Know Preparedness, No Fear

I was born just after the advent of color television.  All the cartoons I watched were in color.  But cartoons didn’t play all day, and there weren’t enough production studios to run original content all day even then.  There were a lot of reruns, many in black and white.  Those weren’t nearly as interesting to me, but sometimes there wasn’t anything else to watch.  One of the programs that often came up was The Twilight Zone.  I watched a few of them, but I didn’t like them all that much.  They weren’t particularly scary to me, just often kinda creepy.  Rod Serling, the host of The Twilight Zone, also had another series called Night Gallery.  I only watched a couple of those because they gave me nightmares.

For the past few years, I’ve heard time and again that we’re in the Twilight Zone.  However, just like a TV program, our time in the Twilight Zone is coming to an end.  Unfortunately, we don’t simply get to turn this program off, and Night Gallery is coming up next.  Stay tuned, not that you have a choice, because this is when the horror really begins.

Several years back, cars of many Christians sported this pithy bumper sticker: No Jesus—no peace.  Know Jesus—know peace.  And while I’m not a fan of putting God on my car bumper—it just seems a little disrespectful—the words hold true and convey a lot of meaning to those who believe.

The past few months I’ve been mulling over a similar pithy statement:  No preparedness, know fear.  Know preparedness, no fear. 

In the New Testament, Jesus prophesied of events that would occur in the days leading up to His return as well as the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans, events that His disciples listening at the time would personally experience.  He cautioned His people, then and now, to be watchful and to prepare. 

In my church, we often hear the words “if ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” 

The corollary, of course, is if you are not prepared, you will fear.  And we have seen a whole lot of fear in the world over the past 18 months. 

If I’m totally honest with myself, I will admit to having a little bit of fear.  I definitely fear a tyrannical government.  Some of you are probably with me there.  I don’t really want to face what is coming from them.  Unfortunately, what you and I want in this situation is totally irrelevant.

So it’s important to know a few things and be prepared for the challenges that lie ahead.

Know history—know that politicians and governments lie.  They lie to keep people under control and keep themselves in power.  And they are lying now, all the time, and you know this because their lips are moving.

Know how to grow your own food as much as possible.  Know that you are not at the top of their lists of people to feed and you never will be.  Know that if by some small miracle they did condescend to give you some food, it will taste like crap.

Know how to cook from scratch.  If you can fill your home with long-term storage foods and know how to cook with them, you will not go hungry.

Know how to treat water.  Just as New Orleans is basically without fresh drinking water right now, it wouldn’t take long for any of us to run out of water.  Keep water stored in your home and know how to treat surface water—ponds, lakes, creeks, rivers—to make it safe to drink. 

Know how to keep warm.  Storms knock the power out so easily.  Make sure you know how to start a fire and/or have plenty of fuel on hand for running your alternative heat sources. 

Know how to treat illnesses.  The leftists already want to deny medical care to the unvaccinated and some doctors are refusing to treat them as well.  The days of running to a doctor for trivial illnesses are over.

Know your limitations.  We all have our weaknesses.  While I know how to hold a gun and pull the trigger, my hands are extremely weak.  I could definitely pull the trigger in an emergency, but not in practice.  So because I won’t be familiar enough with a gun, I better come up with some other ideas for self-defense.  I also couldn’t engineer my way out of a paper bag.  But my husband and son can. 

Know the basics.  We should all know the basics of food storage and preparation, hygiene, gardening, water treatment, first aid, off-grid cooking, and more. 

Know to how to divide and conquer.  At the same time, encourage the people in your group or family to specialize.  Don’t expect everyone to know everything you know. 

Know the importance of record keeping.  Keep track of your food to make sure you aren’t going through it too quickly, garden experiences so you know what works or doesn’t, locations where you find medicinal herbs in your area, and so on.  If you keep records, you don’t have to remember everything and others can learn from your experience when you are not around.

Know that the government won’t back down, won’t loosen their grips, won’t let you live in peace.

Know this:  If you are prepared, you will not fear.

 09.07.23