This seemed especially on point, from Evening Prayer (1928 BCP obvs) tonight:
"Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows."
See that ye be not troubled, stay steadfast to the end and win the crown of glory.
Here endeth the Lesson,
LSP
There we were, on the back porch of the Compound about to say Evening Prayer when I looked up and lo and behold, hundreds of buzzards were flying overhead. Wow, there they were, gliding overhead into the West.
"Is this," I thought in wonder, "the Eschaton?" No fooling, I've never seen such a thing here, and yet there they were. Harbingers of apocalyptic doom. Perhaps. That in mind, it's all going on everywhere and you can Gaza read about it on the Information Superhighway.
Has this, dear readers, all eight of you, made us more or less informed. As we reflect on this, consider the omen witnessed in the expansive blue skies of the North Central Texan Free State this evening. Terrifying, eh?
In totally different yet related news, can any of you recommend a luxury, old skool, sleeper train ride.
Seriously, a luxury, old skool train and sleeper to boot, preferably with an outdoor observation deck and windows must open, which I think counts out our appalling Amtrak. Totally open to suggestions.
Haruspex,
LSP
Hey now, maybe this helps, but perhaps anodyne? Then there's this... anthem:
DFTR,
LSP
Yeah, go right ahead and post on Thunderbirds and see where it mythically gets you. Good call, LSP, now you're right in the middle of a ferocious, apocalyptic thunder storm. No kidding, the heavens are crashing down with eschatalogical fury.
At first I thought it was shrapnel bouncing off the justified and ancient timbers of the house but no, it was hail. I know this because I went outside to look at the lightshow and an icy boulder clocked me in the eye. Dam painful, I can tell you.
Would the rig be alright along with the planet itself? Good questions, so go outside with a flashlight to find out. All OK, thank God, and the storm passed over with its massive and predatory birds. We live to fight again another day.
All Hail Texas,
LSP
Here in Texas we call it skywater, water that literally falls from the sky, and we haven't had any since May - until this afternoon. It began slowly, tentative drops patterning the sidewalk, please don't stop, then picked up pace.
Astounded, I stood on the porch, looking out in wonder. Wow, actual rain, you could see it, and with the skywater came thunder, lightning and a sudden drop in temperature. Beautiful.
Then it stopped, but for how long. Even now, dark clouds are rolling in from the West; will they break and unleash a cataclysmic storm upon this small heat stricken country town?
Here at the Compound we watch and wait, expectant.
Eschaton,
LSP
Thunder and lightning SMASH down upon this small asset-stripped Texan farming community, shaking the ancient wooden timbers (what?) of the Compound. Like no kidding, a ferocious storm, turning night into day with all the fury of an electric universe.
Yes indeed, the climate's changed with elemental, eschatological fury. And so we stand, undaunted, on the rain lashed porch, daring our adversary to do its worst.
Seriously, this storm's pretty crazy, be safe out there.
Apocalypse,
LSP
Thunder rumbled like a celestial artillery barrage as the heavens opened and rain lashed down with cascading fury. Seriously, climate change got real and I had to pull over to the side of the road on the way to Mass. Clearly Hill County had forgotten to pay its carbon tax.
But maybe Bosque had because it was clear skies and sunny southern weather once you got over the dam which blocks the mighty Brazos, creating Lake Whitney. A great place to fish, for sure, and a good place to celebrate the Mass to boot, not far from one of Belle Starr's hideouts.
I keep meaning to visit what's left of her small 100 acre ranch, which once played host to the James Gang and other bushwhackers turned outlaw. All in good time, but in the meanwhile it's Corpus Christi, so here's a prayer.
Deus, qui nobis sub Sacramento mirabili Passionis tuae memoriam reliquisti; tribue, quaesumus, ita nos Corporis et Sanguinis tui sacra mysteria venerari, ut redemptionis tuae fructum in nobis iugiter sentiamus: Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
And in English:
O God, who under a wonderful Sacrament hast left us a memorial of Thy Passion; grant us, we beseech Thee, so to venerate the sacred mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, that we may ever feel within ourselves the fruit of Thy Redemption: Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.
Powerful prayers and do you think that a nation, people or persons who openly mock God will somehow escape the storm of his judgement?
O Salutaris,
LSP
Thunder roars and rumbles across the sky and lightning sears and cracks the heavens as rain lashes down with elemental fury. Yes, this is Texas, and the days of our small rural farming community may be numbered as assorted trash, needles, broken shoes, dime bags and weaves wash away in the flood.
A cleansing, perhaps. But on a practical note, as you look up from weapons cleaning, polishing Sam Brownes and ironing uniforms, it's said that enough rain falls in Texas to keep your compound irrigated throughout the year, if you collect the rain.
We have yet to build a cistern(s) and that's clearly overdue. You see, when the grid goes down how will you get lifegiving water to your home via electric pumps which don't work?
You get the point. In the meanwhile, we're watching this storm in all its incandescent fury.
Eschaton,
LSP
Is it their winsome hands-in-the air jollity?
We were told, you may recall, that if we didn't ordain wimmin to the priesthood no one would take us seriously and everyone would stop going to church. A powerful argument made all the more compelling by the ethical force behind it. Viz. Not having wymxn priests is unjust, bigoted and evil, so we must have they/them.
Leaving aside the hard-edged rigor of late 20th and early 21st century theology, we have to ask: Now that we've ordained wymmin for several decades is everyone taking us seriously and going to church? No, they are not.
Oh dear, we obviously haven't worked the equation hard enough, so maybe trans vicars and rainbow marriage rituals will finally persuade everyone to go to church because we're at last serious about social equity. First phase of the revolution failed? Double down.
But this is a smokescreen. Their intention isn't to build a Church they don't believe in, which they think has been unjust and effectively evil since the days of the Apostles. No, it's to tear it down. No matter, then, if congregations dwindle and die, the wrecking unicorn will have done its rainbow work.
They'll fail in this, the gates of hell shall not prevail, but in the meanwhile "there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." And persecution such as has been never seen. This is foretold.
LSP
This small farming community in North central Texas faced down ferocious storms on Monday, but it was nothing compared to Dallas. Our Old Adversary, the Weather, changed with a vengeance and flooded the Metrosprawl.
Like no kidding. Torrential rain turned suburban streets into raging torrents and shut down the Mix Master, an insane highway complex in the center of town which is a nightmare at the best of times. A woman died in Mesquite, caught in her car as it was carried under by the current. May she rest in peace.
Even the world famous Margaret Hunt bridge was threatened with disaster as the waters rose with primal, apocalyptic fury. Yes, the levees hold, for now. And it's a here and now issue because, apparently, that's not some kind of God-given thing. Work it out, Dallas.
In the meanwhile, Ma LSP's house rests on high ground and I'll be sure to swing by and make sure all's well, safe from marauding hordes of waterborne looters. On that note, smart people are investing in BOATS.
LSP
It started off gently, with a soothing murmur of thunder and unassuming flashes of lightning. Yes, our Old Enemy the Weather was up to zhir old tricks again, pretending to be some kind of first year curate fresh out of Duke or some other lesser satan like Sewannee.
Then boom, the sky turned green, wind blasted out of the north driving sheets of rain before its onslaught as thunder crashed from heaven with all the elemental ferocity of MLRS on the Kharkov front. (What? Ed.)
In related news, 1000 marines wisely surrendered in a Ukrainian port, a French reporter claims the US is running the Ukrainian Foreign Legion, huh, and a church in Chicago is urging its congregation to "fast from whiteness" during Lent. What does that look like, Talcum X or Rachel Dolezal? Your call.
More seriously, please say a prayer for my rodeo friend who died on Saturday, he was a good man. His requiem's tomorrow, may he rest in peace and rise in glory.
LSP
So here we are, on a cheery Tuesday evening in CONUS or more precisely, North Central Texas (NCT). And what's going on? Vultures were gathering on lamp posts this morning as I patrolled to the Pick 'n Steal. Ominous, apocalyptic perhaps.
Were they a presage of things to come, the death of the PetroDollar in the face of a gold backed Ruble/Yuan? Maybe and let's face it, how can a currency which is an IOU at interest to a privately owned bank, the Fed, be worth anything other than debt? And we all know the problem with that, at some point someone wants to be paid back.
In other news, the Ukraine action is clearly a genocide, yes, of late Soviet era tech, and true to form our media and ruling elite are more or less baying for World War III. We have to mobilize for Ukraine if we don't want our democratic freedom to be destroyed by Russia, which has a GDP rather less than California.
Such an existential threat or would that be PR firm agitprop reinforced by every mainstream media outlet in the Western world. Remember Trump? Of course you do, what a miserable, traitorous Russian spy. As you savor his despotic, orange, NYC perfidy ask which country allows Christian prayer in state run schools. Which country isn't able to define the difference between men and women? Hint, not Chechenya.
But enough of that, we'll see how it all plays out. In the meanwhile, curry's on the go, vegetarian because Lent, and mango chutney. Here's the thing. A curry without mango chutney is a poor beast, but who wants to drive all the way to Waco to get it? No one. Solution? Make it yourself.
Stay tuned for another episode of Cooking With LSP.
Your Buddy,
LSP
Ice blew like shrapnel against the ancient timbers of the Compound, whipped up and blown in by a fierce Northern wind. Hurtful metaphors of the War aside, this wasn't a dream, no, it was a winter storm, an Ice Age Eschaton right here in North Central Texas.
No kidding. The new day dawned and off I went into the icy void, and it was a void. You could stand in the street, fire a canon and hit no one. They were all "sheltering in place" like Justine Trudeau. Not me. No, I went out for a short walk in the ice particle storm.
The Meth shack was was empty and frozen, the Pick 'n Steal? Closed. Go figure, but Alanon was open, right there in the center of town. "What's that, a refill and a pack of Marlboro Lights?" Right on, then back into the bracing wind.
I texted a pal in the Old Country, "Look, ESCHATON." He replied, "PALE HORSE."
Stay warm and safe,
LSP
Then, setup onna Moon, it being the nearest quasi planetary body and an excellent training ground for our further expansion into the last and final frontier. After that?
Mars, obviously, and then the moons of the gas giants and asteroids. Perhaps asteroids sooner, Texas can mine them to propel its Total Space Dominance (TSD). You see what we're saying?
Texas, we have lift off. And as always, and to answer the question, Deus Vult.
Ad Astra,
LSP
Have you noticed a recent report from One America life insurance company CEO Scott Davison, saying deaths are up 40% this year in working age Americans, 18-64? That's a huge, bottom line destroying increase, maybe you want to divest from One America and it's sickly sisters. But what's causing the sigma spike mortality surge.
COVID? If so, Federal Mask 'n Vax policy isn't cutting it. If not, then surely our experimental, data sealed for 75 years vaccines aren't responsible for a massive uptick in deaths. Either way, bad news. Via ZeroHedge:
Here is what lit me up in this report from The Center Square contributor Margaret Menge.
“The head of Indianapolis-based insurance company OneAmerica said the death rate is up a stunning 40% from pre-pandemic levels among working-age people.
“We are seeing, right now, the highest death rates we have seen in the history of this business – not just at OneAmerica,” the company’s CEO Scott Davison said during an online news conference this week. “The data is consistent across every player in that business.”
And on:
AT A MINIMUM, based on my reading, one has to conclude that if this report holds and is confirmed by others in the dry world of life insurance actuaries, we have both a huge human tragedy and a profound public policy failure of the US Government and US HHS system to serve and protect the citizens that pay for this “service”.
IF this holds true, then the genetic vaccines so aggressively promoted have failed, and the clear federal campaign to prevent early treatment with lifesaving drugs has contributed to a massive, avoidable loss of life.
AT WORST, this report implies that the federal workplace vaccine mandates have driven what appear to be a true crime against humanity. Massive loss of life in (presumably) workers that have been forced to accept a toxic vaccine at higher frequency relative to the general population of Indiana.
FURTHERMORE, we have also been living through the most massive, globally coordinated propaganda and censorship campaign in the history of the human race. All major mass media and the social media technology companies have coordinated to stifle and suppress any discussion of the risks of the genetic vaccines AND/OR alternative early treatments.
IF this report holds true, there must be accountability. We are not just talking about running over the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States and grinding it into the mud with an army of artificial intelligence-powered heavy infantry. This article reads like a dry description of an avoidable mass casualty event caused by a mandated experimental medical procedure. One for which all opportunities for the victims to have become self-informed about the potential risks have been methodically erased from both the internet and public awareness by an international corrupt cabal operating under the flag of the “Trusted News Initiative”. George Orwell must be spinning in his grave.
I hope I am wrong. I fear I am right.
I fear he is too,
LSP
The Apocalypse, prophesied by our Savior. False Christs, wars and rumors of war, earthquakes, famine, "troubles." The Gospel preached to all nations as the faithful are beaten in the synagogues and handed over to councils and kings, to the secular authority.
And then the abomination of desolation, the visible triumph of blasphemous pagan power in the holy place, followed by the great tribulation, the reign of Antichrist mercifully cut short by God and the return of Christ in glory.
You can read it all in Mark 13 and the other synoptics, but what are we to make of this, like children on a road trip we want to know, are we there yet? Stand back and reflect. Have Christ's words been fulfilled, are they being so and will they be, at some point in the future. The answer, surely, is yes to all three.
Christ's prophecy was partially and accurately fulfilled in the sack of Jerusalem, and the persecution of the Church. St. Paul, notoriously, was brought before a "ruler," Caesar himself, and blasphemous pagan power ruled supreme over the world and the rubble of the Temple.
But Christ didn't return, so this is a type or prefigurement of greater things to come, the final battle between good and evil, of Christ and Antichrist. Are we there yet, we ask and the answer is no, the Abomination has not yet been set up, whether from a rebuilt Temple, the Vatican, Canterbury Cathedral(!) or anywhere else. Pagan, blasphemous power is not yet triumphant. Yet.
This means, in terms of the prophecy, that we're at the "beginning of sorrows," the rest is to come and note, as we draw inevitably closer to the date so too does evil increase and wax large. This will continue until it's evidently triumphant, the abomination will be set up with all signs and wonders so as to deceive the very elect. The mystery of iniquity at work. Woe, flee to the hills.
Then Christ returns. Great will be the fall of the anti-kingdom before the might and irresistible power of God, and the elect, God's chosen people, his faithful, will be gathered to him in glory as evil is thrown down, utterly, for evermore into the lake of fire.
Apocalypse, and a message of hope. God wins, the Devil and his apostate angels don't, so be strong in your faith, "hang tough" said one church person, rightly. But consider this (I didn't preach it and maybe should've):
The Synoptic "Little Apocalypse" can be paraphrased as a lesser or desultory persecution, the blasphemous abomination, the great persecution and the triumphant return of Christ. Leaving aside Danielic math (think half weeks and three days) does this present us with the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ? Yes, it does.
Brought before councils, beaten in the synagogues, the scourging, a lesser tribulation. Golgotha, the sacrilegious desolation, and the Tomb, witness the effect of the greater persecution only to be followed by the return of Christ.
We, as Christians, share in this, we live in Christ and he in us. The apocalypse must, then, play out in our lives and as it does, by the grace of God may we be raised to glory, even as evil is cast into the lake of fire.
Your Old Pal,
LSP
