild, but on cloudy days when I glance at my mustard newly-curtained windows, they give an impression of warm, golden sunlight. Happy sigh.

Stepping Out My Door and Expecting What?

"Then he touched their eyes, and he said, “Just as you have believed, let it be done to you.”" ...Matthew 9:29

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Last April 28th marked  my 20th year in the Buffalo, NY area. Wow. These twenty years felt more like twenty minutes. 

And you know? Way back in 1993 Tom and I noticed that people, even children (even boys!) held store doors open for us. Folks in supermarkets smiled at us, some greeted old friends with hugs and ,"How are the kids?," and others, strangers, spoke to us pleasantly. Inside their cars, they paused for us at the cross walk and from the parking lot they volunteered to return our carts to the store. Everywhere we went people laughed together and some even whistled happy tunes. Adult children shopped with their elderly moms and I even spied one middle-aged couple dancing in a store aisle to a piped-in 1940's tune. The vast majority of folks' yards are lovingly kept-up and these thousands of 100 year-old+ houses, mostly, still sparkle proudly in the sun.

And at first we wondered if we'd flown to a whole other planet rather than just a whole other state.

Twenty years ago we moved to this beautiful area and has it changed for the worse? Not that I've noticed, for when I shopped this weekend I saw nearly every thing that I described to you, above. Seriously. The happy, kind, helpful folks and the lovely old homes and yards. I didn't spy another couple dancing in the aisles, but perhaps I'd just missed them. heh.

Now, is Buffalo the only place where people still share old-fashioned values? No way! But this place is what I know-- where I shop, where I drive suburb streets and where I've spent a large chunk of my life. And today I realized, again, that--for these decades--I've always stepped outside my door expecting to see more Good. More of what delights my very heart. I expect that when I return I'll have more stories and memories of smiles, words and kindnesses.

People who seek things of wonder, who train their eyes to zero in on them, see them because they expect them. Folks who expect the worst generally see only the people having bad days taking it out on others and chipped paint on houses. Oh dear.

And somewhere in those two decades I began wanting to be the kind lady who held doors open with a smile or paused at crosswalks or started conversations in the cereal aisle. You know, so that other seekers would find what they'd expected or what doubters needed to see that day because their hearts leaked away all hope. And God and I still work on that to this day.

It's been an awesome twenty years in Buffalo and I'm expecting the awesomeness to continue.

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"I remain confident of this:
    I will see the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living.
14 Wait for the Lord;
    be strong and take heart
    and wait for the Lord."   ...Psalm 27:13,14

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November already! And, amazingly, we've not yet had a killer frost. Clearly, Hobbit Cottage must be an enchanted place.  :)

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Oh! Have you ever watched the tv series, My Cat From Hell? Tom and I just discovered it on Netflix this weekend and we're enjoying it and also learning a few more things about cats. Yay!

(Poor ol' Daniel, though, isn't a fan. The yowling, fighting cats make him quite nervous, the big baby.)  :)

Balancing Upon Life's High Wire

"Be well-balanced, be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring, seeking someone to seize upon and devour."   ... 1 Peter 5:8

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Aww... Dolores paid me the nicest compliment today regarding my last post:

"Debra, this post was a soothing balm to my scrambled brain this morning. I was very stressed out when I read it, but, by the end I was feeling peace."

And really? I know exactly what Dolores meant because that's how I always feel after stepping away from Clarice's blog.

Clarice is awesome. She doesn't go all Chicken Little about stuff in today's world, you know, like many Christians out there who yelp, "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!," when they post on Facebook or in blogs after camping-out in front of tv news.

And well, when I tire of all that yelping, I visit Clarice because, over at her house, Life will still be good. She'll have soup from a friend's recipe simmering on her new stove, a pie in the oven, or her daughters will be modeling clothes they sewed, themselves. Or Clarice will be placing flowers from her yard into a vase she bought at a thrift shop that morning or painting a chalkboard upon her kitchen wall, setting her Craigslist table, or painting the inside of her built-in corner hutch.

The world still spins right-side-up over at Clarice's and God is still huge there, so she's not biting her nails each time the economy tanks, but rather, she quietly lives by faith rather than just reading about it. 

Yes, Clarice just finds new ways to stretch a dollar and create a beautiful home using her trusting, peace-filled, clever mind. When something does come along to 'upset her apple cart', she does her part and then lets God do His. Any upset becomes just a tiny blip along Clarice's Life's Timeline--the whole timeline, itself, does not shoot upward off the chart for the next five years. Instead, she has a pattern of quickly returning to balance ... blessed, wonderful balance which satan cannot get his teeth into (so he wanders away to someone else).

And when I grow-up, I want to be just like Clarice.

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"... in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength..."   ... Isaiah 30:15


"But without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."   ... Hebrews 11:6