Vince Deagler

 hi out there in blog land.  as i begin writing today i am some what torn.  with all that is happening around me i feel compelled to comment.  but i recognize my purpose in writing this blog is primarily spiritual, and the more i get caught up with all that is going on in our culture right now, the more that line of spirituality gets blurred.  so with a certain degree of fear i launch out today.  here’s what i’m thinking.

first of all may i spend just a moment commenting on the inconsistencies that are so obvious that we all should be able to agree.  the republicans…which is how i vote…though i see myself as a conservative more than a republican…had a chance for 6 years to govern with a majority in the house, senate, and presidency.  not until 2006 did they lose the house and senate.  not until 2008 did they lose the presidency.  they did not govern as conservatives, they governed beyond their means and the national debt expanded.  along comes the financial collapse, and our presidents, both bush and obama, call for bail outs and stimulus.  and so the democratically controlled house and senate give them everything they want.  but that means even more national debt.  here is the funny part.  the republicans have now got religion and all of a sudden they care about national debt.  i actually called a local radio program last week because my congressman, a repub, was on a program complaining about the stimulus and tarp 2 when he had voted, against my urging for tarp 1.  but from the dem side we are told we have to spend…spending equals stimulus…(makes you wonder how we could have a financial collapse in the first place…after all we sure were spending).  but spending is only good apparently if it is governmentally controlled.  when the government spends, even ridiculously beyond their means, its stimulus.  but if a bank on wall street, or other private business buys a plane, or uses a plane, if they have mtgs in las vegas, if they give out bonuses, if they redecorate their offices, etc.  then that’s bad.  wait, i thought spending was good…a stimulus for the economy.  as near as i can tell, unless harry reid, nancy pelosi, or our president decide where money will be spent, i guess it shouldn’t be spent.

now why did i say all this.  well, i have been around the block a few times.  i will be 52 this summer.  i can remember the difficulty of the carter years, the recession of the first president bush, the recession at the end of the clinton years, the dot com bust, worldcom, enron, and 9/11 and its aftermath.  i can even remember movements like the “moral majority”.  what i have observed is circumstances are constantly changing.  sometimes for the better, other times for the worse.  politicians are forever making promises, implementing policies, and doing their best to make things better so they can take the credit.  but what perplexes me is the very people who governed us from 2006 till today are the very people who are assuring us they now have the answer.  somehow i would find that way more comforting if they had not allowed this crisis to unfold.  if they couldn’t see the problem developing, if they couldn’t prevent the problem, why should i believe they can solve the problem.  i don’t.  its not a republican thing, or a democrat thing.  its not a liberal or conservative thing.  its a human thing.

you see the bible paints a picture of man as being flawed.  its called sin.  to try to explain that reality away is nothing more than delusion or denial.  i don’t expect a flawed humanity to come up with the answers we need.  a long time ago i realized i need god.  as i have grown in my relation to him i more and more understand he is writing his story, has everything under control, and it will end exactly as he has planned.  i trust him.  whether we have a stimulos bill, tarp 2, another bail out, repubs or dems in control, global warming, another war, whatever, i trust him.

so, if your hanging on to circumstances, buckle your seat belt cause it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.  i predict there will be good times, bad times, and everything in between in the future.  if your hanging on to politicians and policies, well you better buckle your seat belts too, because politicians come and go, policies come and go, and experience tells me there’s more problems then there are solutions.  but, if you are hanging on to god, his word.  if your seeking to live as he directs here is what i promise you.  i do not know what ther future will be like with any specificity.  but if i live today with god, and tomorrow, and the next day, i know that as long as i do that i will be exactly where he wants me to be, and there will be no better place for me to be irregardless of the circumstances that surround me.  so here is to today, problems and all, because it is a new gift from god to take, open, and use to its full.  a chance to do something meaningful with my life, to be fruitful and fulfilled as god intends.  a chance to give others a taste of god and satan a taste of defeat.  to make up there (heaven) come down here, just as jesus himself did.

i still get worked up, i have even been known to yell at the tv and characterize our fearless leaders as less than intelligent.  but i’m working on it.  i really have no reason to get worked up because god is still writing his story…and i know how it ends.  so hang in there, walk with god and let him carry the weight.  blessings.  vince