I do like that rhyme, thank you. It reminds me of a little story. A man died and he and his dog were walking toward heaven. The man was thirsty as it was a hot, dry, dusty road. They walked and walked and finally saw a long long driveway off to the left. Waaay down the driveway the man could see another man standing. The newly deceased hollered "Can I come get a drink of water?" The other man responded "You can, but you can't bring your dog." Okay, I'll tie him up here to this tree" and he did so. Man walks waaay down this long driveway hoping to come soon to the well. A curve in the driveway suddenly revealed a beautiful pearly gate with a mighty angel standing before it. "Is this heaven" the dead man asked, and "Can I come in?" The angel replied "Yes, this is heaven, and no, you cannot come in. You were going to have a drink of water, but you left your tired and thirsty dog behind to get it. You are not welcome here."
You did not tell the story of the "thief" as far as I know, so your explanation of your ability to manipulate and have whatever you wish, I am not able to understand. Sorry. Perhaps you will explain?
Regarding "faith" in the prepper life, I believe you are thinking of those who believe in the "rapture", who expect to suddenly be lifted away from the world. I am not among those, after studying the Bible for some time, researching it. However, it would be delightful indeed to be removed from what is to come, so I have no argument with those who so believe - and I hope they are correct in their faith.
Quoting: Pooka That is a cool story about the man and his dog! It's exactly the way it should be! No, the idea of a 'rapture' never entered my mind at all! As I said, not 'conventional' and I would surely be called Pagan by those who are.:) What I mean is that we cannot take even life for granted and if we were suddenly to lose it, for those who believe there might be an accounting of our behavior, we would naturally try to live in such a way that we wouldn't have too much crap on our slate if we had to go suddenly.
Living 'light' of heart, with a clear conscience seems to go well with also living light when it comes to material attachments. Otherwise, our 'stuff' can get too massive and own us intead of us owning it. It's completely individual: we can judge what
we need personally but of course we can't say what another person needs because we're all unique and our circumstances are different too. Nobody else can pack our 'bugout bag,' metaphorical or literal.
Thief in the night got into American vernacular honestly enough, mainly because of these two passages:
Matthew 24:43, “Understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into,” and 1 Thessalonians 5:2, “You know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.”
So it doesn't matter what creed one has, less still what denomination, it still makes some sense to any reader. Be flexible and be prepared for just about anything.
P.S. Why did I put a giggle with the word 'manipulate?' Because I lobby the State Legislature for animal welfare every year and have done for a long time - it feels very long right now, because I'm starting to dread the long trip in March. If the art of politics is not manipulation to get something done, what is it? It's too much to expect that politicians are going to 'do the right thing' just because it is right.
