Prophetic implications of what is happening right now, today; and what is soon to come. "It's up to us how we come out of this." It could destroy us, or just give us reason to change our course and re-commit ourselves to goodness.
Re: Pandemonium in U.S. -- I had premonition events in my life over the past month and a half that I plowed over, that I now believe are actually symbolic of what is now upon us and probably also symbolic of what is shortly to come, as well as perhaps how we will come out of this. I share the following as a likely parallel to what is now happening and what is soon to come.
As I've mentioned to you, last month I had a hard drive crash that put me out of commission for some two weeks so far as being able to do what I usually do on the computer, which is a lot in any given day. Even now, I'm still crippled because of so much data being lost, including email addresses and important email correspondence that was lost.
But that wasn't the only thing that happened. That actually was only one in a series of personal catastrophes, one after another, after another, that had me saying to myself -- "sheesh, what is all this supposed to mean?" Early on it went far beyond mere chance that all these things would hit at once. Any one of which were fluke, rare events normally.
Here is a list of what happened, and I may be forgetting something.
* Off and on in July: our phone stops working because of water on the line, but DSL (Internet) connection still works because it's on a different frequency. We are able to use the campground phone line instead, but it is an inconvenience to Susan and others from the campground staff who need to use the phone.
* July 30, Cheri and I move to a new home in Ephraim, but phone service doesn't arrive for a week and half. Meanwhile there were promises and hopes of having the phone up any time, but one thing after another came up deferring the mobilization, including finding out that we didn't have a phone cable run to the house from the main junction box. Even today, we are still in a tentative status with a temporary line run across the ground.
* Within a day of getting the phone operational, my wireless Internet connection becomes disabled when I try to load a firewall to protect it.
* Around August 6: both hard drives crash, end up being irretrievable.
* August 7: even though I now have a new hard drive and motherboard, my Internet connection is still not working due to lack of way to load appropriate drivers. One avenue of solution after another proves to be inadequate to repair the problem, including a shipment of drivers for my zip drive, which takes a week and a half.
* Toward the end of August, through a simple remedy that we should have thought of sooner, I finally get the drivers and have access to the Internet.
* Within a few days I begin having problems booting up, and by Monday, Aug.3, I can't boot up at all and have to take the computer into the shop.
* Two days later, I have my computer back, but still have a boot problem. It ends up being my wireless Internet connection. The prognosis is that my motherboard is defective. The warranty is passed from the dealer, so I contact the manufacturer, who says it will take two weeks to get my hard drive back. A tech support person says it's not a defective motherboard but a bug in the wireless connection drivers.
* A couple of days later or so, I was back on line and booting, but only after an annoying log-in sequence that seems touch and go, so I've been leaving my computer on.
* So right now I'm sort of back in commission, but not everything is running smoothly. But enough so that I'm able to proceed for the most part.
Meanwhile, I have been greatly humbled with the introspection as to why all of this was happening. Surely God and his angels could have circumvented any of these small disasters, or could have given me some kind of preparatory warning, but he(&she) didn't -- unless I just didn't get it.
Also in the interim, I have been feeling the need to shift from a cyberspace emphasis to a real life emphasis in my interactions with my fellow men. And concurrent with that, I've begun having visitors to my home on a regular basis. Since a week ago Sunday, I've had four people I've not met one-on-one before drop in for unplanned visits. Tim and Bethany Quick on Sunday before. They are looking to move to this valley if possible. (They have an important day in court tomorrow if you could keep them in your prayers) McKay Andreason from across town last Sunday, and Clint from SLC yesterday. And then coming this week-end, I will be meeting Stan Shepp, another person from David's Outcasts. Prior to that, I've kind of been like a desert island so far as interacting with people like this. For me it has felt like more of a physical gathering has begun to commence. It's like a switch has been turned.
As the above events/obstacles unfolded one after another, I had reason for extensive introspection as to what message all of this is intended to convey, for it was obvious to me that there was some sort of intention behind it. Someone from the angelic realms was trying to get my attention. Was it God? Was it Satan.
Where was my life headed? Was Satan trying to impede my work? Was God giving me a course correction?
Either way, I had to take deep stock of myself.
At this point, I have come away with a deeper resolve to shift from the cyberworld emphasis to the tangible world of actual printed matter that can reach people whether or not the Internet is up.
My determination to commence Greater Things Magazine has been redoubled. www.greaterthingsmagazine.com (a Times magazine for the remnant). I truly want this publication to live up to its name, which will take a team effort. I'm grateful for the people who we currently have on board staffing the magazine, and I look forward to getting our first issue out. Today's shocking events of the World Trade Center attacks and such do not deter my determination.
Now, how do the personal catastrophes in my life symbolize events now unfolding and possibly those soon to follow?
First, I would compare the phone being out off and on to the economic slowdown of the past few months, along with the rising gas prices. News of this and that economic indicator causes the stock market to shiver, but we keep moving ahead.
Second, I would compare the phone not getting connected after our move to the many lay-offs that are taking place across the country, greatly hampering the economic outlook, but not incapacitating it.
Third, I would compare my two hard drives crashing to the attack today on the World Trade Center. This event will no doubt have the kind of ramifications for the U.S. and the world that my hard drive crash had in my personal life. It was greatly debilitating, but it did not throw me off altogether. I was able to get another hard drive, but even then, because of other problems I was not able to get connected to the Internet. There are alternative ways to accomplish what the World Trade Center accomplishes, but other areas may yet be temporarily incapacitated, making continuation difficult, though not impossible.
Forth, because of the above parallels, I can't help but think that the remainder of what happened to me in the past month could be meant as a prediction that there will yet be more major set-backs hindering "life as usual" in the U.S. and in the world.
Fifth, hopefully as a result of these setbacks, rather than giving up, we will take stock of where we are at as a civilization and shift our emphasis to where it ought to be.
Sixth, if we do so, we could come away from all of this with even greater resolve to seek for the ideal society. We may still be hampered, but we will be operational and stronger than ever. May today's date, 911, be symbolic of a collective distress call to the heavens. They will surely respond.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
www.greaterthings.com
www.patriotsaints.com
