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Cybersalt News

Oh look, Chicken Thursday and New Year's Eve!

I have lots of thoughts and feelings as we say goodbye to 2020 and head into 2021. I had plans to write some of them down with great flourish and inspiring conclusion, but you know what? I'm pretty tired of thinking, and coping, and positing what the current times mean for now and tomorrow. They say that still waters run deep, but it is equally true that deep waters sometimes sit still - behind a dam. And, just as there are times for dams to treasure up water, there are times for hearts to treasure up mystery.

We live in a world where many cannot, or refuse to, tolerate mystery. Instead, they conjure the imaginary to pretend they have explained the unfathomable, while mocking those who continue to believe in the goodness of the One for whom even the darkness is light.  This dichotomy of reaction is nothing new. In the midst of his great suffering, Job's wife (herself struggling with the same incredible losses that he was experiencing) suggested that he, "Curse God and Die." Accepting, if not embracing, the mystery of the time Job replied, "Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?"

Did you know that the steps leading to the temple in Jerusalem are irregular on purpose? Land of the Bible [dot] com explains, "The stairs are irregular, with both original and replaced stones, which forced the faithful to pay attention as they ascended the alternating wide and narrow steps. It also prevented a hurried approach to the Temple, which would be tempting with the thousands of people here." 

I think we can all agree 2020 was an irregular step that slowed us all down. I rushed into 2020 sure that it was going to be great and that in the next 12 months I was going to "kill it!"

Lesson learned!

I'm not rushing into 2021, but I am stepping into it and doing so with hope because I'm a follower of Jesus and I know that not only is He with me in this massive reservoir of life's mystery, but that also some day the dam will break and what He was doing all along will be clear. And then I'll really be OK.

From depths of my heart I pray that you will step into the new year the same way and I truly hope and wish that 2021 is an incredibly healthy and prosperous year - in every way - for you and those around you.

~ Pastor Tim

My human will never let me eat their pet hamster, and I am at peace with that.

I will not slurp fish food from the surface of the aquarium

I will not eat large numbers of assorted bugs, then come home and throw them up so the humans can see that I'm getting plenty of roughage.

I will not lean way over to drink out of the tub, fall in, and then pelt right for the box of clumping cat litter. (It took FOREVER to get the stuff out of my fur.)

I will not use the bathtub to store live mice for late-night snacks.

We will not play "Herd of Thundering Wildebeests Stampeding Across the Plains of the Serengeti" over any humans' bed while they're trying to sleep.

I cannot leap through closed windows to catch birds outside. If I forget this and bonk my head on the window and fall behind the couch in my attempt, I will not get up and do the same thing again.

I will not assume the patio door is open when I race outside to chase leaves.

I will not stick my paw into any container to see if there is something in it. If I do, I will not hiss and scratch when my human has to shave me to get the rubber cement out of my fur.

If I bite the cactus, it will bite back.

I will not puff my entire body to twice its size for no reason after my human has watched a horror movie.

When it rains, it will be raining on all sides of the house.

It is not necessary to check every door.

I will not play "dead cat on the stairs" while people are trying to bring in groceries or laundry, or else one of these days, it will really come true.

When the humans play darts, I will not leap into the air and attempt to catch them.

I will not swat my human's head repeatedly when they are on the family room floor trying to do sit ups.

When my human is typing at the computer, their forearms are *not* a hammock.

Computer and TV screens do not exist to backlight my lovely tail.

I will not stand on the bathroom counter, stare down the hall, and growl at NOTHING after my human has watched The Walking Dead.

I will not drag dirty socks onto the bed at night and then yell at the top of my lungs so that my humans can admire my "kill."

I will not perch on my human's chest in the middle of the night and stare until they wake up.

I will not walk on the key board when my human is writing important adagfsg gdjag ;ln.

If you're such a good cook, why do we have to pray before every meal?

"Be a Billionaire!"

and Help

Refugees and

Persecuted Christians

A snail was involved in an accident that resulted in his shell being torn completely off.

Hearing about the accident, one of his friends rushed over (as much as a snail can rush) to his friend's house.

"I heard about your accident!" he exclaimed, and then asked, "How are you feeling?"

The recovering snail answered, "Sluggish."

The coach's wife yells to her husband, "It's Sports Illustrated on the phone."

The coach falls all over himself racing to the phone and says, "Hello?"

Then he hears, "For just $20 a year..."

Featured Illustrations are items well suited for illustrating or inspiring a point in a sermon, speech, or devotional. Funny, moving, or perhaps even graphic, the point of them is the point you make with them.

The Cybersalt Digest is a ministry of Pastor Tim and Cybersalt.