TRINITY TALKS: Filles et...

Happy June! 'Tis the season, better yet the 'soular' slice, of sunshine's peak and the heightened (outdoor) activity that often comes along for the ride. As the month of May closed, so did the fullness of my attention to a scrolling news feed when I peeked at its mention of some dark happenings in the Sunshine State and in Maryland. In the time it took to leave home for the day with a kiss to his girlfriend and characteristic Bible in hand, what is currently considered the influence of "voodoo" and/or the illicit use of not-quite-"bath salts" is responsible for allegedly transforming a young Miami man into a naked one shot and killed by police to stop him from possibly raping another man before eating 75% of the victim's face off. About five (and not 28) days later, a Morgan State University student admitted to killing then eating the heart and some brain matter of a fellow student. A melange of violently ingested or thrown human organs have also popped up in at least three other U.S. locales. Yes, folks, it seems zombies of sorts are somewhat popular news outside of Hollywood and other circles. I choose not to highlight any more about it than that. 

With this month's 30 days in my sights, yesterday's endless eschatology encouraged other media that referred to times like these being mentioned approximately once in every 30 Bible verses. The 'coincidence' then led me to select a focal chapter with 30 verses for June. The book of Daniel frequently addresses prophecy at large. However, its chapter 3 is one of those 30ers, displaying the seeds King Nebuchadnezzar sowed in the lives of people like Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah that would later bring him face-to-face with a beast nature of his own. I don't know if said former king ever ate people and not just the grass he grazed, so the book/chapter I chose is Proverbs 20. Please feel free to join me in a verse per day meditation on it and whatever helpful interventions God places in our hearts to maintain right Spirit in this hour of humanity. Should we ever meet and I ask you the above question, may the Truth of our matter(s) purely be yes.

Area Codes

Yesterday, I noticed that one of actor Chris Rock's films, "I Think I Love My Wife", had come on twice. Having enjoyed it from both a single and betrothed context before, it was tragic to see how easily a destructive feminine will would disrupt another's rightful path. It was also comical to agree with some of the characters' dinner table chat about pop culture. One of the areas of conversation they visited was the graphic lyrical nature of some music; Ludacris' melodic mention of those in different "Area Codes" being one particular song. Ludacris himself having engaged in or released some conscious work since, some would say that type of thing is just a sign of an age coming to an end.

This morning I got a few random calls from locales that did not appear to be my own. From their own lives in what the caller ID stated were New Orleans and Connecticut, a few seconds and then minutes apart, something jumped into Spanish-speaking individuals I don't know to persist in their desire to speak with "Lily". I found the request interesting since one of the last things I looked at before resting on the previous night was the cast listing of the "Mirror Mirror" film to be released tomorrow. As a lifelong lover of flowers with a particular affinity for the (water) lily, however, I guess they were essentially right for asking. LOL Still, that's not my name and the mix-up was straightened out quickly enough.

While every area might not be primed for farming and its tools from digging and displacement, all the world and its inhabitants have codes of operation. Thieves' code is said to yield no honor among them or anyone else, but lucky for Lily Collins' Snow White character and some of us beyond the screen, thieves like one whose heart neighbored Christ's do. Then and now, numbers don't just measure our communications. They engage our days, the distance or proximity of our creeds and so much more. Let's make them count for better.