If you’ve ever done tutoring, you’ll know that even if you have straight A’s in the subject you’re now helping somebody else learn, after teaching it to somebody your understanding deepens and becomes more permanent. This is probably why I can still do Geometry even though I haven’t used it in my career, at all. (If I could delete info to free up space on my hard drive, this would be a target).
I think our world is already changing, and is going to change rapidly and radically in the next two years. Just as Mainstream Media has slowly lost its grip on our attention and lost our trust, to be replaced with New Media - I’m expecting this principle to show up in many, many other areas.
I’m expecting a significant shift in education, for example - we know our public school system is infiltrated by views (and people who believe them) that focus on wokeness, tarnishing one’s view of the US, and creating confusion in our children - not to mention that our kids aren’t getting trained to be competitive in the global market. Homeschooling is already on the increase. Once Trump is back in office, I am confident this will be part of the “right away” agenda, but it will still take time.
We’ll see shifts in the economy on a number of fronts too.
AI will transform some repetitive human jobs into automated tasks the way assembly lines did, or factories. It won’t replace humans for many, many things and anyone who tells you it can or should has an agenda. It’s algorithm-based just like Google, and it is biased even with the best mitigation. It is a servant, not a master.
But on the other side, I believe the US may become more isolationist even if it’s temporary to allow American industry to rebuild. This isn’t a cost or jobs play - it’s defense too.
Remember the ramp up for mask and PPE production early in the Plandemic? We need to be able to do this for defense, building supplies (if the time around the election results in destruction in our major cities, and once Trump starts his building campaign for new, safe cities that AREN’T the fifteen minute variety).
We will need to revisit and revamp our food supply chain, especially when some of the practices forced on us by Big Food (don’t trust that either). We will need to grow more food, harvest more food, package and transport more food than we do today.
We may decide we don’t want our clothes to be made from chemicals either - our textile industry has shrunk.
One of the areas I’m focused on is heath. NOT healthcare, but health. During the ten years I lived in London, I benefited from homeopathy more than once, and you can buy herbs, tinctures, minerals etc in regular drugstores there and other places in Europe.
I don’t trust pharma, and while I love my doctor - she was trained in medical schools in the US (see education paragraph). She doesn’t understand or trust natural remedies, or the basic, fundamental idea that our bodies are designed to be self-healing and durable.
So, I’m learning. How can I maintain my good health (I’m 52, I still have plenty of mileage left) and treat anything that crops up?
In our house, we’re attacking this on two fronts, first continuing our healthy eating with adjustments in our meat supplier, and phasing out grocery store meats. We don’t eat a lot of processed food as it is, but I’m getting even more crabby about this! Next year we’ll increase our garden size and production, and possibly double the number of chickens. I’ve also bought a deep freezer so I can do long-term storage, and I’m increasing the food I keep on hand. This is a challenge with three teenagers in the house right now.
Front two is medicine. Did you know you can make a cough syrup from onion and honey? Nor did I, but now I do (Thank you Barbara O’Reilly). Did you know cayenne pepper reduces blood pressure? I watched a seminar on poultices and compresses (wow, that’s an old-fashioned idea) and took a lot, lot of notes. We’ll be buying castor oil, whole fresh ginger and a lot more cayenne pepper.
So, if a year from now there are issues with supply chain or insurance (there will be) or pharmaceuticals (there already are, and it’s hard to tell which meds are safe), I’ll be ready to treat my family but also - I’ll be able to treat neighbors, friends, church family.
Another example is Bible application. I’m a linguist so even without any beliefs at all, the Bible is fascinating especially when you start digging into translations. For example, did you know a very common source text for modern English translations was altered by the Pharisees during the first century AD? Mainly the lifespans in the genealogies, hoping to cast doubt on the timing of Messiah’s arrival. Another glitch was the King James - in the context of the time it was created, the translators didn’t have a grid for women in church leadership or business, so they did their best. Unfortunately that has affected subsequent translations in downplaying the role of women, especially until we had fluent Hebrew speakers again to help.
The Bible isn’t just liturgical text. It is a history book, a science book (yes, it is) and a prophetic book. Want to see? Remember how we were told by many, many mature and seasoned prophets that Donald Trump is a Cyrus figure (Isaiah 45, and the 45th President).
Now then, listen, you lover of pleasure,
lounging in your security
and saying to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.
I will never be a widow
or suffer the loss of children.’
9 Both of these will overtake you
in a moment, on a single day:
loss of children and widowhood.
They will come upon you in full measure,
in spite of your many sorceries
and all your potent spells.
10 You have trusted in your wickedness
and have said, ‘No one sees me.’
Your wisdom and knowledge mislead you
when you say to yourself,
‘I am, and there is none besides me.’
11 Disaster will come upon you,
and you will not know how to conjure it away.
A calamity will fall upon you
that you cannot ward off with a ransom;
a catastrophe you cannot foresee
will suddenly come upon you.
Psalm 2 is more of this, and it’s awesome. Thinking about practical modern application of a text we’re told is without error and will last forever we are well within our rights to apply this set of verses to our times, our next President and the evil he has been working to overturn, especially child trafficking.
This helps with perception and world view. Hurricane Hillary? Prophetic - California has also been hit with winds and waves of revival, and soon will have a clean sweep of some existing evils.
Digital ID? I probably don’t need to tell you this but I’m avoiding that one as it’s way, way too close to the text on the Mark. No thank you, I’ll bank and keep records the traditional way.
Even though I’ve studied my Bible, with varying degrees of diligence unfortunately, since I was 9, I’m learning and understanding new things since starting the deep dive ten years ago.
Many of our prophets have been shouting about the next Great Awakening for years, and signs of this are happening now. I want to be able to help new Christians understand the Bible and help them find practical application in their own lives. There is plenty, but new Christians will need a guide. The Bible helps us anchor things like mental health, marriage, raising children in sound principles.
The final change I’m making is in my attachment to material things. This is hard and I’ve been doing it gradually (for example, I really like clothes). Some of this is spiritual health, so that my “things” don’t become too important to me. Some of it is lifestyle, since clutter has been proven to create stress. However, I’m never going to be a minimalist because I value the things I’ve been given and entrusted with even the beautiful but not practical things. Humans need those.
My practices include donating an item for anything I buy, doing a closet purge 3x a year, sharing outgrown children’s clothing and sharing from what I have when there’s a need even sacrificially. That’s not as much fun, but it’s helpful so that I don’t get wildly attached to things I don’t need, don’t wear, don’t use or that could benefit somebody else.
I’m not suggesting I’m an excellent example of any of this. But I’m a learning example, and I’m hopeful as our world and our country emerge from this attempt at a New World Order, I’ll be able to help others.
You probably have areas of emerging expertise, or real excellence that you can also teach. I’m writing to encourage you to think about your knowledge and skills in this light and jump in. Be encouraged, and be ready.