Look Both Ways Before You Cross the Street

 

“Therefore, I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Eph 4:1-2

 

  I feel like Alice must have felt when she stepped through the looking glass. The more questions I ask, the more I have. Some would call me a conspiracy theorist, anti-vax, radical. When did it become so wrong to ask questions or to voice a concern?

  All I want is the truth so I can make an informed decision that is not forced by peer pressure and insult. Insults only make me dig in my heels and resent those who are applying the pressure. Stubbornness has been replaced with determination to get to the bottom of things. Yes, I have trust issues but maybe this is a good thing in this situation because it has me being skeptical about nearly everything that is being said on both sides of the coin.

  Our faith, as Christians, embraces doubt as part of the journey.

  Truth is very hard to find, just so you know. It is hidden in the depths of some murky waters.

  I do know this. God gave me a wonderful brain. I believe I am intelligent and hope that this search is independent of any bias I might have.  I am looking at both sides of this divisive debate on Covid vaccine safety. I shared a few days ago that some of the ideas are waaay out there but many have led to further reading to test the validity of the claims made. Many have proved un-verified or unwarranted. This also applies to articles large news broadcasters have published.

  While this ongoing search hasn’t created any conclusions as of yet, I am growing increasingly alarmed. Something isn’t right.

  It is nearly impossible to find an unbiased article. It is nearly impossible to find articles that don’t defame or attempt to discredit the “other side” as part of their “scientific reasoning.” It is no longer a battle of facts but one of name calling and insult. So here are some things that have stuck out like a sore thumb.

  What exactly is a “real expert”? Does this infer that epidemiologists and doctors who raise questions are “unreal experts”?

  An article that uses the inflammatory, “so-called” adjective is clearly biased. You can almost hear their eyes roll in sarcastic mockery. Sarcasm, by the way, is a bully tactic that seeks to demean and discredit the target.

  Statistically, a mere 10% risk factor for adverse side effects is used to comfort and ease concerns. A 10% non-vaccination rate is cause for alarm and widespread panic over the failure to meet a target of 100%.

  The CDC is withholding information regarding the Covid vaccine “Because of the risk of misinterpretation.” Where are the real experts when we need them?

  Then there’s the upside down inside out world of false positive and false negative results on testing. There have been concerns voiced about HIV and the Covid vaccine. This is highly controversial so I won’t delve into this particular subject except to point out that there have been numerous articles saying it is possible to get a false positive result from an HIV test following a Covid shot. (nih.gov and BBC amongst others)

  Canada.ca has information regarding Covid 19 testing. They list a whole slew of reasons for false readings, positive and negative, but then state, “A positive test means that you have Covid and you must follow the direction of your local health authority.”

  If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, experts declare, “It’s a chicken.”

  Sorry, my bias clearly came through on that one. Or maybe it is simply confusion. Is the duck a chicken after all?

  Despite reading countless articles, editorials, scientific studies, and even how some Covid vaccines are made, I don’t seem to be any further ahead than I was a week ago. I have learned a lot about spike proteins, gene splicing, vectors, transmissibility and infection.

  So far, I have yet to find anything that is completely worthy of my trust except my faith and firm belief that God is guiding my search.

  I am also deeply reassured by an Ontario judge who spoke eloquently following a landmark decision. I guess I am not the radical people think I am.

https://youtu.be/FLBU1HoGq4E

Bear with Me

 

  “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” Eph 3:20

 

  It was a hard day yesterday. Conversations became heated and angry. There was much discussion on the prevalent use of the Nazi symbol in the Ottawa protest. The media has leapt on this and used it to blanket the protesters as racist, white supremists, further dividing Canadian against Canadian.

  Bear with me, dear readers, and have patience with where I am going with this.

  The very first flag I saw with this infamous symbol on it was a large, upside down Canadian flag emblazoned with the swastika dead centre, over the crimson maple leaf. I was horrified. In discussions with others, I began to realize the greatest problem is that the significance has gotten muddied. What exactly is this defaced symbol of national pride trying to say?

  I learned many years ago in Girl Guides an upside down flag is a symbol of distress. It’s an SOS. It’s a cry for help. It’s also been used in this, and other protests, as a criticism against the government for a plethora of reasons.

  The swastika…yah...Hitler’s symbol represented one of the most nefarious and successful political agendas on the planet. He managed to lead a democracy, bands playing, flags waving, into a dictatorship capable of genocide. How?

  In the name of public welfare, he set up a system of discrimination. He used newspaper articles to plant seeds of hate and suspicion in the name of national pride. He then began making laws, small at first but eventually requiring Jewish people to be identified. Law allowed their property to be seized. Laws defined where they could live, where they could go. Then the trains pulled in.

  Oh, God, forgive us for the great evil we do to each other.

  We’ve all seen images of the gold, Star-of David, sewn on the coats of adults and children. Through the use of propaganda and misinformation, Hitler was able to nearly wipe out an entire population with very little resistance. In fact, he ended up being supported in this although; the threat of death is also a great motivator to silence any objections. (God bless the descendants of those who did resist and aid the Jewish people who managed to escape.) Hitler’s horrific legacy is the death of 6,000,000, once free, men, women and children: their very lives taken from them one tiny bit at a time.

  (Bear with me, dear reader, this is going somewhere.) Eighty years later, we have vaccine passports and are being bombarded by a constant, public vilification of people who, for numerous reasons, are not vaccinated. Politicians wanted to start fining those who weren’t, who required hospitalization after contracting Covid. Thankfully, this was never enforced because of the dangerous precedence such an act would set. Lifestyle choices could have quickly followed suit. 

  Do I even think that what the Jewish people suffered is even remotely the same as what all of us have gone through during Covid? Not at all. The grim photos of the starved and skeletal men, women and mass graves of Auschwitz are permanently seared into my mind and soul. How did it happen? How did things get so bad? How did we, humanity, let this happen?

  We have a leader who has said Canada will see a 100% vaccination rate. Many people cannot get it due to health reasons yet they are lumped freely into the “fringe minority” (to quote this same leader) “people who don’t care about the health of others.” We have been bombarded daily for months with this idea through the media. 

  The concept of “not caring” is being repeated by anyone I speak with about their ideas around vaccination. Proof that the message is not only working, but it’s believed!!

  Nothing could be further from the truth.

  Suspicion, prejudice, and hatred are being slowly fostered and encouraged to grow. To what ends? I have no idea. I am only commenting on what I see and hear.

  This is the horrible similarity between the events leading up WWII and now. It’s how it all started in the first place. Seeds were planted long before the darkest reaping in the history of mankind could ever take place.

  I am not saying our Prime Minister is Hitler re-born or a Nazi. And yes, there were full blown Nazi flags displayed at the convoy amongst many other flags. God forgive those who would willingly manufacture such a horrible thing, never mind fly them with pride. (www.jurist.org has produced an excellent article exploring the different flags at the protest and their meaning. It is unsettling.)

  The truckers posted a large reward for anyone who could identify one of these individuals because his mere presence undermined their purpose: to end the vaccine mandates and the restrictions on our rights and freedoms. (I don’t know if there were others pointed out in this manner.)

  I am not saying that all the protesters were this altruistic. Their were cries of "Overthrow the Government!" There were many reports of people being harassed for numerous reasons like wearing a mask or because of colour. This is not and was not acceptable. I hope these situations are fully investigated and the perpetrators brought to justice. That’s how the law is supposed to work, to defend and protect citizens and to provide the means for those who break our laws to be held accountable, truckers included. I pray God changes their hearts.

  Mr. Trudeau withdrew the Federal Emergencies Act yesterday before the Senate’s ratifying vote (the vote used to pass or stop a proposed law from becoming law.) Judging from the debate it would have been overturned anyways. Our Prime Minister has publicly expressed a desire to make some of the far reaching powers in the Act into laws. Once such possibility is the right to freeze bank accounts without due process. The way Parliament is stacked, this first step towards the ability to infringe on Canadian rights and freedoms is a very real possibility.

  I pray for our Senate who has the power to ratify or overturn an attempt to invoke such laws. I also pray for wisdom in all who lead this country, especially our Prime Minister! Thank God I live in a country with these checks and balances in place.

  I believe the repeated use of the swastika on upside down Canadian flags at the Ottawa protest was meant to make a statement far removed from supporting white supremacy but then, nobody asked their bearers about what they were trying to say. If they did, these statements never appeared in the news or on social media.

  There are always two sides to a story.

  Anything…ANYTHING!!!!...that encourages fear, bigotry and blind hatred needs to be stopped be it a Nazi flag waving protester or “news” reports that seek to inflame, divide and foster prejudice of any kind.

  To see my brothers and sisters in Christ fighting over what’s going on is deeply troubling. Seeing Christians publicly condemning others and to witness God’s children nurture and embrace messages of fear and hate…Oh, God…something is going terribly wrong.

  Lord, hear my cry! Help us weigh what we say and think and do on the scales of Your heart. Forgive me when I have failed to do this. Let my mouth be guarded, my thoughts tested. Let my heart be filled with the love that surpasses all understanding. More than anything, let me be a bearer and nurturer of the most beautiful things on earth: love, peace, reconciliation and grace. In Jesus' name I pray.

On the Hunt

 

  “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.” Prov 3:5-6

 

  Throughout the parliamentary debate on the Federal Emergencies Act, I began sharing excerpts on social media. Since then, I have had a couple of wonderful friends tell me I appeared frustrated and worried.

  My comments were meant to be points of interest that challenge what is being said with what is actually going on. Things just aren’t adding up.

  Am I worried?

  In many ways I am because, more than anything, I hope I am wrong to have concerns about the vaccine. It could cost me my job. It has divided my family.

  I hope I am wrong to think my initial support of the truckers puts me in danger of losing everything. Even though I only cheered them on publicly at the start of the protest.

  I hope I am wrong to think that the successful voting in of the Emergencies Act last night has been the first ever democratically invoked police state. Time will tell on that one, one way or another.

  My entire life has been one of submission without question. Peer pressure opened the door to much abuse. My sole goal was to never rock the boat because there were consequences when I did. So I would capitulate, trusting that others obviously knew what was best for me.

  To find myself taking a stand and making choices I believe are best regardless of the consequences has, ironically granted a level of peace that amazes me.

  I finally believe I have the right to question, to doubt, and to make decisions. Are they necessarily good choices? I won’t know for a while but that’s ok. God knows.

  Throughout my long and ongoing journey to overcome PTSD, I learned to trust God to show me where the lies were. Like a bloodhound on a fox, I would follow the trail that led to many breakthroughs in understanding and healing.

  I may not be able to fully articulate the reasons for feeling a deep sense of “Wrongness” about current and ongoing events but it is there. Big time. And it’s growing. The bloodhound is baying. So I am seeking answers, doing research, questioning what I find or hear, reading articles, getting educated. Yes, I have had to step outside of mainstream media.

  Here’s the thing, some of it is waaay out there. Do I believe it blindly? Absolutely not. That’s what’s got me to this point in the first place, this God given ability to discern that something isn’t adding up.

  Not to flog a point, but it’s the simplest of many questions…Why can hundreds of people gather and cheer on a hockey team yet singing in church is still considered high risk? It doesn’t make sense.

  Does the mere act of questioning what’s happening make me a paranoid, conspiracy theorist, right-wing misogynist intent on overthrowing the government? Does it make me anti-vaccine? Does it make me a danger to society despite my willingness to strictly adhere to 99.9% of public health guidelines? It would appear so; based on the news I’ve been watching closely.

  And that is very disturbing although it does evoke a chuckle at the insanity of the idea. What is more disturbing is the relentless fueling of discord, suspicion and prejudice toward those who dare to question the status quo.

  We all need to take a deep breath, step back for a moment, clear our heads and think. Something isn’t right.

  Fact: There has been a great deal of public sympathy generated for the mall that had to temporarily close due to the situation in Ottawa. A year ago, CBC released an article that said roughly 200,000 businesses would close due to Covid restrictions; a situation that impacts millions of people here and abroad.

  Fact: A number of videos were released showing an elderly Mohawk woman with a walker being trampled by a mounted police officer during the Ottawa protest. Shortly after, police issued the statement that no one was run over by a horse. I am not saying she should or should not have been there. I am not judging the police for taking actions they felt necessary. That is not my place nor is it my intention.

  I guess I was imagining things as I watched her fall.

  My prayer today is that truth will find its way. And O, Lord, I hope I am wrong.

O, Canada, I Stand on Guard for Thee

 

  I have often started my writing with Scripture. Today, I start with prayer for insight, grace, and wisdom. For today is a dark day in Canadian history.

  Today my great country is divided. Brother against brother. Mother against child. Friend against friend.

  There have been protests throughout this nation. There have been borders closed, communities shut down. These have been resolved. The government is trying to enact the Federal Emergencies Act. This gives them far reaching authority, the most contentious being the ability to seize the assets of anyone who funded these illegal protests.

  The Act can only be put in place when all other legal options do not exist. By its very definition of these protests being illegal, there has to be laws already in place that do not require such drastic measures such as these being taken. I say again, these situations have ended. Now, the reason being put forward for invoking the Act is that maybe, just maybe, someone else might protest in the future.

  Three weeks ago, I watched the coverage of the Trucker’s Convoy heading to Ottawa, our capitol, to protest the vaccine mandates being put in place despite, throughout the world, such mandates are being lifted. Bridges were lined with people, waving flags, cheering their support. Communities gathered to cheer them on. Rural sideroads had groups waving flags and cheering. I never felt more proud to be a Canadian than in that moment.

  It quickly became global.

  Today, these same Canadians have been branded by the leader of this county as white supremacists, racists and misogynists regardless of the fact that many nationalities took part.  It is Canada after all, a multi-cultural smorgasbord. They are being described as wanting to destroy democracy, to overthrow the government.

  I am not saying there were no extremist views uttered or that I agree with encouraging violence. I do not deny that people piggy-backed their often unsavory agendas with the truckers protests. I do not say I agree with how the borders were shut down or that the city of Ottawa was shut down.

  But I am a Christian first and honestly, have never been much of a person for politics. To find myself glued to the TV broadcast of parliamentary debate as fervently as I watched the unfolding of the events of 9-11 has done one thing. It has awoken in my heart a deep felt grief.

  I never thought I would live in a democratic country that is trying to curtail our human rights, rights that are supposed to govern all the laws in this nation. I never thought I would live in a place where the least hint of questioning how things are being done is silenced. I never thought I would live in a country where the freedom to choose is not a freedom at all unless you make the same choice as everyone else. I never thought I would hear of a woman whose bank account was frozen because she bought a T-shirt. I never thought I would be afraid that a FB post stating an opinion might land me in deep, deep trouble.

  This is Canada after all.

  Dear Lord, in Your infinite wisdom, You have ordained those in our government. I have worked hard to not disrespect my leaders. I hope it’s okay if I question what’s happening.

Your Kingdom come, Your will be done. AMEN!