Thievery...

It occurred to me this morning as I read excerpts from Psalms in the Bible...spotlit in the light of a small lamp at my elbow, I read of the battles of David...of his struggles, his emotional wellbeing, his failures and cries to a God who loved him so. It occurred to me that the thief that comes in the night is not simply an allegory regarding the second coming...oh no, the thief that would come and steal our joy, our happiness, the peace we surround ourselves with...he comes morning, noon or night... he comes in the flesh and in the spiritual realm...he comes as a man, or a woman...

My ruminations lately have been running to things...to special lost items...to the frustration of knowing the monster can smile and wave and pretend to be a big man while surrounded with things he stole...many, many things. The reminders set about him day and night...like taking a trophy from a kill and setting it on the wall to admire and remember...

God is bigger than that....it will all be returned sevenfold...as I sit and sip and take in peace, take in comfort from music that soothes my soul and serves as a reminder that I am not alone, never alone. This scripture was the next in line from yesterday and so I continued along and thought it appropriate to our situations dear hearts, dear lost ones...

Psalm 52

'Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man?

Why do you boast all day long,

you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?

Your tongue plots destruction;

it is like a sharpened razor,

you who practice deceit.

You love evil rather than good,

falsehood rather than speaking the truth.

You love every harmful word,

O you deceitful tongue!'

I sit in awe...how far back human beings have been deceitful...treacherous...debase...

Yesterday I parked my truck near Kenny Dam as I had a short wait for the next crew...I step out and walk....I take in Gods beauty....I once again took in the site across the dam where I stood, the site where I came close to leaving this world. I have been given the time to heal...to digest...to process...I have been in close proximity for the last month...

As I gaze I see flitters of ghostly past me and the man of destruction, of mayhem carrying out his despicable deeds in the name of his almighty god...his ego.

I watch as 2 and a 1/2 hours of frightening moments move in fast forward across the landscape...I have not forgotten a single moment, only put it on mute...I do not cry, nor feel anything more than a shudder of fear and revulsion.

My friends...this happenstance is 2 years past, almost to the day....it does not leave the survivor...oh no, it sits in our psyche as a reminder of the thief who felt nothing for the pain caused, for the time stolen, for the hammer blows mentally, emotionally and physically...

Dearest treasures...I wish this for you...I wish and pray for your sight to clear, for the fog to lift from before you....for the trauma to sit to the side while you fight your way free. It will be there later for you to pull out and examine, to sift through slowly, incrementally....

Go today in the knowledge that God is a God of restoration, of healing, of love, of compassion...you are not meant for the pit, for the filth and shame and horror you live through each moment of each day and night. You are meant for more dear hearts, so much more.

Hold your head high, walk tall and stand in your truth....the truth that you are worthy of mercy, of kindnesses, of compassionate moments, of a love that sees your worth as a queen, as a warrior....

May God shine His light on you and warm every part of your heart and spirit...