"Fanning the Flames, Then Condemning the Fire" ...

Even though Governor Beshear has relaxed restrictions (in stages), Trumpers are still not happy.

Thus, they hung this effigy of him from a tree, with a noose around his neck, at the Capitol Building in Frankfort on Memorial Day.

Well, they got the "sic" part right, but I think they're missing a "K" ;)

Because seriously, people - this is sick stuff.  

(For non-Americans or those who just don't know, "Sic tyrannis semper" means "Thus Always to Tyrants" in Latin - and it is the phrase John Wilkes Booth shouted on the stage when he shot President Abraham Lincoln.)

Even if you don't agree with the restrictions or think he overreacted, he was (and still is) trying to protect people from COVID-19.

Beshear responded by saying:  "I will not be afraid.  I will not bullied.  I will NOT back down."

THEN, our State Trump-supporting GOP politicians began distancing themselves from the effigy, publicly condemning  it.

So Beshear said ...

 "You cannot fan the flames, then condemn the fire." 

Amen. Good for him :)

Now -  you would think the COVID crisis would've taught people just who and what are really important, and that people would be happier with social restrictions being more relaxed, but no.

In fact, people are worse - they're nastier than ever - and it's like they feel someone has to pay.

They will  have their way and have it all -  right NOW, b'God - regardless of how it affects others.

Bully and victimize - then justify it by  claiming they are the bullied victims - usually simply because someone said some variation of: "Uh, no - this is NOT okay." 

*Yawn*

That is such an overplayed tactic from people today, isn't it?  

Too bad it people keep buying it.  

Not me - I can see that sh*t coming a mile away.  

Have you met my mother and my oldest sister? lol 


Speaking of whom ...

The texts I received -  literally out of nowhere, without any provocation whatsoever or any communication at all since 6 weeks ago, when I texted, asking if you needed any toilet paper or surgical gloves during COVID?  

(Don't worry, I'll never ask if you need help during an emergency again.)

What an excellent impression of them both - particularly Kim - when in bully-others-while-in-false-victim mode.

(Which happens when she's miserable and wants someone to take it out on/blame.  I'm the best candidate, because once upon a time, long ago, I said, "Uh, no - that is not okay," when everyone else was enabling/pretending it was.  (Because, you see, holding dishonest, abusive people accountable/not pretending is the only definition of "abuse" in Toxic Families/Group Land - it's a criminal offense ;)

Do you do other impressions? ;)


Regardless - that's a gaslighting/bully fail.


Clearly, I DO need more prayer about curbing my smart-ass reactions to absurdity, though (see below post).  It doesn't help the situation.  

Well, not entirely true -  my sense of humor has gotten me through much, in this life :)

However, my sarcasm often is a cover for a lot of pain and can make things worse, that's true.

In other news, our new neighbors (from the building right next door, downstairs) had a cookout last night.

Of course, people drank too much, then someone shouted, "We survived COVID!"

I heard someone else shout "No, we survived (Beshear) physically abusing us all."

Oh, what complete BS, lol.  

Come on, man  - nobody has physically abused anybody, let's settle down, now. 

However, that effigy could be construed as a terroristic threat.

(I didn't say that, but I thought it;)

Secondly, COVID-19 is not over.

Thus, like I said below,  I'm self-socially-isolating for a while longer, because I don't know what's gotten into people, but they are especially nuts, right now.

I'd rather focus on the people I love and other activities that give me joy and that I'm grateful for?

________________________________

PS - Just to elaborate on my last sentence above - all you need to know is that I'm happier than I've ever been, I'm healthier than I've ever been (emotionally and physically), I'm blissfully in love with my husband, and I've really started to love life and have fun again, without feeling guilty when doing so.  

My life is wonderfully calm, safe, and boring, now - and I love it!!!

Which, sadly, was only possible with therapy and learning to extricate myself/remove myself from toxic people, groups, and situations (that I tend to have particularly dramatic allergic overreactions to) sooner, and finally refusing to be the family scapegoat and blame myself anymore.  

And I do take responsibility - just not for things I didn't do or take on all blame, like I used to.  

So I'm sorry, but I can't be the family scapegoat anymore and/or hold other people's flaming bags of poo flung at me anymore, I have enough my own self-created flaming bags of poo to deal with lol.    They'll have to find a new one. 

Or better yet, start self-examining and taking responsibility for these things themselves, after years of consistent therapy, like I am.

However, I DO still love them and pray for them, every day - just from a safe distance. 

And I will never allow any member of that toxic swamp to steal my joy again (Amen).

So catch ya later :) 

Another Famous Christian Renounces Their Faith: The Age of Spiritual Struggle ...

Yet another well-known Christian has renounced their faith - Jon Steingard of the Christian Rock Band, "Hawk Nelson."  

Last year, there was a rash of suicides by several well-known pastors, most notably Jarrid Wilson.

Famous Christian author, Josh Harris, denounced Christianity, last year. 

Jon Steingard said: 

"I'm open to the idea that God is there. I'd prefer if he was. I suspect if he is there, he is very different than what I was taught."

Actually, I see his soul still shining - because that took guts, risking losing fans and money, simply because he felt dishonest. He said he can't sing songs he doesn't believe anymore because it feels like a lie.  

The reason I say his soul is still shining is because even though John doesn't believe in Christ anymore, he's still doing "What Jesus Would Do" regardless - he chose honesty over money, fame, and power.

I wish more people - especially politicians - would do the same, especially those claiming to be Christian ;)

And I get his struggle.

Because we are now living in an age where truth and justice don't matter, where fact, proof and evidence don't even matter - only winning and getting what you want matter, regardless of truth or who else you hurt in the process.

An age where wealth and power are wrongfully equated with proof of righteousness, good character, or even sanity.

An age where where power-abuse and victimizing others, claiming themselves the victim to justify their actions, is what wins.

And worst of all, we are seeing the advent of something we've never seen before - where not only are these things being said and done contrary to Christ's message and justified, but actually encouraged from other Christians.

Thus, we find ourselves asking, "Doesn't God care about truth and justice anymore?" 

I get it, this stuff is hard to watch, especially from proclaimed Christians.

But it's okay to ask questions - I'm sure God can handle it. 

It's okay to struggle in your faith - you're not alone - no judgment here. 

It's okay not to believe, if that's your choice - we DO have free will.  

I'm struggling myself, after an event this past weekend.

But the fact is, the last sentence John said was right on the money, when he said:

 "... if he is there, he is very different than what I was taught."

Bingo.

The problem may not be God, the problem may be your perception of God, what you were taught (by well-meaning people), or with prior interpretations of the scripture?

(There's a reason why Christ's message is so different than Paul's waffling/contradictory messages.  In fact, if you look and read Paul's history and waffling based on politics, which is something Christ would never do - and unfortunately, the bible doesn't narrate Paul's life for us, you just have to pay attention to his waffling choices ;)

In fact, I would imagine God would appreciate it that you really put some thought into this and didn't just choose him blindly.

And that starts with the question:  "What if what I was taught and have always believed -  at least like I've always believed it - isn't true?"

That takes a kind of bravery not everyone possesses - in fact, most people don't, it's too scary to consider the alternatives of.

For me, after my own time of atheism years ago, I came to the conclusion that the problem wasn't God, the problem was my perception of God.

I already knew you can't prove God exists  - but then I realized you can't physically prove love exists, especially different types of love - you can only see the affects of love (and even those are subjective).

Now, I believe there was a master scientist of this experiment, a master chef - this cake did not bake itself.

The odds were around 1:10 billion. I mean, that's like saying a self-driving car with all the computerized features, that can do 300 mph, spontaneously erupted out of nothing and energized by a random strike of lightning.

And the first law of thermodynamics says "Energy cannot be created or destroyed, it can only transfer."

So if we accept our own scientific law - not a theory, this is law, mind you, which means it performs the same way every time tested - then we have to accept the energy that drives this planet came from somewhere else.

Thus, whether you believe Big Bang Theory and that that energy was an original atom split or you believe it was energy with a consciousness and directed activity (or both, like I do) - these are still both beliefs and require a certain amount of faith because we can't prove either.

I also accepted long ago that God will not intervene in our free will, he promised he wouldn't - which leaves people to do a plethora of horrible things to one another, sometimes even in Christ's name.

However, as of this past weekend, on many fronts, I've been struggling whether God intervenes at all or even cares about us or truth or justice - or maybe he once did and gave up on us.


So the question is, would I still okay if the only thing God ever did for me was his providence of creation itself long ago, and the capacity to love and be loved (which also can't be proven) - which comforts me in times of trouble?

Yes - that is enough for me :)

I could accept that God doesn't or no longer intervenes on our behalf and still be grateful for what he already has provided - and that's what gets me through the tough times.

And the thing is, Christ never promised the truth would come out and that there would be justice in our lifetime - in fact, he didn't receive justice himself.

That's why he encouraged us to love our neighbors as ourselves in the meantime.

He only promised justice in the afterlife - believe that or not, that's the only thing he promised about justice.

So I will continue prayer - but not for truth or justice - because there are many people with worse situations than mine, and many who have gone to their deaths never receiving it, the truth never being revealed/vindicated. I will pray instead for others struggling. 

And I will also continue to pray for forgiveness where I've done wrong, as well to overcome my personal smart-ass nature, as well human nature instinct/urge to fight fire with fire and/or nasty with nasty, even if I'm sick to death of it (and it would be warranted).

 I will pray instead do as Christ commanded, a divine gift he said we could access - "Pray for those who despitefully use you, love those who hate you, and bless those who curse you"  - just because we all know it's the right thing to do - it's just hard, so we just don't do it and make excuses ;) 

Even if I'm really just talking to myself or passed on loved ones - just because it helps my soul to examine, reflect, humble myself -  even if my prayers are never heard or answered :)

I need a few days, here, to be honest, after a rough weekend and there's only so many lies you can read about or witness.

But no worries, all is well, just clearing my head, self-examining, healing, and being grateful for what and who I have in my life now versus years ago :)

Thank You, Veterans - Especially Special Ops Units, to Include Army Rangers (Like My Husband)

... including special ops units, such as former Army-Rangers like husband, for your service and your sacrifice.

Remembering you this Memorial Day ...

(A contingent of Army rangers lays to rest a fallen colleague.)

The above photos were taken from this site, which includes this excerpt:

How do Rangers spend their Memorial Day? Probably in much the way you think we do. And much the way veterans across the country do to honor their brothers and sisters and those countless many who have given everything throughout our history.

Do I mean we sit around and stare at a slideshow of our brothers who will never hug their children again. Never enjoy the company of their friends and family again? Never get to live out their lives as we all do? No. Because that isn’t what they would have wanted or how they would want to be remembered.

Amen, that's true.  

And believe me, I realize how lucky I am to have my husband with me every day, but especially today.

Also a special shout-out and much love and hugs to his "brothers" still with us today, some of still in the field today  xo :)

Spring Flowers

So with social distancing relaxed, though we still can't take off for the holiday weekend as we hoped, there's a few things we can do to brighten the weekend :) 

Thus, we donned our masks and gloves went to the outdoor flower shops today - and I'm happy to report that even though the shop is outside, all but 1 of the 25+ customers were wearing them, too, and mindful of social distancing :)

Not too much of a product selection yet - it was difficult to find two of the same (or even colors that blended well), but we were able to find a couple of goodies - Million Belles and Torenias.  They need a bit of extra care, which I'm happy to give :)

We had purchased the bird feeder the other day, with mesh lining and perches inside, in hopes of discouraging starlings, but they still found a way! 

Thus, we ordered another one with smaller mesh, for smaller beaks, which is on its way.  That way, while the starlings invade one, the finches can have the other because the bigger beak starlings won't be able to get the food (in theory). 

We're also going to put safflower and thistle/nyjer seed in the new one coming, because supposedly, starlings don't like either (again, in theory)?

PS - Now look how they look after just 1 evening of proper watering and dead-heading TLC :) 

More Medical Documentation Bloopers (To Include COVID-19 Bloopers) ...

So as I mentioned a few posts below, it's Health Documentation/MT Appreciation Week, and one of my two gigs invited us to share bloopers. 

They were compiled and shared with us today, and included mine (see that post below or this link).

Here were my favorites on the list - without revealing the names of contributors, companies, systems used, or PHI ;)

(The entries are in quotes, and the sentences after are my added reactions - except for the COVID entries, the contributors added their own hilarious commentary)

"The patient was brought to the microwaving room and covered with potatoes."

Remind me never to visit this apparent CANNIBAL CLINIC!?!

(Just kidding, they're not, that was VR again ;)

"He slipped and fell on a prostitute after trying to unsuccessfully grab onto his mother."

Hmm.  Mommy issues?

"The patient was penis teared in telephone consult today."

Ouch.  I'm not even sure what that means, nor do I want to know, but it sounds painful, so just ... ouch?  Is this that Cannibal Hospital again? ;)


COVID Voice-Recognition Bloopers ...


"Our Speech Recognition is having a hard time with the current pandemic ... "

"'COVID pandemic' has been rendered 'Coban endemic' and 'Pull-up endemic'  (is this a diaper derby?)"

"COVID" comes out as 'Echo,' 'Coded,' 'Kobe,' and 'Covert.'"

"COVID-19 has somehow become Cocaine 19.  Is there something we aren't being told?" 

"OVER-19" (wish fulfillment?) 

"Speech translates 'COVID swab' into 'Echo visited swab'(?)" 

"COVID pandemic" into "Colon panoramic" (how scenic!)

My favorite of the COVID bloopers is the "colon panoramic - how scenic" one.

 LOLOLOL!

And Kobe?  What the ???

Yes, COVID-19 is secretly called "Covert-Kobe-19" aka "Kobe's Wrath"  as code speak among healthcare professionals.

(No, not really, conspiracy theorists.  Again, that's sarcasm.) 

Letter to the LHL Editor: Dear Senators Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul ...

I decided my reply to McConnell's (staff) reply to my email wasn't enough - especially on the heels of seeing two local names I respect writing letters to the editor in our local paper.  

Thus, I, too, just wrote to McConnell AND Paul via the "Letters to the Editor" portion of our local newspaper.  

(I've only done this with our local newspaper once before, in 2015, and it was published, so who knows?  It might get in, it might not. Regardless, I feel better :)

Senators McConnell and Paul,  

I understand you feel you need to protect "religious freedom" and civil liberties.  However, I'm a Christian, and I didn't feel targeted in the least.  

Some of my fellow Christians chose to defy emergency public health/safety laws and were met with consequences, which were warned of in advance. 

I think we can all agree on the need for rules and laws to protect ourselves/others from harm - it's just we don't all agree on the definitions.  

Even as parents, we place restrictions to keep ourselves/others from harm, and warn of consequences if they aren't followed.  Children may think they're unfair or harsh - but they're safe.  Better they're "grounded" and mad, than COVID-19.   

Considering the main Republican argument for laws regarding "Muslim extremist terrorism," abortion, and LGBTQ has been "public protection," you'd think Republicans would agree, on this one - but they don't?  

Thus, it appears modern conservatives are "liberally" changing the definition of law.  It's not about public protection, it's about civil-liberty protection of just certain individuals - even if those liberties cause harm. 

I wish we could trust everyone to love their neighbors as themselves, valuing their health, safety, and civil liberties like their own - but we can't.  

If you don't want the government to regulate public protection, fine - but who will?  Private business and churches? 

Fine - then care to explain why, at the very least, you're not publicly encouraging them to provide PPE while engaging in their freedoms?

Chrystal Chaplow 

Reply from Senator McConnell, Then My Reply

I wrote Senator McConnell (staff?) about a month ago, regarding my concerns about COVID and lawsuits being filed.  

(Aside:  In the meantime, I smiled to myself, when I saw a very well-respected, influential Lexington couple - who were very active at Christ the King Catholic Church (his brother was a priest) haul off on McConnell in the local newspaper as a guest opinion.)

McConnell just now replied to me (Rand Paul never has, other than to send me his lame newsletter all about how awesome he think he is) ...

Here is my reply  - forgive the typo - I put the missing word in parentheses when copy/pasted it here. 

Since I proof/edit all day for a living, I take off that hat for personal communication, especially since I don't get paid and don't have time.  Thus, emails and texts are like post-it notes to me, I just scribble something down on them and go back to work ;) 

Chrystal Chaplow	10:35 AM (9 minutes ago)
to Senator

Dear Senator McConnell (or whichever member of his staff is writing on his behalf) ,

I'm a Christian and churchgoer myself and I didn't feel "persecuted"in the least, nor that my religious freedom was being restricted, so that's the thing - no one was being singled out because of their faith, they were singled out based on defiance of emergency protection laws put in place for public health and safety, which you would think would be laws that both sides of politics would agree on.

 In fact, that's the reason we even have laws, to protect ourselves and others from harm - it's just we can't all agree on just who and what should be protected and how. 

However, on this one, public health and safety,  I would think that the Republican Party would agree, considering (your) main argument against Muslim extremist terrorism, abortion, and LGBTQ, has been societal protection from these harms. 

Thus, I am left wondering whether these arguments were less about protecting society and more about money and social control. 

it appears to me that the new GOP is changing the definition of law from protecting the public and more about protecting just individual civil liberties - despite the fact that other people's civil liberties can and will cause harm to others., such as with this virus. 

You know, Republicans and Democrats used to be like a balanced marriage - one reined the other in if they went too far.  Now it's like a bitter divorce - and it appears you don't care, as long as your party's in control. 

That really doesn't bother you? 

Chrystal Chaplow

See?  I behaved myself. 

I didn't even call him Cocaine Mitch, Moscow Mitch,  Duplicitous Douche Wad, Greedy Political Hack  - or anything! 

:)