Conflicts

Good morning!   It's a bright, sunny, cold-aired Monday morning, but I believe it's going to warm up considerably later on.  Which is one reason that our chihuahuas, Birdy and Listy, are outside taking the air.  The other reason is that they are piggies and I am tired of their habits.  Newspaper-trained is one thing; newspaper-addicted is just too much sometimes.

"Your living room needs a nice big area rug," said my sister when she was visiting last week.  "Why don't you get one?"

"Because they confuse rugs with grass, " said I.  And nobody is sorrier about that. I too would like a nice big area rug in here.  But we aren't going to get one.

I had a conflict yesterday at church, a big moral conflict.  I didn't like something that Jesus said.  It's in St Matthew.

Do not  trouble yourself about providing for tomorrow, He said.  Do not worry about feeding yourself.  Do not worry about clothing yourself.  Just take care of today, and tomorrow will take care of itself.  Oh, let me tell you--I have serious conflicts about that advice.  It goes against all the facets of my personality that want to lay in, list, hoard, be ready, have something for every need right there on hand...

Not to mention the advice from the Survivalists who populate the midnight radio that this insomniac listens to.  The other night a lady said we need three guns in every house.  We need a 12-gauge shotgun (short-barrelled for easy maneuvering about the house), a 22 rifle which is your basic gun and the minimum, and a nine-millimeter handgun.  And ammo for all the above. I looked all those up on the web and they cost a pretty penny.  Seven hundred dollars more or less for each.  However, if one is going to protect their house at all costs, twenty-one hundred dollars is not a lot.  And the ammunition is reasonable, said she. Well,  what would Jesus have to say about that?  None of those weapons existed, back in his day, but he really didn't mention NOT to lay in a pile of rocks.  The conflicting advice propounded in these last two paragraphs simply boggles my mind.

I feel guilty about not wanting to follow Jesus in that advice.  My whole being rears up and says, who's going to take care of the children? Who's going to protect this little realm that a family builds up, cares for, and cherishes?  When we look at Africa, Haiti, Mid-East, and all the other areas of open conflict and mishap that are taking place all of the world, we can see who.  Nobody.  Is keeping 50 boxes of Band-Aids for future scrapes in a world where crisis has torn things apart any different from keeping an efficient emergency medical crisis system going after a hurricane or an attack?  Will a case of beans in one's garage have any meaning after a few days have gone by, the beans are all gone, and there are no more beans coming to the store?  I DON'T KNOW.  I am conflicted. Monday is not easy, sometimes.  And I have to go make some order out in the kitchen now. YAZZYBEL