The fog is starting to lift, not just outside but in my mind.  It takes me longer to recuperate after these procedures but I’s a comin’ around.  Finally got my thank you cards written, Carla and I will take them up tomorrow.  I am not driving at the moment; don’t need an ‘impaired’ driver out there.  ‘nother day or two should do it.

Did have some interesting times.  Since my body doesn’t react to the drugs the way it is ‘supposed’ to work, they can’t give me drugs.  I told the ER doc that I have three electricians and a cop for kids that have all said they would do the shocking for me, he said it would be better if he did it.  He stepped out of the room for a few minutes and after consultation with another doctor, came in and said “everyone wants to shock you.”  That doctor was involved in my last cardio version. 

So, the instruments and ‘stuff’ is brought into the room and several people are standing around following a check list to make sure each person does his part knows when to do it.  He said he would be using a quick acting anesthesia; it works for about five minutes. 

He put the stuff in my arm and told me to count backwards from 20, but I would be out before I got to one.  So I counted, to one, then minus one, minus two.  They figured they didn’t give me enough – so after five minutes, they gave me a larger dose, I counted backwards to zero.

They started checking my IV, it was fine and I didn’t lose any – he couldn’t figure out how my body was absorbing it and having no effect.   So, another, larger dose and a backward count from 30 – I went to zero.  Now, they are really scratching their heads....and then figured out they were giving me milligrams instead of grams.   

That, of course, could be a very dangerous situation; fortunately it was less, not more.  The poor nurse and doctor, both of whom should have figured it out before, were kicking themselves for not realizing it.  I figured since MY steps are ordered of the Lord, that the lesson was for them to remind themselves to always check their double checks.  Better learn it with me then with someone who could be seriously hurt.

Anyway, I cardioverted and was out of the ER in a couple hours.  Carla says I am looking and acting much better than my last visit.  We figure that the heart, while back to a more normal rhythm the last time I was there, my heart wasn’t completely back in sync, and the next few days I started going back into A-Fib – full blown Monday afternoon.  Doing better, improving daily.....I think....  

Mathew 27:22-24  Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified.

²³ And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

²⁴ When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it.

Nope, not my fault.  How that excuse rings out through the ages.  I did this because you made me.  I did this because I had no other choice.  If I didn’t do this then we would have all manner of problems.  So it isn’t my fault; I was forced into it.

It is society’s fault; it is the fault of this race or that one; it is the times; it is the peer pressure, oh, how the excuses can build up to make a person say it isn’t them, it is you.

Our leaders today take polls to see how they should speak, they have a certain section of the population they want to please and if it persecutes others, or makes them instant criminals, so be it. 

Most of our political figures, today, are no different than Pontius Pilate; they know what the right thing to do is, but they yield to the pressures of lobbyists, of those with an agenda to change the very base of America.  All but the vilest of crimes have been excused in the name of social consciousness and even some of the violent crimes are exempted. 

The criminal is a product of his growing up, of his environment, of his ‘diseases or illnesses.’  He hasn’t had the opportunities; it is the bias of those around him because he is different, we just don’t understand him.  Excuses for bad behavior can be dreamed up for anyone looking to defend their own or someone else’s behavior.

The same goes for good behavior, I didn’t do it because I was afraid of what others would think; there were others there that were more qualified than me, so it is not my fault that no one did anything.  I was busy, I was too afraid, I didn’t want to get involved.  Any excuse will do if we don’t do what we know we should have done.

In the case of God, He is too repressive, His Word doesn’t fit in today’s society.  He has no business, and neither do any of His followers, in telling me what to do.  Man is a master of his own fate, and answers only to man – but man also can change the rules, or make excuses for bad behavior – so there are no absolutes if you don’t accept God’s Word.

We condemn Pilate because he didn’t have the moral courage to stand up for what was right.  To him, Jesus was just another Jew, many were slain for various reasons – what difference does one more make – even if He is innocent.  While he agreed to have a sham trial, he knew that Jesus was not guilty of any capital crime under the Roman Laws – the Jewish leaders conceded that fact.

His wife told him to have nothing to do with Jesus.  His laws told him Jesus was innocent.  He, himself said that Jesus was not guilty of any crimes – that He was ‘a just man.’  Yet, he turned him over to the Jews to be crucified, trying to pass the blame onto them in the symbolic washing of his hands.

In his eyes it was better to let one Jew be killed than to incur the wrath of the Jewish leadership over this man.  He meant nothing to Pilate, just one more Jew.  So, if he was killed it mattered far less than if he had an uprising instigated by the Jewish leaders because he didn’t give them Jesus to crucify.

I can hear him now, “I had no choice, God, if I didn’t do this there would have been far more damage done to your people (and my political aspirations.)”  “Can’t you see, God, it was better for Jesus to die, than everything else that might have happened?”  “I didn’t know He was your Son, yes I figured out He had done nothing wrong, but I had no choice – It was YOUR own people who forced me to give Him up.”  “Besides I washed my hands of the whole thing; it wasn’t me that killed him.”  “I even heard that Jesus was supposed to die and that by doing so He saved people – so I didn’t have any choice, see, you set this all up.  So, why are you judging me?” 

We condemn, Pilate, we are upset with our leaders, but are we really any different?  As individuals do we pass the buck and say it isn’t our fault?

We look at a world beset with sin and the results of sinful behavior.  We see young children starving and dying of diseases that can easily be dealt with given proper medical treatment.

We see the world in turmoil where groups of people are killing other groups of people because of they don’t agree with them; differences in religion, ideology, color of skin or anything else they can use to further their violence. 

We see a world on verge of another World War where the boundaries are not defined and the enemy is everywhere around us – indeed, in the Middle East it is already in a full blown war.  We have had some of the fringe elements attack us, but we are ripe for this new war of anything goes and it is difficult to identify the enemy.

Our heart cries out, our mind cannot cope with all the needs of the world.  How do we help those incarcerated or persecuted for their belief in our Lord?  How can we possible feed all those mouths?  How can we proclaim Christ when the need is so far flung?  It is overwhelming.

For most of us, God doesn’t expect us to go into foreign lands and preach the Gospel.  He doesn’t expect us to be great leaders and rally thousands of people to our causes.  That is not to say that if we are willing He cannot use us to do just that, but not everyone has the same gifts or ministry (responsibility.)

What He expects of us is:

Mark 12:29-31   And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord:

³⁰ And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

³¹ And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

When we accept that God is God, Creator, Jesus as Savior and Lord of all things, then we can accept that we need to be obedient to Him.

We need to listen to His Holy Spirit who guides and directs us.  We may not be able to save the whole world, but we can witness to our neighbors, we can make sure they are clothed and fed; we can contribute to ministries that serve God and man; and, we can live a life that gives Glory to God.

We can allow ourselves to be used of God, for His purposes.  Jesus did not preach to the Gentiles, while some heard of Him and believed, His primary mission was to the Jews.  He stayed in Israel; He did not go to other parts of the globe to preach and teach.  His mission was to the Jews – He knew of course that we, as Gentiles, would also have an opportunity to make a decision for Him – but, His mission was in Israel and His people.

He had others go to the utter most parts of the world to preach His Word.  To tell them of His life and His sacrifice; others had that mission, not Him.  As a man He was limited in where He could go, as the Son of God, obedient to the Heavenly Father, He did what He was placed on earth to do.  And thousands of years later His Word and salvation is still bringing people to Him – from all over the globe.

WE can only do what we can do.  We should not ‘beat ourselves up’ for what we cannot do – nor what we have failed to do in the past.  We need to move forward, listen to God, obey and then do what He wants us to do – not only will He show us, but He will help us. 

We have no excuses when it comes to obeying God.  Each of us has a place in His design to bring others to Him, we just need to find that place and fulfill it.

Later, Art :-)

From the ColumbiaRiverGorgeous
May Our Good Lord Bless and Keep YOU....’til we meet again