#act 6 kills eagle flies

[newvegascowboy]

The thing with Eagle Flies and Dutch genuinely enrages and saddens me so much like. It's hard to put into words.

[spoonsand]

CONTAINS SPOILERS

Just finished my second playthrough and I have to say: I hate Dutch more than Micah. Don’t get me wrong Micah is scum, but Dutch knew (mostly) everybody in the gang for over a year. Sometimes over a DECADE- and he still turns his back on them. All the kids he and Hosea raised, didn’t matter, the ‘last’ score mattered. The last robbery mattered. Not the orphans or runaways he raised, taught and loved.

Micah is a superficial type. You know he’s evil. When you first meet him, you know he’s bad. But I liked Dutch in definitely the first 3 chapters, I was still liking him in 4. Guarma was iffy. Beaver Hollow is where it all goes downhill. I noticed the decline since chapter 3, but I feel it really steepened in 4 and 6 (Guarma didn’t happen). But back to Micah- you know he’s evil. The way he talks, the way he acts, his beliefs, you just KNOW that this guy isn’t who you’d want to come to your rescue (RIP SADIE). Micah did what he had to do to survive. He never had loyalty in mind, he has his own being in mind.

The Van Der Linde’s whole gang/family was so BASED on loyalty that people killed and died for the gang. Miss Grimshaw mentions killing another traitor. Molly (mistakenly assumed as a traitor) is killed because that’s how strongly they value loyalty. Loyalty (mostly to Dutch) was how the whole gang was founded.

Hosea had the same loyalty, but he actually cared about the people. I think Dutch only cared about the image. Hosea said that he cared for the people that died following Blackwater- that they mattered to him. He wanted closure. Dutch used their deaths as ammunition for his speeches. As a reason for the gang to keep on going. The only thing that set him apart from the O’Driscolls was the fact he cultivated the image that they were a family and that he might have cared. The O’Driscolls didn’t have the same loyalty to their members. When Kieran was captured they didn’t try to get him back. He said he was as good as dead if he wasn’t with the Van Der Linde’s. Dutch took Kieran in to set himself apart. The loyalty. The image.

Hosea kept Dutch in check. After Hosea died, Dutch couldn’t be kept in check. He didn’t have someone he valued highly who truly cared anymore. Micah took over Hosea’s place as the highly valued peer. Micah’s influence was never for the good of the gang- and that wasn’t a secret. Micah’s influence was for his own gain. But what I can’t get over is once Micah had that influence, Dutch didn’t care about anyone anymore. Especially towards the end. He used Eagle Flies, he left Arthur, left John (TWICE), didn’t care about the women, didn’t care about little Jack. Dutch cared about Tahiti. One last score. Reallllly messing with the Pinkertons. Getting the gang to safety wasn’t a priority. As I mentioned earlier- loyalty to Dutch was how the whole gang was founded- Dutch says something about John and Abigail and that women are poison. At the end, John was more concerned with Abigail and Jack rather than Dutch. He didn’t like that. Dutch didn’t like that John was more loyal to his FAMILY than him. He didn’t like that Arthur was more loyal to John than him. Micah, Bill and Javier didn’t have family available to have that stronger loyalty to. They had Dutch and only Dutch. I’m sure that Dutch also had beef with Hosea and Bessie; especially when they left.

But Dutch turned his back on John and Arthur- his sons. He raised them. When Susan was shot, he didn’t bat an eye. He loved her at some point. All these people he’s known for 20 ish years. Or the newer ones, that again, he either raised or feigned affection. And nothing. Turned his back.

FUCK DUTCH YOU BASTARD I HOPE HELL IS AS NICE AS TAHITI

[squidproquoclarice]

How do you feel about the way Eagle Flies was treated by the story in game?

There’s good and bad to it. On the one hand, yes, we have to admit Eagle Flies is a bit of a plot device.  His story is meant for Arthur to strongly make the connection to his own manipulation, grooming, and abuse by Dutch, and continue Arthur’s growing awareness of exactly who and what Dutch is.  In that sense, Eagle Flies’ purpose mostly revolves around how his trauma can help a white man.  Which is...really not great for a POC, and it’s in the same vein as the criticism I have of how Chapter 6 Charles was a man who exercised independent agency and pretty much said he was done with this shit and pursuing his own life, but Epilogue Charles is backpedaled hard to a deus ex machina whose entire existence revolves around fulfilling Arthur and John’s stories. On the other hand, I really like Eagle Flies as a character.  I like the emotional range he’s allowed.  I like how he comes across as genuinely a child of a changing world even more so than white men like Arthur and John.  Eagle Flies appears to be about 30--he has some weathering on his features--so let’s assume an 1869 or 1870 birthdate.  The Wapiti seem to draw most heavily on the culture of Northern Plains horse tribes (Rains Fall speaks Lakota, the use of tipis, etc.).  So Eagle Flies was born in the last years of a free tribe, when Rains Fall fought.  Little Bighorn would have taken place when he was a little boy.   The Lakota and their allies were formally forced to surrender in 1877, and sent to reservations.   This means Eagle Flies is the first “reservation” generation, the first generation growing up Native American after the brutal pacification of his people, and struggling with questions of identity, resistance, and with the neglectful-to-brutal oversight of the government.  He’ll have grown up hearing stories from Rains Fall and other older men about a destroyed way of life.  His generation is probably struggling with what it means to be Wapiti in this new world, what their marks of honor and adulthood and everything are when their traditional culture has been almost entirely taken from them.  Men can’t fight.  Men can’t hunt. He’ll have seen the Ghost Dance religious movement spreading like wildfire in 1889 and 1890, and may have joined it himself.  He probably heard about the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890 to suppress that movement.  His older brother may well have been killed during the violence of that time.  He carries a lot of anger, and justifiably so.  His future and cultural identity’s been taken from him.  His father and Rains Fall’s peers could fight as warriors and find their honor that way.  Given he’s referred to by his father as a “prince”, that implies it may be a hereditary chiefdom.  So there’s possibly the pressure to lead this tribe into a very murky, very bleak looking future.  What hope does he have?  Like Arthur and John say, this life chose Eagle Flies. It makes sense that he’s angry.  It makes sense that he desperately wants to fight, and feel like he’s able to fight his oppressors and display his courage.  It makes sense he’s contemptuous of Arthur initially given Arthur blatantly acts like a ruthless mercenary, given that between the Army, the men who have signed treaties with Rains Fall and broken them, and the too-often crooked government Indian agents, Eagle Flies has probably already seen far too many white men driven by relentless greed and no honor. So while I have to acknowledge the framework of his story is intended for Arthur’s emotional enlightenment rather than being his own story, I do feel like Eagle Flies and the Wapiti are given the respect of showing honestly how their reality is.  What they’ve lost, what they struggle with, how deeply vulnerable they still are to mistreatment and exploitation.  It’s sympathetic, and more time is clearly taken on their situation and story than just what’s pertinent to the gang’s situation at the moment.   It’s a lot more thoughtful presentation than RDR1.  The people on the reservation in Cochinay whose young men are exploited by Dutch aren’t even given a tribal identity or any kind of story, they’re just ambiguous “Indians” recruited by Dutch that John kills.  Nastas all too often he was written mostly as The Helpful Native Guide.  RDR2 really helps recontextualize some of this by showing via the Wapiti exactly what Dutch does with the people of Cochinay, how he preys upon their vulnerability and manipulates their young men into fighting for his purposes, so there’s definitely been progress made.

[cortibah]

So, I’ve recently replayed Chapter 4, and I might have played ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ while a teeeensy bit drunk, and I may have started thinking and well now I’m stuck with this long-ass HC and/or theory:

Angelo Bronte was behind most of, if not all of, Chapter 4.

We know that Bronte rules the underworld of Saint Denis. We know he has some street kids in his employ. We know he has significant connections to local politics, namely Mayor Lemiuex (and we can assume that he retains those connections even if you complete ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’ and spare Jean-Marc). It’s not unreasonable to think that he has connections within law enforcement too - if not actively collaborating, then via crooked cops. It’s also not unreasonable to think that Bronte has a city-wide surveillance network of street kids and other lookouts, all of them not as conspicuous as the men in his direct employ.

Bronte is in a position of power and has no intention of giving it up. We can therefore safely assume that getting there took some serious grit, and that he has had to fend off rivals more than once, both from the city and outsiders trying to get a foothold. I would say it’s not implausible that he would look into any would-be rival as soon as possible - in terms of whatever information is available to him about them.

Bronte seems disinterested in events outside of Saint Denis - he was a ‘customer’ of Catherine Braithwaite (see the letter you can pick up in ‘Blood Feuds, Ancient and Modern’) but he didn’t seem all that upset at what happened. He seems disinterested in the Rhodes feud overall. But, we also know through this that he has contacts outside of the city.

Dutch van der Linde is a wanted man almost everywhere. He’s already got a reputation. Most of the gang also have bounties on their heads, if not for association with Dutch then for their own crimes. Most of the gang are known to associate with Dutch as well. I don’t think the information the Pinkertons have about who is in the gang would be available to Bronte, but what’s publicly available would be. (This part I’m fuzzy on, as I’m not sure if Saint Denis police would be able to get information from the Pinkertons and from there relay it to Bronte or not. It’s not really important.)

It’s reasonable to think that while Bronte didn’t care enough to investigate when Catherine first had issues with the gang, he may have started looking into them as early as Jack’s kidnapping. (It’s also possible that Jack may have blabbed a little - I can let that slide, he’s 4 and John clearly hasn’t had the talk about not being a walking infosec nightmare.)

I will say this though - Dutch surprised Bronte. Based on the time skips, I’d say that ‘The Joys of Civilization’ would have taken place in the morning - probably not later than 8-9am, and for me it ended at around 2pm. ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ can be picked up almost immediately. Meaning that within the space of about 6 hours, Dutch had Bronte’s location and was on his way - even though there’s no doubt that Bronte was already alerted that people were asking about him, potentially even already aware that at least one of them was Dutch van der Linde.

From the outsider’s perspective, that speed - getting a location and hitting it within 6 hours - gives the impression that Dutch and his gang are highly disciplined, well-coordinated, and highly experienced, even if they’re not perhaps as quiet as they could be. Combine this with Dutch’s reputation, and Bronte had good reason to be worried...

...and then he meets Dutch face-to-face. The insults could well have been bravado, or he could genuinely have been unimpressed by what he was looking at. Still - again, this outsider comes into his city, locates him, and is at his front door in a matter of hours. Doesn’t look like much, but still, bit of a worry.

It’s absolutely possible that Bronte set them up already with the graveyard job, perhaps wanting to see how Dutch’s team performed without their leader present. Given that it’s absolutely possible to escape the cemetery undetected, John and Arthur may have further given the impression to Bronte that he was dealing with very skilled, coordinated and disciplined people.

Now, let’s jump forwards to ‘The Gilded Cage’. Who does Bronte point out to Dutch?

Mayor Henri Lemieux, already discussed. Apparently owes Bronte money. In the last part of ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’, Arthur can potentially dethrone him as Mayor of Saint Denis. During the beginning of that chain too, he drops the hint that he knows Arthur’s real name. 

Colonel Alberto Fussar, who shows up on Guarma (more on this part later)

Hobart Crawley. I don’t believe he shows up again, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Rains Fall and (possibly) Eagle Flies. They’re not part of the conspiracy, and I feel like they’re probably gatecrashing just a little - but Bronte doesn’t seem to care, or already knew they would show up and didn’t bother trying to stop them.

Hector Fellowes, newspaper tycoon. Again, I feel like Bronte’s comment about killing him was to see how Dutch might react. Too much fawning would have been suspicious too, as would an outright refusal. (And, later, Arthur threatens Fellowes on behalf of Lemieux... more on that in a bit too.)

There’s a few other important people at the party, and I absolutely believe that Bronte would’ve at least had access to the guest list, and absolutely would have been able to place people on it that he wanted there.

First, there’s the finance guy that Hosea talks to, and gets the information about the bank from. Now, don’t get me wrong - Hosea is very careful in how he asks his questions, but he’s still talking about work at a party. It’s very possible that the banker is not a banker at all, or is under orders from Bronte to dangle information - and/or report back if someone seemed awfully interested in the bank in Saint Denis. (This is the slightly crackpot part of this theory.) 

Dutch spoke with Heston Jameson, the head of Sisika Penitentiary, and Crawley. I don’t think it’s a coincedence that Jameson was there. (We’ll get back to him later.)

Arthur doesn’t speak to anyone, but he can be recognized by Lillian Powell if you’ve interacted with her at La Bastille (I think she has 3 or 4 interactions, I don’t know if you have to complete them all before she’ll appear at the party) and obvs saves Algernon Wasp. It’s possible all of the NPCs you can interact with at the party (pouring drinks, accepting the gift, etc) are named, but I don’t have my copy of the game right now to check. ANYWAY. NOT IMPORTANT.

Also - Bronte dangles the trolley station tip. Now, it’s not at all controversial that Bronte absolutely set up Dutch to take a fall this way. I want to explain why, and why the rest of the theory, while admittedly all wild speculation on my part, is made plausible by it.

Firstly, let’s think back to ‘Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’. Overall, Bronte has the impression that Dutch and his gang are disciplined, coordinated, well-informed, and generally, damn good at what they do even if they don’t tend to do it quietly. But he’s now met Dutch in-person twice, and he’s clearly not quite sure what to think.

So, he dangles the trolley station This could have gone several ways:

Had Dutch played it cool, accepted the tip but not acted on it at all and stayed out of the city from then on, Bronte may have been led into thinking that Dutch had only intended to stick around long enough to retrieve Jack, and that was it.

Had Dutch played it cool, accepted the tip, not acted on it and stayed active in the city, that tells Bronte that Dutch already had his eye on a bigger prize, and may have marked Dutch as a potential threat. (Or, it would indicate that Dutch had checked the information through someone else.)

Had Dutch accepted the tip and only scouted the station, then backed off, that would have told Bronte that Dutch not only intends to stick around, but is clever enough to double-check information. Again, that marks Dutch as a threat.

But. Dutch did none of these things. Dutch accepted the information, scouted the station poorly enough to fail to notice that there wasn’t that much money there, and was most likely seen scouting the station (remember, Bronte has plenty of surveillance out there).

This could have told Bronte two things, potentially both at the same time.

One, Dutch was exactly what Bronte thought of him - good at pretending to be clever, but not actually that smart. Absolutely out of his depth in a city, and up against someone with more resources, personnel, connections and power than him. In other words, not a threat.

Two, Dutch is either desperate enough or stupid enough to take a tip from someone who he has no reason to believe is an ally, and act on obviously bad information even after checking it himself (either through poor scouting, or sheer desperation). Dutch is desperate for money, and so can be played with that. And where is all the money? The bank. Therefore, Bronte could have deduced that Dutch would likely try to hit the bank soon.

I absolutely believe that Bronte informed the Saint Denis police to watch that station more closely, hence why they showed up so fast. It’s also not inconceivable that he warned them that someone was planning to rob the bank - John notes in the intro to ‘Banking, the Old American Art’ that there’s an awful lot of cops around already. It’s possible that the Pinkertons were informed by Saint Denis police, either beforehand or obtaining the information after coming in to investigate Bronte’s death. (Or even directly from Bronte’s 2IC - while I’m sure Milton & Ross have no more love for Bronte than they do for Dutch, we know they’re willing to work with criminals to catch other criminals, and Bronte’s 2IC could well have been after revenge.)

The only place where Bronte went wrong? He forgot that the gang can move damn fast when it wants to, and was unaware that Dutch is vindictive as all hell.

Dutch actually showed some cleverness in the double feature of ‘Country Pursuits’ and ‘Revenge is a Dish Best Served’. He correctly worked out that Saint Denis is full of Bronte’s eyes and ears, so went to Lagras instead - an impoverished, mostly black and/or Creole community that evidently don’t like Bronte much either, and a good distance from Saint Denis too. I’m sure part of his getting in good with Thomas was commiserating over Bronte, plus the water infil/exfil route is quiet, clearly unexpected, and leaves no trail to be followed. While I’m not sure Dutch was expecting the Legendary Alligator to make an appearance... well, they got out alive.

I don’t think more than 24 hours could have passed between ‘Country Pursuits’ and ‘Revenge is a Dish Best Served’. Bronte was clearly caught off-guard, since he was still in the house, and was forced to resort to hiding in the bathroom.

In other words, what Bronte wasn’t expecting was a repeat of ‘The Joys of Civilization’/’Angelo Bronte, A Man of Honour’ - that under the right conditions, the gang can move incredibly fast. They already knew his location, they just needed a way in - and it’s kind of on Bronte to not think about making sure he was secure from a water infiltration as well. 

Was it smart of Dutch to kill Bronte? I’d actually argue, yes - leaving Bronte alive meant risking reprisal. However, it was absolutely an impulsive decision on Dutch’s part. A better way to handle it would have been to have made it clear from the start that Bronte was never going to be taken alive, but that he’d be executed elsewhere where the evidence could be quickly destroyed. A bit less shocking for the gang.

Had Dutch left Bronte alive, I have no doubt that Bronte would’ve wiped out the gang as soon as he had a chance to. If not out of anger or to remove a threat, then to ensure Dutch couldn’t humiliate him a third time.

But, there was a loose end left - the bank. Again, I think it’s absolutely plausible that Bronte ensured the information about the bank was planted, and/or that he was informed that someone had been asking about the bank at the party.

There’s three possibilities.

One: Undoubtedly, Bronte’s 2IC would have been privy to all of this, either before or after his death. And even if Bronte’s 2IC wasn’t out for revenge, Dutch was an obvious threat that needed to be dealt with. So, Bronte’s 2IC informs the law - someone is going for the bank, soon. Might have even informed them that it was Dutch who would be going for the bank. Bronte’s 2IC works fast, as evidenced by the hostile personnel placed at almost all entrances to the city (and possibly throughout) after ‘Revenge’.

Two: Lemieux, having lost the guy who was loaning him money, may have gone to the law and passed on the information. Lemieux knew who Arthur was, at least, and it’s probable he knew or could easily find out who the rest of the gang are. If Arthur completes ‘Idealism and Pragmatism for Beginners’ in Jean-Marc’s favor, this might also have been a bit of revenge. This possibility has some more holes though, as I’m not sure how Lemiuex would have had information that the gang was planning to hit the bank. I doubt Bronte would have shared it with him.

Three: some combination of both of these.

How the Pinkertons obtained the information and got in on the counter-operation isn’t as important, but they did - and thus, we get ‘Banking, the Old American Art’.

In other words: Bronte got the last laugh.

As a fun bonus, I don’t think it’s a coincedence that John was sent to Sisika and Jameson was at the party. (I’m not clear on how long the guys were in Guarma, but it was obviously long enough for him to be tried and sentenced - I’m sure the Pinkertons wanted it all done by the book and with no room for appeals.) Granted, Sisika is about as secure as it gets, and since others in the gang are at large...

Fussar I think might be a red herring. I don’t remember him recognizing Dutch - even if he had, he would have needed a name (though remembering that Dutch was at Lemieux’s party would have narrowed down the list of potential identities). He and Dutch never spoke though (that I can remember) and while Dutch does stand out a bit, it’s very possible that Fussar never even saw him at the party. Still, it’s kind of a fun little shout-out - and it links ‘The Gilded Cage’, ‘Help A Brother Out’ and the entire Guarma chapter too.

[2kultra]

On the psych ward

Wake up

Fog from the medications

Sedated last night

For acting out

Breathe in

Push down rough olive green blanket

Step onto the cold floor of the observation room

A camera in the corner across from your bed

Nurses outside 24/7

Peek out of room

Morning meds are called

Shuffle into line behind 5 or 6 other people

Everyone gets mouth checked to make sure they're not cheeking

Throwing small paper cups into the trashcan as they finish

Zyprexa, ativan, antidepressant, can't remember which

Breakfast is on the unit

Middle aged man in an apron rolls in the blue plastic cupboard full of breakfast in styrofoam contaners

Paper bag full of juice and milk on top

The styrofoam boxes are handed out by name

And as we eat, the officer shows up to take people to court

Hands against the wall, lock up your hands and feet, off in the car you go

And for those of us that stay on the unit

Group time

Clinician sitting in a chair in the dayroom

Patients sprawled out on the hard, vinyl cushion padded couches and chairs

Check in

Are we safe today

Let's get started

As I eagerly wait for the doctor to pull me into the consultation room

Gonna ask for my release date

Group is about mindfulness

And while everyone works on staying in the moment

My eyes dart from side to side of the white room

And then to the nurse standing at the door with a clipboard

Still can't shake the delusions

Because I know she is in with the bad guy somehow

Mindfulness

Paying close attention to what you are seeing, feeling, hearing, tasting

And back in the good old days, they let you have cigarette breaks

Go "outside"

Aka a giant concrete room with a no windows and a ventilation system installed. A door on the other side leads to the courtyard. A picture of a ship sailing towards an island is painted on the wall.

In line, again

You get your cigarette and light it with the lighter that has a tongue depressor taped to it with "unit" scrawled in black marker on the side

Put it back in the plastic tub

And sit down wherever you choose to position yourself

In the sill of the blacked out obs room window was my favorite

But I also enjoyed sitting on the ground

Or at the picnic tables

To listen to a woman explain how I am her long lost daughter

And to learn how to light a cigarette that went out with the tip of another

Or discussing the psych tech on duty

These days you get a nicotine patch or gum

So you get the nicotine without the satisfaction or memories

It sucks

Anyways, back inside for some free time

So again, I get in line

For the phone

And try to ignore the heated and bizarre conversation the current patient is having about being sent here to die

It goes on for awhile, and I want to pace the halls, but I would lose my place in line

Finally, I reach the phone

I pull out a small folded up sheet of notebook paper with numbers on it

Dial down the list until someone picks up

And feign excitement and hope to try to make conversation

The phone and the news we're what you depended on to stay connected to the outside world

Speaking of, the news is on as I hang up the phone

I go into the tv room and sit on what might be the most uncomfortable chair ever

A young women walks in with one of the rough green blankets draped around her

And we both have the blue hospital socks with the white grip lines

She is wearing paper scrubs and has wet hair

She sips her got chocolate and we sit in silence until she tells me that she can see the devil in me

There was an awkward silence

I didn't know what to think, and I was too tired to form a response

Gonna go lay down

And I am laying face down with my hands crossed in front of my body and squished under my weight

Forcing my eyes closed

And somewhere between a dream and eavesdropping on a conversation in the hall, lunch is called

Lunch is off the unit, so again, we line up

Psych tech unlocks the metal door

And leads us across the way to the cafeteria

The food is so good, I can feel myself getting fatter

Even if it's just a sandwich and chips

Instead of the entree

I don't care

Zyprexa makes me hungry

I have seconds

And after lunch, we go back to the unit

Checked to make sure we didn't bring back utensils

And then finally my doctor shows up for me

Been waiting forever

And as he pulls me into the consultation room I prepare to ask for my release date

"We are looking at at least another week"

And then everything else seemed less important

At least another week

Where the days blend together into this bizarre dream in this world of confinement and rigid rules

"Any questions for me today?" He asks

"No. Thanks."

And back to the day room I go

Devil girl is nowhere to be seen

Thank god

Occupational therapist comes in

And puts on the kid gloves to do crafts with us

And try to teach us how to cope

And of course the exercise group

Chair yoga this week? Yeah, lame

I sleep through it after a second dose of ativan

And wake up to another smoke break

My favorite friend there was a big man in a wheelchair

He was schizophrenic and he always talked to me

"When I die, I'm gonna come back an eagle. I'll fly across the sky and shit on all these motherfuckers" he says

And also talks about passing the time by counting the cinder blocks in the wall

Whatever helps

A girl with a black hoodie, a messy bun, and a weathered face says "the best thing about time is that it doesn't go backwards"

I'll remember that forever, though I didn't know it at the time

A man on the patio who has been eyeballing me since I heard his phone conversation finally approaches me

He asks if I am here to kill him, to which I say no

I am so medicated that life feels like a dream

And as we line up to go inside from the smoke break, I am called to the nurses station

Another dose of zyprexa

And I am at my limit

The fog in my mind takes over

And I am out cold

Somehow back in my bed

Somehow feeling peace

And somehow, I stay asleep until about a minute before we were to line up for dinner

Devil girl was in line, and rather than risk an encounter in the cafeteria, I ask if I can eat on the unit

"Sure" they say

And so I am sent another sandwich

In a styrofoam container

And I watch a movie as I eat it

I couldn't tell you what movie, but it somehow transformed into a narrative of my life

And I could hear peoples encoded messages to me

Among the other lines in the movie

Transfixed, I eat my sandwich mindlessly and messily

And focus with all my might on the mental image of a right triangle that was carved into one of the picnic tables

It was a sign of 3 things I had to do to be released

And this ignites something in me

So i proceed to tear through the collection of paperback books in the art room, writing on pages, reading passages aloud

My horoscope said "time flies like fruit flies" according to the paper

I rip my horoscope out and keep it in my pocket

And as I reach the peak of my madness, searching and making a mess,

A psych tech appears in the doorway with my mother and my husband

Visitor hour

And so I try to think of how I could ask them for help with the right triangle

So i can get out

The psych tech pulls me away from my visitors momentarily

For another dose of something, I didn't know what that time

I want to say it was just more zyprexa

As she had seen me tearing up the art room

And I go back to my mother and husband

Who have brought me a snack

And we talk about nothing

For about 15 minutes

Before I find myself laying on the floor

Overcome by the meds

They walk me past the nurses station to my room

And help me into bed

A nurse brings me my trazodone

And the rest is a blur of voices and noises

And with the obs camera watching i gently drift off

Maybe I'll ask to move into one of the regular rooms down the hall tomorrow

[tzds-gt]

Promptober 6: Exhausted

(Does this even fit the prompt? I swear that’s where I started... oh well, here’s where I finished, somewhere over in Tangent Land. Anyway, this is more or less directly after Poisonous.) “That was epic!” I shouted as Host finished choking down an enormous bear. I’d never seen him hunt before, and admittedly it was a little scary to be that close, but seeing Host in action was extremely cool, especially because it offered me an insight into a different side of his life- and also, because moments before Host had captured the bear, it had been very close to devouring me. We had been testing the basilisk venom theory all afternoon- the verdict was that yes, he did, but it wasn’t a very fast-acting venom. Host had been wrestling all sorts of creatures for me, even though he had already eaten a day or so ago. I asked often if he was getting tired; but he insisted on doing more, and making sure I wasn’t weirded out or fearful of seeing his eating habits in action. “The Host would agree that that was close- and King can make a note that the venom makes bears taste strange, as well. He can sense a few deer nearby, but he dislikes those, and would rather go after the eagle above their heads, and a bit to the north.” I looked up at him, furrowing my eyebrows. “Why don’t you like deer?” “Has King ever tried to swallow something that had antlers?” I shook my head. “No, I can’t stretch my jaws like you can!” “The Host has, and it is quite a task.” “Why not just break them off?” I asked. “The Host has tried that, and he scratched up his throat with antler shards. He couldn’t talk for a month.” He punctuated his sentence with a yawn. I nodded. “Makes sense. So if you had the choice, you’d go after the eagle?” “The Host has all intentions of doing so, he replies.” “You just yawned.” I muttered. “The Host was just re-aligning his jaw after eating. He often does. Besides, King has not studied the effects of venom on an avian species…” I frowned at him. “That doesn’t matter if you’re not up to it! I don’t want you to collapse out here in the open, where guards or poachers can find us!” Host tilted his head, becoming silent for several moments. “The chances that catching one more prey would result in the Host to reach some kind of tipping point are low, so he believes it will be fine.” “That’s what you said about us meeting.” I grumbled. “But go ahead I guess. Just gonna warn you now, though, if you kill me, I will haunt your ass for eternity with the ‘I told you so’ of the age.” “The Host supposes that that is quite fair… though as he sizes up the eagle’s tree, he promises that should he kill King, he will personally undertake a voyage of epic proportions to save her soul from the underworld.” I rolled my eyes. “I will befriend every hellhound in the afterlife and sic them all on you when you find me, in a formation that spells out ‘I TOLD YOU SO’ when viewed from above. How do you even climb trees? You don’t have legs!” “The Host reaches up, finding a thick branch close to King’s head, and hauling his torso up unto it, before moving to the other side and down onto the ground, then going back under, and climbing back up, and King may assume he will be doing this all the way up the tree, and all the way over to the eagle is eyeing King like a treat.”“Couldn’t you just pounce on it when it flies down to carry me off to my doom?” I asked, wondering how I survived a few hours in the forest without getting eaten. “The Host- is already- climbing out of earshot- of King.” Host huffed, and with that his face vanished into the leaves above. I looked around my immediate area for an escape route from an aerial attack- I hopped down from the stone I had been resting on, somehow completely misjudging the landing. “Aaah, that one hurt.” I winced, ducking into a conveniently human-sized crack in the boulder. I stayed hidden for a while, not hearing much out of Host as he was too far up in the trees. I examined my ankle (sprained, probably) and the rock in the meantime- the crack was definitely carved out by guardsmen or poachers, but the rotten rations inside said it hadn’t been used in years. I made a note to ask Host approximately where we were when he came back so I could add this location to my map of the Deepwood Forest. A sound like an entire tree splitting in half caught my ears, then the screech of a Deepwood Eagle, and finally a bellowing roar that was getting steadily louder- before I knew it, Host landed ungracefully with an earth-shaking THUD several yards away. I knew that as a naga, Host was more than equipped to handle a fall from such a height. As a magical naga, he had all sorts of protection spells against nasty falls. But I still limped out to check on him, because that landing looked like it would leave a bruise. “Host?” He groaned, pushing himself onto his stomach and hands. His clothes had been ripped slightly, his bandages had caught something on the way down, and were askew on his face- I could see his left eye. He was panting heavily, which wasn’t terribly concerning yet; a fall like that would have knocked the wind out of him for sure. “Talk to me, dude.” I said, waving my arms at him. “Or like… give me a signal that you’re not completely concussed.” Host slowly looked up at me, and I froze. Under his normally glassy, unmoving gaze, his pupils were slitted like a snake’s. He flicked his tongue out, turning directly to me as he snarled. I squeaked, stepping back. “Host, buddy… don’t go all feral on me.” I raised my hands. “I know your gaze can’t kill me, but I don’t know if that also applies to getting eaten. I think I’ll just… hide out in this boulder.” I turned and ducked out of reach, unfortunately forgetting my ankle and falling over instead of hiding. “Aaaah!” Unfortunately I realized a bit too late that screaming meant he could pinpoint my location. Host pushed himself up, circling me in an eerily calm manner. I was acutely aware that I was trapped in a loop of his tail, and he was… not himself. I took a little solace in the fact that he wasn’t sprouting scales or claws, which meant he wasn’t totally feral. “Host, please.” I murmured. He came closer, sniffing the air around me. “You remember me, don’t you?” For a few seconds, he paused, grumbling. I took the distraction as a small victory. “Of course you remember me, Hosty. You’re the closest friend I’ve got. And you’re not gonna eat me, because even though you’re tired and you just fell like a thousand feet, and you’ve probably exhausted yourself for the sake of ‘research’, this is gonna wear off now, and we’ll go home and rest, right?” I locked eyes with him, even though he couldn’t see me. Finally, after a few long moments, his growl broke off, and he relaxed himself. He blinked several times, slowly getting his bearings and piecing together what happened. “Host, are you back yet? The sun’s gonna start setting soon. I think we should call it a day.” I said. He looked down at me, very carefully choosing his words. “The Host… though his voice is raspy, from growling, he apologizes for any fear he may have caused-“ I smiled, limping quickly up to where his tail met the ground and hugged him. “I’m not even mad.” “He is relieved to know that King is safe, and would like to reassure King that he is also intact…” I lifted my head. “Let’s go home. I think we’ve experimented enough for today.” “The Host reaches down and lifts King, agreeing with this assessment- and asks of King to never let him overwork himself again.” I smiled, pressing my face to his chest. “You’ve got a deal.”

[dalyunministry]

Word Ministration

Topic: Waiting on God

By. Sister. Savita Manwan

🔥

Praise the Lord everyone! I welcome you all for today’s word ministration.

Let us pray: Gracious Father we come before thy throne in Jesus Name and we thank you for this moment you gave us to hear and learn from your word. Help us to understand your word and be blessed. In Jesus’ Name I pray…Amen.

▪Topic: Waiting on God

Isaiah 40:31

“But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint”.

Four blessings of waiting on the Lord are given in this passage:

1. They will renew their strength

2. They will mount up on wings like eagles

3. They will run and not be weary

4. They will walk and not faint.

To obtain all of these blessings we must learn to wait upon the Lord, to trust upon Him, to look expectantly to the Lord, look patiently to Him.

Our fast paced society does not like the idea of waiting. We want everything now. Everything is instant. Everything is press button. You press a button, you get coffee/tea. And a few minutes held up at the traffic lights will cause restlessness.

Someone keeps us on hold or call waiting, we don’t like it, we become irritated, angry and frustrated because we don’t like waiting.

Even in our prayer life, we want instant answers from God. Our waiting may take days, weeks or even months but God says if we are willing to wait, he will grant us all these blessings mentioned in Isaiah 40:31.

The literal interpretation of the word “renew” is “exchange”. God says if we would just learn to wait on Him and hear His heart’s desires, we shall exchange our weaknesses for His divine strength, exchange our human frailties for divine enablement and exchange our human failures for God’s success and victory, if only we will wait upon the Lord.

▪They that wait upon the Lord are compared to an eagle.

The eagles when they grow a little old, their feathers begin to shed. Their eyes have grown weary. Their beaks have become blunt and their talons no more sharp and strong. The eagle which was once powerful has now lost his splendor.

1. And we see this eagle flying to a lofty location and find himself a rock to perch on. Here he faces the sun and focuses his eyes on the sun. He stops drinking and eating. He will be still and not give into distractions around him. Rain and snow will fall but the bird will not move. Storms will rage but he remains motionless. For days and weeks he is immovable. This is the act of fasting and waiting on the Lord.

As the sun shines upon his face, all the ugliness, blindness, deafness and bluntness begin to shed from that eagle. And we will see a naked eagle but that is not the end. That eagle does not give up. He waits and he waits…..for the time of renewal.

Just as the eagle flies to a lofty location, so should we find a place higher, closer to God and live in heavenly places with Christ.

The eagle finds himself a rock to perch on.

The Psalmist says in Psalm 27:5 –

For in the time of trouble

He shall hide me in His pavilion;

In the secret place of His tabernacle

He shall hide me;

He shall set me high upon a rock.

The eagle Christian must stand on that rock – Jesus Christ – a solid, immovable, steady, unchanging rock and there is a split in the rock where you can hide in.

Psalm 40:2 – “He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, Out of the miry clay,

And set my feet upon a rock, And established my steps”.

Jesus Christ is our firm foundation. The lord referred to himself as “the stone of Israel” and stated “He that buildeth upon this rock shall never fail”. Firm foundation of Jesus is what will give us the stability of our hearts and lives need now and into the future.

Jesus is the best foundation upon which to build a solid life.

2. Just as the eagle focuses its eyes on the sun in the like manner an eagle Christian must focus his eyes on Jesus, the sun of righteousness

Malachi 4:2 - But to you who fear My name; The Sun of Righteousness shall arise

With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.

We need to revere, fear and worship the character of God who is holy and exalted.

Know that healing is in His wings – the ability and desire to heal us is a part of that character we worship.

Recognize, confess and turn from our uncleanness/sinfulness both in our actions and nature. Do so in the personal, family, church and national levels.

Let our desperation become faith with singularity of purpose – only God can heal and save, all health and salvation are from Him.

Visualize the Lord exalted and let Him touch you or the Lord passing by reach out and touch Him.

Other eagles hear its cry and come to aid. They fly overhead, scaring off predators and they bring food to their incapacitated friend. The eagle is not left alone to die.

The eagle needs help and is provided help by other eagles.They are not only fed but protected from predators.

While an eagle Christian is waiting, other believers God sends to our aid to provide with the food we need to survive.

God has put a hunger within us. He has put a thirst within us. As you hunger and thirst after God, your spiritual eyes will be developed and you will be able to see clearer and deeper into things of God. For every eagle Christian, their main course diet is the Word of God which is alive and full of power.

Paul says in 1 Corin. 10:3-4 – God intended for our inner man to draw strength from His word. Find your source of health and strength from the word of God.

4. During this period of waiting, as the eagle is physically weak, unable to fly, the predators try to attack it. Similarly, with the weak Christians. The devil is on the lookout for weak Christians to steal, kill and destroy. But if the eagle Christian is firmly grounded on Christ the solid rock and if his focus is on the sun of righteousness and if he is in fellowship of believers, seeking strength and vitality from God’s word – nothing can harm him.

5. And one day, new feathers begin to replace the old ones with a shine more brilliant. His beak is now sharpened. Now talons begin to grow. He becomes sharp sighted. His ears begin to clear. And there standing on the same rock is a renewed and dignified eagle. He has exchanged his weaknesses, failures, blindness and deafness for God’s newness and strength.

Psalm103:5 - “Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s”.

He is standing on that rock (the rock Jesus Christ). He continues to focus his eyes on the sun (Son of Righteousness). He attunes his ears to the direction and speed of the wind (Move of the Holy Spirit). And when there is a sudden blowing of the wind (timing of the Holy Spirit) the eagle will give a loud cry, it is the cry of victory as he leaps off and soars with the wind.

Like it happens to the eagle, God makes us go through harsh trials of endurance and change. This is necessary to shape our Christian character and faith. In such time, we need to unite with the Lord by waiting upon Him. This unity renews our strength. We will run and not be weary, walk and not faint.

▪How to wait upon the Lord?

1. Let God be your only hope.

Jesus told the paralytic “Get up, pick up your mat and go home” (Math.9:6). This man had only 2 possessions - the clothes he wore and the mat. In Jesus day paralytic were left to beg in the street. This was their only way of survival. The mat on which this man begged was his only hope. He slept on it, rested on it and watched the world pass by. He was ordered to put away that mat and to put his hope in Jesus.

Jehoshaphat’s prayer (2 Chron.20:12)

O our God, will You not judge them? For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.” Their eyes were upon God for God was only their hope.

(Have you kept your hope in someone or something other than God?)

2. Be still and alone with God

Psalm 46:10a - Be still, and know that I am God.

Elijah was discouraged and stressed out and he sent his servant away. He walked to a cave in holy mountain Sinai. Obviously God wanted to renew His weak servant’s strength (1 Kings 19:1-9). God stirred up the nature. Yet God wasn’t there in the windstorm, earthquake or fire only in the stillness (1 Kings 19:10-13).

Elijah’s strength to serve God was renewed after his fresh encounter with God. God’s renewing after his fresh encounter with God. God’s renewing grace can be experienced only in isolation and stillness.

3. Submit to God’s sovereignty

Above or superior to all others/ supreme in power, rank or authority – God works in His own time and way (Isaiah55:8-9).

His sovereignty is expressed in our life in the form of His will. He always works all things towards a goal.

Some of us become flightless birds. We can’t take off. We’ve become earth bound. We gobble too much. We lose our vision and our spiritual heights. Our lives are in turbulence.

The very situation that you are facing right now could be a trial of endurance and change. God makes his children to walk through such times because it’s the only way to prepare you to meet God’s plan for your life. To take away what is unnecessary and shape up your character and attitudes.

But God never forsakes or leaves behind His children at these times of correction. He is with you because He wants to renew your strength at the end of the trial period.

Let us learn to wait upon the Lord. Let us spread our wings of faith to rise above the storms. Let us fall in love with Jesus.

May God touch our hearts and minds and may we capture the spirit of the eagle.

Amen.

God bless you all..

Thank you all for following the teaching.

[pastorcowboy]

Week 7 God of Fire

Who is God: God looks like Fire

You could say God is spirit. We call it the Holy Ghost. Yet, in the mist of all those metaphors God seems to appear as fire. God uses fire to illustrate his purpose. I am not sure why God uses fire. The flood is water. God causes earthquakes several times. When it comes to getting people’s attention: God choses the form of fire. My guess is that God cannot be touched. An external currant can jolt you. A power pole can kill you. Spiritual visions and power are cool but they don’t kill. To touch the source of God would be fatal. So, fire makes sense because we can’t touch it.

1.    What are the images of God you have pictured in your head?

________________________________________________________________

In the beginning of the Bible we are introduced to God as Spirit hovering over the waters. It says God made things but it does not describe God. When God tosses Adam and Eve out of the garden he places a flaming sword over the way back in. I find it curious that he chose that image. We had no fire until that point. Fire is a good way to block an entrance too. Later a covenant was made between Abram and God. A torch of fire went between the two halves of an animal to seal the deal. God again uses fire as his representative.

1.       What are some symbols that represent things like for example the eagle and America?

________________________________________________________________

The creation or discovery of fire is a big deal. Fire is the only way we feel safe. Fire keeps us warm. Fire feeds us. Fire protects us. Fire is also a way home or a signal of danger. We use fire for so many things. A bomb is rapid fire. We need fire to spark a bullet. Fire flies jet planes, steam engines, and our cars. Fire heats houses and bonds metal together. Fire clears forests and also refurbishes old forests. Fire is friendly and dangerous yet we need it. There are good reasons God chose fire to show himself and his plans.

It’s interesting that Christian living is all about fire. We light candles. Some churches burn incense. There is a metaphor of the Holy Spirit burning within us. Do we have the fire of Christ in us? Our study will certainly involve Jesus but to build a fire we have to make a fire. The foundation of knowing God and understanding his character is trial by fire. We should see our lives in God the Father, God the Son, and God the spirit. We call this traditionally the Spirit filled life. They call that life being on fire for God. God could also be called refiners fire.

As one, God the Father, Jesus, and the Spirit are God. As individuals, they use fire to explain and show themselves. Jesus eyes in Revelation are described like fire. God is described as a burning bush or pillar of fire. The Holy Spirit is like tongues of fire from heaven.

For next week read the verses below and think about what fires burn in you good and bad: for example, jealousy or a promotion.

Revelation 1:14 “The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire.

Acts 2:2-3 “Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.”

Deuteronomy 4:33 “Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived?

1.       God is heard walking in Eden. God is seen within a burning bush and pillar of smoke and fire. Why can’t God just show himself. Recently I have been thinking about being near God. In heaven people seem to fall at their feet and worship. I wonder if Gods goodness and holiness is so powerful that we would be overcome with shame, awesomeness, and humbleness. That might make us faint in terror or fall in reverence. Maybe a flaming sword is better than a regular sword protecting Eden. It means God means business more than being lackadaisical.

Gen 3:24 “After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side[a] of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.”

 2.       God chose to appear as fire more than spirit. So, we don’t see objects move by themselves or a white sheet hover nearby. I find it interesting that people say God does not exist because we can’t see him. The favorite analogy is we can’t see the wind. Yet we can see what wind can do. We can feel wind. However, like God, we can’t see it. In the Bible, we see God in burning bushes, pillars of smoke and fire. Is that it?  No, we see God in miracles, resurrections, and healing. We also see God in Jesus and the changed lives of those who met Jesus. Those touched by the Spirit of God. God is not unseen.

Ex 13:21 “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.”

 3.       Next week we will look at the wrath of God by fire. Most people identify God with wrath and fire. In the Old Testament, God chose to reveal himself by fire. He blocked Eden by fire. God uses fire for his goals. God also uses fire to prove a point. I like the statement one thing I have learned God is God and I am not him. I cannot use fire by my will to prove a point. God shows his mighty power with the mightiest thing: fire. He burns up a city. Causes frozen hail to burn. There is a huge pillar of fire. Yes, God also can use fire to burn up an offering. Leviticus 9:24 is cool because God burns up the sacrifice and the people fell on their faces. Reverence can come in power. It can also come in the form of worship, fear, and terror. Maybe reverence by fire is a smart move.

Lev 9:24 “Fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat portions on the altar. And when all the people saw it, they shouted for joy and fell face down.”

 4.       I like to listen to a certain song that is interesting. It’s by Jesus Culture and it’s called Glory. The singer is asking us to jump in the fire and that the fire would reign down. Personally, I want to see God’s glory but I’m not that cool on going near it. The fire of God is a dangerous thing. It’s fire and not a shower or confetti. I get why the singer wants to be near God, but stay out of the fire. Acts 2 is a better option. Tongues of fire came from heaven and rested upon the people.

Jesus came down to tell us the truth about God. Jesus said he would send another to help us understand God better. In Acts 2 we find the people receiving the Spirit and it comes down looking like tongues of fire. The people start speaking in their native language, yet all the people understand it as their own. Fire divides like in Genesis 3. Fire burns like in Leviticus 9. Fire also unites like here in Acts 2.

Acts 2: 3 “They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as  the Spirit enabled them.”

Read some extra verses if you like Ex 3:2, Gen 15:17

The Jesus Connection

In the Old Testament Jesus is not used by name. He is depicted as themes of the one to come. So many people discount Jesus because of this apparent discrepancy. They say he is not the Christ that the Prophets predicted. They say he is not Emmanuel as named in the Old books. Jesus will be a warrior. Jesus will be the deliverer of the Jewish nation. In Jesus day, the Jewish leaders were looking for that person. They also had a good thing going and did not want God disrupting their livelihood. As odd as that seems, that is why they were at odds with Jesus much of the time.

               So, if Jesus did not use fire, then why call him the one sent by God? The Spirit and God the Father appeared as fire several times. If Jesus is God then why not fire? I believe we mistake the first coming of Jesus with the second. Ok, then why two comings? I feel Jesus needed to do one thing only in the first coming. He introduced a grace period. Let me walk you through this with three verses.

Luke 21:24 “They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.”

Romans 6:14 “For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Ephesians 2:8 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God.”

There are so many more verses, but I want to keep this short and simple. In the Luke verse Jesus mentions the time of the gentiles. The Jewish people thought they had a lock on God. Jesus dispelled that notion by saying he would die for all who believe. What he taught was also understood by the scholar Paul and the Disciple Peter. Both were men charged with helping gentiles come to God through Jesus. This period of time is called the grace period.

I heard a man say that grace is a time period when God would look the other way on the personal penalty of death because of sin in order to draw gentiles in to heaven. Read the other two verses and you can see that God is giving us time to move away from the sins of the world and towards himself. Jesus dying on the cross is the final penalty for sin. That sacrifice by Jesus is the fire connection. Tongues of fire rested on people strictly because of Jesus dying and giving us this grace period. Jesus said he must go in order for the Spirit to come. That is the Jesus connection.

[everydaynuggets-blog]

There is a Way that Seems Right to a Man

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 14:12

1. Amassing wealth may seem to be the right way but the end thereof is the way of death. It is not the way to Heaven or to God.

Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it. When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

Proverbs 23:4-5 (NASB)

He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him.

Proverbs 28:22

RICHES PROFIT NOT IN THE DAY OF WRATH: but righteousness delivereth from death. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

Proverbs 11:4-5

By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, AND THINE HEART IS LIFTED UP BECAUSE OF THY RICHES:

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

Behold, therefore I will bring strangers upon thee, the terrible of the nations: and they shall draw their swords against the beauty of thy wisdom, and they shall defile thy brightness.

They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

Ezekiel 28:5-8

2. “Eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” may seem to be the right way but the end thereof is death. A life of eating and drinking with the mind that “tomorrow we will die anyway” is not the way to Heaven or to God.

And behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen, and killing sheep, eating flesh, and drinking wine: LET US EAT AND DRINK; FOR TO MORROW WE SHALL DIE.

And it was revealed in mine ears by the LORD of hosts, Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die, saith the Lord GOD of hosts.

Isaiah 22:13-14

3. Becoming proud because of your achievements may seem to be the right way. But it is not the right way. The end thereof is the way of death.

Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither is there any end of their treasures; their land is also full of horses, neither is there any end of their chariots:

Their land also is full of idols; THEY WORSHIP THE WORK OF THEIR OWN HANDS, that which their own fingers have made:

Isaiah 2:7-8

4. Giving lip service to God may seem to be the right way. The end thereof is the way of death. Being religious is not the way to Heaven. Following traditions and singing hymns without knowing God is not the way to Heaven.

He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.

Mark 7:6-7

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? And in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works?

Matthew 7:21-22

5. Following other religions may seem to be the right way, but the end thereof is the way of death! Following any other religion apart from Christianity is not the way to Heaven. False religions offer many other ways that are not true.

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

1 Timothy 2:5

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

Hebrews 12:24

6. Doing good works may seem to be the right way but the end thereof is the way of death. Being a good person and doing good works is not the way to Heaven.

Good works will not take you to Heaven. The only way is through the blood of Jesus! There is a life that seems to be the life, but Jesus Christ is the Life – He gives abundant Life.

But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

Isaiah 64:6

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

Romans 3:10

7. No one, including you, can come to the Father except through Jesus. “No one” means presidents, your mother, your friends, your brothers, and your teachers.

Come to Jesus today, come to the cross, and come to the blood, if you want to get to the Father!

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 14:6

For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

1 Timothy 2:5-6

Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Acts 4:12

by Dag Heward-Mills

[organiclifestylemagazine]

How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment - Better Options Included

More than 1 billion people across the world rely on fish as their main source of protein. Consequently, the world’s oceans are in trouble with marine life plummeting. More than 80 percent of the world’s fisheries are either considered fully exploited or overfished and on the brink of collapse. People who are dependent on the sea for income and food are left increasingly vulnerable. Our oceans are radically depleted. A decade-long international survey of ocean life completed in 2010 estimated that 90% of the ocean’s big fish have disappeared.

Aquaculture seems to be a sustainable solution to overfishing, but the reality is that fish farms are causing huge problems. As typical with big business, profits are more important than ecological sustainability or our health.

As the world began to attempt to limit overfishing the aquaculture industry boomed. Between 1980 and 2015, the total amount of fish production from aquaculture increased more than 16 times from 4.7mn tonnes to 76.6mn tonnes. If you eat seafood, unless you catch it yourself (or ask the right questions), it probably comes from a fish farm. More than half of the fish we consume is farmed. The aquaculture industry is growing faster than any other animal agriculture segment, overtaking beef production in 2012. A report by the Earth Policy Institute in Washington DC reported that farmed fish production reached 66 million tonnes in 2012, while beef production was at 63 million tonnes.

Recommended: Best Supplements To Kill Candida and Everything Else You Ever Wanted To Know About Fungal Infections

Why Farmed Fish Are So Toxic To the To Us and the Environment

One study showed that aquaculture in Sweden “is not only ecologically but also economically unsustainable.” Another report looked at farmed fish in Chinese lakes and concluded that  it is an “economically irrational choice from the perspective of the whole society, with an unequal tradeoff between environmental costs and economic benefits.” Aquaculture harms the environment, which eventually costs a lot of money. In the U.S., fish farming is responsible for roughly $700 million a year in environmental costs. Fish farming operations typically generate more costs than profit.

Abhorrent Conditions

Research has shown that fish feel pain and stress. Large-scale fish farm operations have fish living in extremely crowded conditions, often leaving each fish less space than the size of an average bathtub. Living in this close proximity increases infection and disease, which leads to antibiotics which further pollutes surrounding waters.

Farmed Fish Eat Their Own Shit

The feces concentration is often so great as to cause the fish to ingest their own poop, increasing the likelihood of disease. The fish poop also promotes algal growth and reduces the oxygen content in the water, which makes it harder to support life. Fish waste and uneaten feed litter the sea floor beneath fish farms contaminates the area and generates bacteria that consume oxygen vital to shellfish and other bottom-dwelling sea creatures. Reportedly, the Israeli government closed two fish farms in the Red Sea after discovering the farms were causing algal growth that was harming coral reefs.

A Cesspool of Disease

Pathogens from farmed fish pools can spread rapidly to contaminate any wild fish swimming past. Sea lice, a type of crustacean that finds captive fish on farms to be an easy target, have become huge problems for the industry. And the increased prevalence of these crustaceans due to fish farming is being blamed for reduced numbers of wild pink salmon, as well as the species that eat them, including bears, eagles, orcas and others.

Lethal viruses that are known to spread from fish farms are being detected in wild populations. Salmon leukemia virus is said to act like HIV, in that it depletes the immune system leaving animals susceptible to other infection. Infectious Salmon Anemia Virus (ISA) is also known as salmon influenza. It’s highly lethal Piscine reovirus, which degrades salmon’s heart health, causing heart attacks and preventing salmon from swimming upriver.

Toxic Antibiotics, Pesticides & Other Chemicals

Concentrated levels of antibiotics, pesticides and other chemicals used to fight infection are found in farmed fish. The effects these practices have on our environment are only beginning to be understood. One study found that a drug often used to kill sea lice will also kill other marine invertebrates, and contaminates waters at least up to half a mile away.

Recommended: Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet

Farmed Fish Food

Many farmed fish are being fed genetically modified corn and soy. Some report that in China farmed fish are often feed animal feces. One report from the USDA from 2009 stated,

[It] is common practice to let livestock and poultry roam freely in fields and to spread livestock and poultry waste on fields or use it as fish feed.”

Carnivorous Fish Farms Eat Too Much Fish

Many fish require a fish-based diet, and can require much more food than they produce. Now anchovies and herring and other small prey are being dangerously overfished to the brink of extinction in order to meet the growing demands of aquaculture. Tuna and salmon consume up to five pounds of fish for each pound of body weight.

We have caught all the big fish and now we are going after their food,”- Oceana

It’s been shown that every pound of farmed salmon needs five pounds of smaller fish to feed it.

Oceana blames aquaculture for declines in whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, penguins, albatross and many other species.

Rather than relieving pressure on wild fish, growing these large carnivores [salmon and tuna on fish farms] requires a steady supply of prey that are caught and ground into oil and meal. As the industry grows, it is straining the existing supply of prey fish, putting additional pressure on populations that cannot supply the demand.”

Toxic, Diseased, & GMO Farmed Fish Escape

Many fish farms use netpens to confine fish in open waters. These systems are susceptible to being ripped from predators and due to storms. In the North Atlantic region alone it’s said that two million farmed salmon escape their farms each year. The result is that at least 20% of wild salmon caught in the North Atlantic are actually of farmed-fish origin. Farmed fish that escape will breed with wild fish and compromise the gene pool. Embryonic hybrid salmon, for example, are far less viable than wild salmon, and the resulting adult hybrid salmon routinely die much earlier than true wild salmon. This also harms predator populations that rely on fish like bears and orcas.

More Fat, but Less Omega 3s and Other Nutrients

Farmed salmon, for example, is much fattier than wild salmon, but it contains FAR LESS healthful omega-3 fats and less protein. The omega-3 levels in farmed salmon keep dropping with each new study.The International Fishmeal and Fish Oil Organization (IFFO) says that today’s farmed fillet contains as little as half of the omega-3s the fish had less than a decade ago. Salmon farmers in New Zealand were caught overstating the omega-3 fat levels of their fish.

Farmed salmon that is high in omega 3s get their higher levels from being fed fish oil. Like with the prey fish, the demand for fish oil is outstripping supply. This practice is becoming too expensive, and many fish are being fed cheap GMO oils to fatten them up.

Farm-raised tilapia is one of the most highly consumed fish in America. Studies show that tilapia has very low levels of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids and very high levels of inflammatory omega-6 fatty acids that may cause an “exaggerated inflammatory response.”

Recommended: What Causes Chronic Inflammation, and How To Stop It For Good

More PCBs

A report published in 2003 by the Environmental Working Group found that seven out of ten farmed salmon purchased at grocery stores in Washington DC, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon contained PCBs at levels that raise health concerns. It’s a safe bet that these statistics have only grown worse as plastic continues to pollute our planet.

It’s said that farmed salmon are likely the most PCB-contaminated protein source in the U.S. food supply chain.

Farmed salmon are fed contaminated fishmeal. Farmed salmon are fed from a global supply of fishmeal and fish oil manufactured from small open sea fish, which studies show are the source of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in most farmed salmon. In three independent studies scientists tested 37 fishmeal samples from six countries, and found PCB contamination in nearly every sample.” – Environmental Working Group

Recommended: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

China…

Chinese farmed fish accounts for about 60 percent of farmed marine products worldwide. China is the leading provider of farmed fish to the US. If you’re buying tilapia, it’s probably from China.

Excerpt from The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms:

Tilapia in China’s fish farms, are fed pig and goose manure — even though it contains salmonella and makes the tilapia “more susceptible to disease.”

In Vietnam, farmed shrimp bound for the US market are kept fresh with heaps of ice made from tap water that teems with pathogenic bacteria.

Bloomberg also notes that at the same company “there’s trash on the floor, and flies crawl over baskets of processed shrimp stacked in an unchilled room.”

Like US meat farmers, Asia’s shrimp farmers rely heavily on antibiotics, many of which are banned for use in the United States.

In May, ABC News bought 30 samples of imported farmed shrimp from across the country and had them tested for antibiotic traces. The result: Three of the samples contained detectable levels of these dangerous antibiotics.

According to a recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a quarter of the food-borne illness outbreaks caused by imported food from 2005 to 2010 involved seafood — more than any other food commodity.

Fish To Avoid and the Better Seafood Choices

Bivalves, such as oysters and mussels, can be farmed in an environmentally conscious manner because they are “filter feeders,”; they actually make the water in their ecosystem cleaner, and they are much easier to contain due to their lack of mobility. But, this means that the environment bivalves grow in should already be fairly clean, or else the seafood can transfer pollutants and other toxins to the consumer.

Alaskan salmon is not permitted to be farmed. Sockeye salmon cannot be farmed. Atlantic salmon comes from fish farms. Farmed salmon is rife with chemical contaminants ranging from pesticides and antibiotics to PCBs.

In restaurants, mislabeled salmon will typically be described as ‘wild’ but not ‘wild Alaskan.’ This is because authentic ‘wild Alaskan’ is easier to trace. The term ‘wild’ is more nebulous and therefore more often misused. In many ways it is very similar to the highly abused ‘natural’ designation. – Dr. Mercola

Atlantic Flatfish, including sole, flounder and halibut, are high in contaminants and they have a long history of being radically overfished. Pacific halibut is a safer and more environmentally friendlier option.

Almost 90 percent of catfish comes from Vietnam – a country with loose regulations on the use of dangerous antibiotics and other chemicals. Like catfish, Pollock is a mild, white fish with a delicate flavor that’s naturally low in mercury. Look for pollock from the US, Canada, and Norway which provide the most eco-friendly harvesting.

Eel, also called unagi, is primarily farmed in China.  A powerful carcinogen called nitrofuran, and many other drugs and pesticides, are used to control disease in eel farms. Eel also has plenty of mercury and cancer-causing PCBs. Squid is an eco-friendly alternative to eel.

Imported & Farm-Raised Shrimp is one of the dirtiest seafood sold. Chemical residues, antibiotics, and an assortment of other contaminants have been found in farmed shrimp. While avoiding imported, farmed shrimp can greatly reduce your exposure to contaminants, it’s important to note that 70 percent of domestic shrimp comes from the Gulf of Mexico. With the recent oil spill, this raises concern for the health of these shrimp stocks. Your best bet is MSC-certified wild-caught Pacific shrimp from Oregon.

Atlantic bluefin tuna is said to have the highest levels of mercury and they have plummeted to near-extinction levels. The eco-friendly tuna varieties (like albacore or yellowfin) areproblematicc as well. Oceana collected 1,215 samples from seafood vendors from 2010 to 2012reported that 59% of fish labeled tuna is not just mislabeled but it is almost entirely compromised of escolar, which is not likely a fish we want to be eating:

To be frankly and bluntly specific — and I’m sorry for this — consumption of escolar causes explosive, oily, orange diarrhea. People have reported that the discharges are often difficult to control and accidents can happen while passing gas.” – The Kitchn

A good alternative to tuna is the Atlantic mackerel or try sardines.  They both are high in omega-3s, and they don’t have the high levels of mercury and other contaminants that tuna accumulates.

Tilapia from overseas fish farms have a bad reputation due to the aforementioned practices, but tilapia farmed in the U.S. and Canada typically use closed recirculating tank systems that alleviate many of the problems like water pollution and fish escapes. In Ecuador, tilapia are typically farmed in low-density freshwater ponds, which eliminate overcrowding and reduces disease. Tilapia are fed a mostly grain-based diet, so they don’t deplete prey-fish resources.

Farmed Seafood Documentaries

Sources:

Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – US Wellness Meats

Farmed fish overtakes farmed beef for first time – New Scientist

9 Things Everyone Should Know About Farmed Fish – Mind Body Green

The Disgusting Truth About Fish And Shrimp From Asian Farms – Business Insider

Wake Forest Researchers Say Popular Fish Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination – Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

Aquaculture: 8 Fishy Facts – China Water Risk

Six Toxic Fish (Plus Safe and Delicious Alternatives) – Grassland Beef

The truth about tilapia – Fox News

Is Farmed Salmon Losing its Omega-3 Edge? – CivilEats

Wild Atlantic and Farmed Salmon – Slowfood

New Zealand farmed salmon not as green as claimed, says consumer group – Food Navigator

Salomon Farming Problems – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: Sea Lice – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: SLICE – Farmed and Dangerous

Farmed and Dangerous: Escapes and Alien Species – Farmed and Dangerous

How Farmed Fish Degrades Our Health and the Environment – Better Options Included was originally published on Organic Lifestyle Magazine