“We have been betrayed by every prospect that man creates.” ~C.S. Lewis
“In the towns and the streets … there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness… for I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before.” ~The prophet Jeremiah
I’ve been listening to cassette tapes of Pearl telling stories at the age of 89. Her daughter, Mary Rae and granddaughter, Tanya are prompting her for story after story. Mary Rae tells this story. “One day momma was real sick and May finally called the ambulance. May rode with momma in the ambulance to Amarillo and I wasn’t sure momma would even be alive by the time I got there. Halfway there, momma said ‘Where are we going?’ May said, ‘Well momma, we’re going to Amarillo.’ Pearl said, ‘Oh good! I’m going to buy you two girls a new dress!’
To her dying day, Pearl Davidson-Cluck lived in hard earned abundance. Once toiling with ten children to survive the dust bowl and great depression, both from beginning to end, Pearl found herself progressively set for life post-1943 with the help of her dedicated and industrious sons. As I read an article out of The Economist this week which was predicting whether or not inflation would return in 2021, I was seeing once again how the systematic mechanisms are continually betraying the people.
From Roosevelt’s New Deal, a "help" that to this day is debatable, to the fact that the Dust Bowl itself was just another man created betrayal, systems just keep failing us. Anti-New Dealer’s called Roosevelt a “Dictator” just as people accuse both Trump and the Biden bunch today. Throughout 2020, I have seen a Biblical principle that is reflective of viewing things through the cat-eyed lenses of Pearl’s perspective which I wrote about in the first blog of this series. “At the same time” became a key phrase I’ve held on to. While God was dealing with an entire depraved generation, he saved Noah and his family - at the same time. When God dealt with Sodom and Gomorrah, He saved Lot - at the same time. This “at the same time” principle is also at work in the book of Jeremiah during the reign of Nebuccanezzar.
In Jeremiah 29 the people are locked down in captivity and God basically tells them to get used to it, move in, settle down, build houses, plant gardens and enjoy life - captivity would be temporary. In Jeremiah 33 these important words are spoken, “I will bring the people back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. … and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I will provide. …I will bring health and healing… and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. ...In the towns and the streets … there will be heard once more the sounds of joy and gladness … for I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before.” Everything under the sun is cyclical. A time of rebuilding is sure to come! So if your “bad guy” is Donald Trump and he somehow stays in office or your “bad guy” is Joe Biden and he takes the throne, if you belong to God, it matters not. Whatever January 6th determines for the American people, on that day or any other day, these two passages hold the instruction for your own personal peace. Whether you feel like Pearl in the midst of a 1930’s black storm or Pearl in the midst of a 1970’s Christmas shindig, it’s a good day. If you’re a child of God, every day is a good day and we move forward full of joy!
Today I am releasing the Christmas Song from the twelve song story album about my “wild and wonderful” Texas cattle ranching family. The song is called Pearl. It features the “Lil Cluck Choir” which is made up of sixth generation Cluck kids including one of our youngest! They sing along with me as I teach them one of Pearl’s “funny little sayings nobody understood.” I searched high and low to find a relative who knew what this saying meant. Finally a fourth generation cousin said in her beautiful Texas accent “Well, yayess! I still say it to this day! … It just means … Today is a good day!” And that perspective, inspired by Pearl, perfectly clarifies the lenses I’m deliberately choosing to see life through.
Oh! and keep in mind when you listen to the song that Pearl especially said the funny little saying when she met a newborn member of the family!
Listen here: https://tinyurl.com/y6st9t8r
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