From My Perspective - - -

During one’s lifetime, it is inevitable that one will hear the comment: “There are only two things one can know with certainty – (a) you will have taxes to pay, and (b) at some point, you will die.” That is not as true today as it once was inasmuch as 47 percent of the people in the USA do not pay Income Taxes. One way or another everyone has some tax to pay even if it is only a Sales Tax on items purchased. A story is told of the Town Sage to whom people would come seeking wisdom and counsel. It goes: “Two men who lived in a small village got into a terrible dispute that they could not resolve. So they decided to talk to the town sage. The first man went to the sage’s home and told his version of what happened. When he finished, the sage said, “You’re absolutely right.”The next night, the second man called on the sage and told his side of the story. The sage responded, “You’re absolutely right.”Afterward, the sage’s wife scolded her husband. “Those men told you two different stories and you told them they were absolutely right. That’s impossible—they can’t both be absolutely right.” The sage turned to his wife and said, “You’re absolutely right.” At the very least, this was “feel-good” advice given by the Town Sage! Is that what you sense you are receiving from the Government - "feel-good" advice?

To say that we live in a world of uncertainty and malice would be an understatement. It seems as though this nation has lost its way. Even though we appear to be directionless, we are moving with great speed headed somewhere. What does it mean when recent surveys indicate that 79 percent of the country believes we are headed in the wrong direction. There is the story of the Airline Pilot who came on the Plane’s Intercom to report to the passengers: “I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that we are lost – the good news is that we are making excellent time.” Lost – but traveling at great speed and making excellent time – what a commentary as well as an indictment.

In a perplexing and uncertain time – Abraham Lincoln shared in his second Inaugural Address on March 4, 1865 these words as the Civil War was still being fought. Referencing both sides in the conflict, Lincoln said:  “Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes…Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said ‘the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.’ With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.” Sage thoughts and counsel for a troubled nation in uncertain times.

Those who would be wise and at peace should consult the Holy Scriptures. In Psalm 33:10-11, “The Lord foils the plans of the nations; he thwarts the purposes of the peoples. But the plans of the Lord stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations.” These should be words for our encouragement and stability. As well as Proverbs 19:20-21, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, and in the end you will be wise. Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails.” The question is – to whom and to what do you turn to? The so-called “wisdom” of man has brought us into the uncertainty and his continued paths will only bring us deeper into the maze. Man’s wisdom is vain! Seek the Lord – His wisdom and His counsel. He will guide you and provide for you! Consider these things with me!