She would be frumpy, unassuming, and decidedly middle aged (like me) and she would be leaving her mid-century modern home around mid-morning to go to the local Safeway.

She would leave the letter on the Formica counter top as a precaution.

She would expect to be back, but

The letter would say this nonetheless—

Dearest,

You have put up with both my chatter and doomsday predictions for so long, so what is one more note on the countertop? Keep this safe until you need it. Read it then.

The world is increasingly fragile and weirdly prophetic scenes have already played out before us—

So

I have left both iodine and chlorine tablets in the medicine cabinet. Plenty of duct tape for the basement windows. There is a small solar panel and battery pack. And I will buy things which can be stored and saved like peanut butter, shelf-stable staples, dried legumes.

Let the trees grow wild. We will need the shade, the fuel, the oxygen.

Wind up flashlight/ wind up radio.

And keep track of the family Bible. I know it is tempting to rely on the phone app, but when disruptions come, you will need a Way through—

The shema. Jesus’ injunction to call on his name to be saved.

Matthew 24:4-8 KJV
[4] And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. [5] For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. [6] And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. [7] For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. [8] All these are the beginning of sorrows.

Jeremiah 29:10-15 KJV
[10] For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. [11] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. [12] Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. [13] And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. [14] And I will be found of you, saith the Lord : and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord ; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive. [15] Because ye have said, The Lord hath raised us up prophets in Babylon;

Yesterday I was reading a news article on my phone when something caught my eye—an ad for a Susbok.

Immediately, I knew I had to have one! The shiny sleekness of it! Its milky grey-silver-mother-shippy allure!

What, you ask, is a Susbok? It is a beautiful fiction. It looks like a sleek futuristic crock pot or wifi extender—maybe both!

But alas, it is only anAI generated picture attached to an ad for 28 other concoctions fabricated by computer intelligence.

I calculate that 4.75 humans will read this post if I am lucky, yet the Susbok is seen by millions.

We need to wake up. We have already exchanged our voices for AI generated nonsense.

The emperor is in the streets even now, naked except for his shiny new Susbok, and maybe 28 other cool gadgets for 2023.

Matthew 11:7-12 KJV
[7] And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? [8] But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. [9] But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. [10] For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. [11] Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. [12] And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Even rudimentary prayer is powerful light in the darkness.

Are you praying?

We need to remember.

We need to remember everything

Especially those things which are too hard to bear

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-28927568

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamism_in_the_Gaza_Strip