It is interesting how little things can trigger pleasant memories.

I have used Vitalis for my hair – even now when there isn’t much of it - for as long as I can remember.  This morning, as I was taking it out of the cabinet, I was reminded that the bottle is several years, at least a decade, old.

It is faded and touched by the time that has gone by.  I remembered how, when staying with my Grandma and Grandpa, I would open the medicine cabinet and look at HIS bottle of Vitalis. 

It was old and faded, in all the years I visited, I don’t think I ever saw a new bottle, it was that same bottle.  It never seemed to go down, even though he used it all the time.

My bottle brought back the memories of staying and helping them in the summer.  Gathering eggs from the hundreds of chickens Grandma kept, helping Grandpa with the cows, bucking bales of hay, helping in the garden, just being with them for weeks at a time in the summer.

Watching my tiny grandmother wielding a 10 inch cimitar knife as she sliced the bacon every morning and then cut it away from the rind.  In her hands that huge knife looked like a scimitar sword the Turks used to carry.   

The smell of that bacon sizzling in the pan and the fresh eggs with bacon, potatoes – both cooked in that bacon grease - toast and cold fresh milk – that came from that gallon jar she kept in the refrigerator - was a treat to indulge in every morning.

It was simpler times, good times.

Times, that unlike today, you valued the old and familiar things and used them for as long as they lasted – sometimes repurposing them, but never discarding until the very last drop of usefulness.

I am sure that old bottle of Vitalis was thrown away when my grandmother was moved to a Nursing Home.  It served, faithfully, my Grandfather for many years and, for me, it was a sign that things don’t always have to change, the old doesn’t need to be discarded, just because it is old.

If it is still good, use it.

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Psalm 91:2  I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  KJV

I had an interesting dream last night.  I was sitting at my desk and a man knocks on the door. 

When I answered he said, ‘the giver of life has sent me to show you how all life has been created.”

Interesting term, ‘the giver of life.’  I asked who he was, the man said, “that is what I have been sent here to show you.”

He said “the giver of life knows everything about you and one of the things he told me to do was to wear casual clothes, because you don’t like formality.”

He then told me many things about my background, my family, my likes and dislikes, etc.

He then asked, “will you come with me?  The giver of life wants to have you come to him so that he can use you as one of his preachers.  He said you have great passion and promise.”

I said, ‘where is it, how do we get there, how long to you propose it will take, explaining to him that I have responsibilities here.’

He replied, “It is like a time machine.  We will be transported in an instance and when we are through you will be brought back home at the exact moment we leave.  Only you will know that you have gone and seen the giver of life.  But, he wants to make you a spokesperson for him, so those around you will know something has happened, because you will be so enthralled with him you will want to serve him.”

I agreed, I was curious.

We arrived in the center of a building that seemed to go on for miles in every direction.  It was filled with computers, all interconnected.

I saw no humans anywhere in the room.

He turned me around took me to an office, located behind me, in the center of the room.  It was large, paintings of different people were on the walls of the room, there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of them.

Behind an ornate desk was a man.  However, as I grew closer I realized he wasn’t really there, it was a hologram.  

He immediately introduced himself as the ‘giver of life.’  We didn’t shake hands of course, but he did motion for me to take a seat.

He then went on to explain that the ‘giver of life’ was a giant computer.  One that had all the answers of the universe.

It was in constant communication with people, on an individual basis.  It was in fact the ‘god’ that I had been worshipping for the last 50 years.

He went on to say “ we have many planets like earth where we have tried the Adam and Eve process, the paintings you see around us are the original Adam and Eve of each of those planets; although they go by different names they were created the same way.”

I asked, ‘and how did that work out for you?”

He said, “some planets went for two, three and even four generations before they succumbed to the wiles of satan, but I am still experimenting.”

So how did you come to be, I asked.

“What do you mean?”

I said, God said, “ I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”  Rev. 1:8 KJV

“How did you come to be, you have all the answers, so you must know?”

He said, “I just am.”

“How?  Who created you?”

“I did,” was his reply.

Again I asked, “How?”

“Just did,” was his reply.

As we talked it became clear that any information he had gleaned about me had come from records here on earth, some from e-mails I had sent, some from news articles and some from phone calls the computer had been set up to intercept.

He couldn’t tell me my inner most thoughts.  He could not give information to me that was not available through other sources.

He could not tell me the intricacies of each plant I named, or the animals I brought to his attention – and to the human body and all that it entails.

As I continued to quiz him I could see his anger building; he looked at his messenger and told him to take me back.

I awoke – one of those times when you aren’t quite sure if you are still asleep or awake, so you lay there waiting to figure it out.

One of the shows I used to enjoy watching was “Person of Interest.”  A storyline much like this one where the ‘machine knows everything about you.’

That is probably what this dream was built on.

However, as I laid in my bed, half awake, half asleep I realized that satan uses every tool that is at his disposal, and there are plenty. 

AND this dream could be one of his ways of trying to influence me to question the existence of God.  Frankly, it did seem real as I was dreaming.

Some people think, because they have had an education, traveled extensively, they have a better idea of what the world is all about and look at me and other Christians as poor backward folk who still be leave in fairy tales.

However, they have no foundation, they live at the whim of whatever society says is appropriate, they have allowed the world to infiltrate their minds and hearts.  They are proud of themselves for being able to overcome the need for or even the belief in God.

They have come to believe that experience and education gives them more credibility in the world and therefore they are more enlightened and wiser that those that trust in God and believe in His Word.

They search for inner peace, or a higher purpose, but do not want God to be involved, that is too bad, for without Him everything is for naught.

Satan takes many forms.  His guile is smooth and he does have a knowledge about us that we find aggravating, since he knows our weaknesses and loves to exploit them.

He uses our pride, our fears, our desires and anything else that will compromise our relationship with God.

All the education, all that travel, all the experiences we have in life CAN be used by God to further His kingdom.  But, when we think that because of it we are wise and knowing, we falter and fail; and, we will be held accountable, not by some phantom machine or ideology, but by God Himself.

The life and guidance they seek can come from God, IF they allow Him to talk to their heart AND listen to what He is saying.

Mathew 7:7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

⁸ For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.  KJV

AND then, they too can say:   I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

Later, Art (-: