Your Dying Spouse 747 - Pandemic Revival

There is a God

or

there is not a God.

I believe in God

or

I do not believe in God.

These, the boundaries of Pascal's Wager.

If there is no God, what I believe is irrelevant.

If there is a God, if I believe in Him, I'm saved.

If there is a God and I don't believe  in Him, I'm screwed.

The smart money is therefor on belief.

And that's where a lot of people are going in these days of COVID-19, but they're missing a certain and vital point...namely, it's not just about belief.

It's about the ransom in blood that was paid to save us.

Don't, for Pete's sake (who's Pete, anyway?) discourage an unformed belief in friends or relatives...it's a starting point.

Do give instruction, when the crisis has passed.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: [20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

Matthew 28:19-20 (KJV)

It seems that this pandemic's caused

a kind of new revival;

people see that life is paused,

and focus on survival.

As sign, it is encouraging,

but we must not forget

that revival's not faith-foraging,

nor is it Pascal's bet.

It's wrong to put your trust in God

as something like insurance;

the holy roadm ust be trod

with devotion and endurance,

and the knowing that it all begins

with the ransom paid for our sins.

This sonnet first appeared as a comment on Debi Walters' wonderful blog, The Romantic Vineyard, on April 14, 2020

Here's the late, great Kenny Rogers with  The Gambler.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 746 - Will You Hold Them? {Five Minute Friday}

Someone you know has lost a family member, or a friend.

Will you hold, them, even virtually, and give them a safe shoulder upon which to cry?

Will you be Jesus for the bereft?

Will you hold them as they weep,

and not turn away?

Will you stand watch while they sleep

and dream of yesterday

when what's broken had been whole,

when dreams were still alive,

when the dark night of the soul

was never to arrive?

Will you stay when they awaken

to a rising sun gone red,

that they may not feel forsaken,

that they may be fed

by the love in you, the love of Christ,

for which the Lamb was sacrificed?

Music from Linkin Park, with the lovely and haunting Iridescent.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 745 - Be Present

Now, in this time of social istancing and isolation, we need, more than ever, to be present.

We need to know if our friends and neighbours despair, and fall off the grid, into a pit of loneliness.

We need to follow social media, and read between the lines of the statements of our friends and family...and ask, "Are you OK? How can I help?"

And even if we're frightened, we need to give our brave to others who are more scared than we are.

You probably know the story about the hippie commune in Tamil Nadu, that was noted for its weird American inhabitants...well, they were once terrorized by a man-eating tiger, and lived in abject fear, until a member's Yorshire Terrier could take it no more, and one night charged the snarling beast.

The hippes, ashamed to be out-done by a four-pound dog, ran to the fight, waving ukeleles and screaming "Hey! Cool it, man! Like, PEACE!"

The tiger saw the onrush, feared for his safety and sanity, and fled.

But the hippes did not escape unscathed; they conquered their fear, but the effort turned their hair white...all of them.

They became local heroes, and Tamil Nadu's governor paid tribute to these brave Frosted Flakes:

"Theyyyy're GREAT!"

Be there for your loved ones,

and be there for your friends.

be there 'till the now becomes

the past, and this thing ends.

Be there for your nurse-neighbour,

and be there for your doc,

for they are now our saviours

working 'round the clock.

Be there for the frightened,

and give them your brave;

support the unenlightened,

it's these He came to save;

bring them hope at Holy Cross,

even as they face their loss.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.

Your Dying Spouse 744 - It's Not The New Normal {Five Minute Friday}

I really, really hate fashionable jargon.

And I save a particular loathing for The New Normal.

This isn't normal, guys. Normal was what we had before; this coronavirus thing is a war, and while it calls for adaptation, we have to remember what we're fighting for.

We are fighting for the lives we had, lives and freedoms that has been so harshly taken away.


In the weeks and months ahead we'll develop new routines, new circles of connexion. And it'll be tempting, as they become comfortable with use, to forget what had been.

The virtual church may be a lot more convenient - and perhaps compelling - than the clumsy building with the fickle aircon.

The online friends we meet in virtual community know our hearts better than the bearded beery Asian redneck with too many dog and guns who lives next door (yes, that's me, and this is a test).

But when Nana comes to visit when this is over, and she trips and hurts her hip, the Thug Next Door will leap the fence (knocking it down in the process) to come help, and the beer fumes will keep Nana from passing out.

The need for isolation will pass.

Make sure the desire for it is banished, too, for as a certain carpenter once said,

Where two or more are gathered in My name, there I am in the midst of them.

He makes allowances for today's condition, I figure. Gather at a distance, for now.

Just don't let that distance take root.

They say this is New Normal,

that our lives to come will be

changed in manners (still informal)

which will gain permanency.

We will not care to gather

fearful of contaigon's knife,

but in future times will rather

pass in the virtual through our life

and throw aside community,

forsaking, too, the words of Donne;

ask not reason for the bell, prithee,

'tis for you it shall be rung!

When we abandon our lane-neighbour,

we cast off love, and Christ's labour.

Music from Vertical Horizon, with I'm Still Here in an oddly touching video that uses imagery from the roleplaying Final Fantasy game.

Thanks to Carol Ashby, Blessed Are The Pure Of Heart is back on Kindle, and will be available in paperback soon.

Friends are everything. I couldn't have done it.

Marley, the canine waif from Afghanistan, whom WE helped save, has a Facebook page! Please drop by to see how happy he is today.

Below are my recent releases on Kindle -please excuse their presence in the body of the blog. I haven't the energy to get them up as 'buttons' in the sidebar. You can click on the covers to go to the Amazon links.