Hanging By A Thread

So many things are hanging by a thread. I feel like my life is a string pulled tight and at any moment it will break. I have felt for about a year and a half that there is another shoe to drop. I felt it right after 9-11 and it eventually went away. But lately it’s back. A talk from spring conference ( Bro Holland I think) encouraging mothers brought it into my awareness in a way that I could not shake. Suddenly my antenna was up and looking for what we were being reinforced for. What great trial was on its way? I already felt that women had been bombarded with satanic strategy; everything from “having it all” and fighting so called “oppression” myths, to men who will not be men and support their families. But it seemed to me that we were in for another onslaught and that conference was our reinforcement in preparation.
In my own personal life, I found myself coming under attack. I found myself forcing myself to go to church when no one at home would go with me. I found my heart breaking for family members who were struggling. I found myself fighting not to drown in despair and depression. My normal optimism was gone and replaced by cynicism and defeat. I was planning for it. This is far from my normal mind set.
But I recently realized why. As I was explaining to someone that I felt that all the joy and hope was being sucked out of me, one of my favorite scriptures came to mind. Helaman 5:12-

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. “

I realized I was being dragged down into the gulf of misery and endless wo! I had let my foundation slip off of Christ and I needed desperately to re-center my life on Christ. So that is my new goal. When I begin to puzzle about someone else’s behavior I repeat to myself that I am centered on Christ. I need to find something more creative to recite, but for now that is what I am trying to remember.
Now, I see another area of life hanging by a thread. Granted it seems like a stretch to those who are not paying attention, but bear with me. We are today voting for a President. Our choice- Obama the Marxist or McCain the liberal “Moderate” doesn’t bring me any comfort. What often isn’t talked about is that that Senate and the House are likely going Democrat by large majorities. Now if Obama is put in with a large majority (read no ability by Republicans to filibuster bad bills) then he is pretty much given free reign. There will be no holding back Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Barak Obama – all committed Socialists. Ok well Harry Reid I don’t know for sure that he is a committed socialist, but he is definitely a partisan and is supporting and working for Democrat tendencies to personally attack opposition. There are people who see this danger and are angry. Obama said that the civil rights movement did not go far enough because they didn’t break free from Constitutional restraints! He does not revere or respect the Constitution! I think we may be hanging by a thread just as Joseph Smith predicted.
Related to that is the possibility that this is another close and contested election, and as a result we loose even more confidence in our system. We have already lost so much confidence. I look at my children who have seen the last two elections on the state and federal level bitterly contested. The next election will see my oldest son eligible to vote. Will he have any confidence in the results? Ever? Is there any way that elections will get back to what they used to be- called peacefully and with everyone having faith that the process was legal and fair? The longer we have these kinds of elections the more we hand by a thread. There are violent people out there on both sides who are close to the edge of control. They see what is happening and want to stop it. Think Timothy McVeigh or the Unabomber.
Finally there is the economy, which seems to be hanging by a thread. Many think we are on the verge of a Depression. We have seen totally unconstitutional methods used to try to prop up the false and foolish methods being used to make politicians look good. The Fed is printing money as fast at they can, banks and companies who have been the recipients are holding on to the money the government is handing out and not letting it through to the economy. Once they pull the plug and that rush of money enters the system, we may see huge inflation. Or they may never let it out preferring to keep it for a reserve against poor economic times and we will see layoffs. Either way we suffer with a terrible economy, because we have built a house of cards built on credit that we can’t repay! People have discovered that they can vote themselves goodies, but the government will not to be able to pay on their promises without raising taxes which will in turn cause more economic hardships with layoffs, and less money in the hand of consumers.
In the end the only way to rescue our nation is to return our foundation to Christ. How can the Elders of Israel save our Constitution? Maybe by returning to personal righteousness.