Terrorism on Canadian Soil

I was crowned, last night at 8:30 PM. After I addressed a little bigger group than the night before, I went to the dentist and my right eyetooth was cemented in. Excellent job. There is no way anyone can tell that my tooth has a cap on it. I intended to pay with my credit card, but my host dropped cash on the receptionist’s desk. I thought they had talked this over and the dentist preferred cash to a credit card, so I didn’t protest the move. Come to find out that my host decided to pay and announced, when I tried to reassure her that I would pay her back, that it was a gift.

I’m not very good at graciously accepting gifts. I suppose it is pride, but I really didn’t want my friends to think that my sequestering a dentist in their area was calculated to get a handout. Frankly, I would have wanted to pay for my own teeth, but what can I say. She insisted and all I could do was thank her, and truly, I am grateful.

Today, four of us went for lunch at a new lifestyle center on the western end of Budapest. An Adventist couple is leasing this beautiful chateau for a year at a high cost, and they hope to open their LSC in two weeks. We had a great time, the food was good; we answered many questions and made tons of suggestions. I had to tell the driving force behind this project (the lady) that a miracle is her only hope of success. She took copious notes and is noticeably excited about her new venture, but she’s going to need everybody’s help and God’s special blessing to pull this off. She has no experience; her prospects of filling her ten beds twice monthly are not so good seeing she has no reputation or recognition. It’s a personal business, which means she will be paying wages to cook, therapists, doctors etc. Plus, she invested her own money to get the thing started and hopes to recover it. If she succeeds, it will be at the cost of her health I fear. She’ll need to work night and day to make it happen.

I’m praying for Uncle Nelson. Poor guy, he’s had a streak of bad circumstances lately that do not bode well. I fear for his life. I am praying for him.

Terrorism on Canadian soil: Unusual, tragic for sure for the victims and their families, unnerving in the short term, but it isn’t exactly our 9/11. When contrasted with the Ebola Crisis in Liberia and neighboring countries, and the Islamic State Caliphate, the Russian incursion onto Ukrainian territories, Boko Haram’s slaughtering of thousands in Nigeria, etc. etc., I wouldn’t think it time to panic.

Fear is for those who have no God. The Bible is reported to have 365 verses that say “Fear not” or “Be Not Afraid”--one for every day of the year. I wish I could have a direct telepathic connection to every heart within the circle of my influence. I would like to transfer what faith I have. (Is it arrogant to think I have a cultivated measure of faith beyond what most have?) I hope not. Everyday, I’m torn between being too soft on people I know to be in spiritual trouble and the fear of pushing too hard. One of these days, it will be like the house is on fire and we will of necessity have to sound the alarm. Has the time come yet? I don’t know. How will I know?

So struggles the Preacher for his tribe and a host of others.