Out of Time to Prepare?

In June of last year, I blogged in Dancing on Law's Gravestone, about SCOTUS mortally wounding the rule of law. Evidently that was not enough for SCOTUS. As I said then and feel even more strongly today, regardless of which side of the SSM debate you sit on, everyone should be mourning what happened today: SCOTUS ERADICATED A CORE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE: THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE.

I will say that Voting Still Matters. Choosing the right, constitutionally honoring officials matters. Presidents and Governors appoint judges. Senators confirm them. 

I will admit I did not see today coming. I anticipated SCOTUS might rule gay marriage a constitutional "right", after all, Kagan officiated at a gay marriage a few weeks ago, for crying out loud, just poor taste for a sitting judge who has multiple cases pending on the subject. It never once occurred to me that SCOTUS would take the cheap way out, eradicate the votes of millions of people by refusing to even hear their cases. SCOTUS isn't even principled enough to stand up and defend their illogic.

I am even more stunned that this occurred a mere 48 hours after Apostolic warning by Dallin Oaks.  The lightning speed of SCOTUS following this warning disturbs me deeply. I figured I had more time to prepare. 170 years ago, Joseph Smith prophesied of the Constitution being shredded. The first known record of the prophecy dates to July 19, 1840, in Nauvoo, when the prophet spoke about the redemption of Zion. Using Doctrine & Covenants 101 as a text, he said, “Even this nation will be on the verge of crumbling to pieces and tumbling to the ground and when the Constitution is on the brink of ruin this people will be the staff upon which the nation shall lean and they shall bear the Constitution away from the very verge of destruction.” (Joseph Smith Papers, LDS Church Historical Archives, Box 1, March 10, 1844.)

I didn't think I'd have another 170+ years, but I was hoping for more than 48 hours for crying out loud! For me, it was a parable of being caught unprepared and off guard.

Which brings me to the point of this post. I love the Old Testament, particularly the book of Isaiah. His warnings about our day, the End Times and what we can do to forestall calamity (or what we are doing to bring about calamity) are salient and clear. The pre-eminent, foremost scholar on Isaiah, Avraham Gileadi, not only translated the Isaiah Dead Sea Scrolls, but has written several treatises comparing Isaiah and his prophecies of our day. I have all of his works, including his doctoral dissertation published commercially as The Literary Message of Isaiah (fair warning, it reads like a doctoral dissertation.)

My two favorites are Isaiah Decoded and The Last Days. 

Among other things, Isaiah tells us the law which extends the Lord's protection is adherence to the Mosiac law, the 10 Commandments: (1) Thou shalt have no other Gods before me, (2) No graven images (3) Not take the name of the Lord in vain (4) Keep the Sabbath Day holy, (5) Honor thy Father and Mother, (6) Not kill (7) Not commit adultery (8) Not steal (9) Not bear false witness, (10) Not covet.

It ought to be pretty simple: compliance to 10 little rules. But instead, like SCOTUS, we cast them aside without thought, and don't even realize we are hastening our own demise, speeding toward destruction with ever increasing recklessness.

It is this increasing speed which upset me so much when I heard SCOTUS' action today. I accept the word of the prophet Isaiah and other prophets: we err trusting in the arm of flesh, rather than the rock of the Redeemer Jesus Christ. It is true we will never be able to store enough food, water, money, or ammo to protect us against the tide of evil. Isaiah tells us that after all we have done to prepare, only Christ will save us.

I see the SCOTUS announcement this morning as yet another nail in our coffin of unrighteousness. I no longer believe we are in the "last days", I think it is more accurate to call it the "last minutes." Reading the calamities which are- or are about to- befall us, I believe we do need to take affirmative action to prepare for them as best we can, and then do a little more. If you have zero home storage, get 72 hours, then acquire a week's worth. If you have a week's worth, push to store one month's worth. If you've obtained a month's worth, double down and get three months and so on.

The same applies to your faith: if you are lukewarm in your relationship with God, regardless of denomination, maybe it's time for you to step closer. A lot closer. Maybe you should dust off those scriptures, and find out what the Lord has in store for you, for us, and what you can and should do about it. Perhaps it's time to change course and accept Christ in to your life. If you already have, maybe it's time to make Him an active part of your daily life.

I will double down and prepare spiritually, financially, temporally (home storage) and pray earnestly that I still have enough time. Hopefully more time than the allegory shown by the scant 48 hours between Dallin Oak's talk and this morning.