Stuck in the Middle

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My dad was at the wheel and seemed to be content with the long drive that felt like an eternity.  My mom was in the front passenger seat reading a book or magazine or quite possibly a map to our final destination.  My sisters and I were crunched in the back seat of a very small Mazda GLC wagon.

We had been driving for almost three hours on a hot June day in 1983.  Here I was…on a long drive, in a car without air conditioning, on a hot summer day in the middle of June, sandwiched between two of the most uncompassionate little girls God ever created.  As always, I was stuffed in the middle of the back seat with each sister on either side of me. Both of whom were leaning out the windows blocking the coveted fresh air I desperately desired blowing through the open windows.

Now that I’m older, I realize just how devious they were in making sure they could sit by the windows and forced me into the middle on every car ride.  It didn’t matter the distance of the ride…I always ended up in the uncomfortable middle position.

More often than not my sisters would be the last to leave the house because they knew I was already in the car, then each one would walk to either side of the car and force me into the middle.  When they weren’t the last to leave the house, they would stand outside the car with doors open and wait for me to leave the house.  When I would question why they weren’t in the car, they would make up some stupid excuse thinking I was too stupid to see through their scheme, but I always knew what they were up to, so I would prolong the ruse until one or both of our parents would intervene and force us into the car.  As always, I would end up in the middle.

The car we had was equipped with a rear compartment that was actually pretty roomy for a smaller child.  Often I would crawl into that very back compartment just to get some space to relieve my discomfort of being squished by two horrible siblings, sadly, on family vacations that wasn’t possible because we had it packed tightly with luggage, blankets, pillows, an emergency travel kit and a large cooler that had tons of drinks and snacks so we didn’t have to make any stops along the way.  I still don’t know how we packed everything into that little Mazda and still managed to get the five of us in that car.

To make matters worse as we would set out on the open road, my dad would drive with a purpose to get from point A to point B in as little time as possible.  He didn’t want to make pit stops.  That wasn’t on the itinerary.  If I complained about being sweaty, hot or car sick, or if I requested a stop somewhere so I could stretch my legs; my dad would just ignore me and my mom would do her best to appease my discomfort by offering me a snack or ask if I wanted to play a game to take my mind off the uneasiness.  Her compassionate nature was always something I loved about my mom.  Unfortunately, it never helped, so over time I learned to grit my teeth, not complain and fight through the inconvenience of being in the middle.  Unbearably, that didn’t help either.

There were times I would ask my sisters if one of them would switch with me…but because of their pride and disdain towards me they always said no.

I would implore my parents to intervene, but they would usually take the side of my sisters for one reason or another.  This was usually the point where I would run out of patience, and because I felt betrayed by my parents lack of assistance, the pressures of dealing with car-sickness and by my two siblings lack of compassion, my frustrations would swell up and maybe an elbow would conveniently be thrown into the area of where my sisters were sitting.

Of course, that would lead to my sisters throwing elbows in retaliation…my mom trying to get control of the situation from the comforts of her front passenger seat…and my dad yelling obscenity’s and threatening to either pull the car over or turn the car around.  Both options I would have happily accepted to just get out of that car and away from the middle seat.

Alas…my dad’s threats were empty and veiled as we would continue driving and the sibling squabble would come to an end when my mom would provide a glimmer of hope and request that my dad pull over at the next rest stop so we could take a short break.

It was in those moments I would get the idea that maybe my mom understood my plight.  That maybe she would intervene and tell one of my sisters that they would ride in the middle for a few miles so I could get a reprieve…but that was never the case.

We would pull into the rest stop…scurry in to do our business…I would take a few minutes to walk around to stretch my legs…and then we would all pile back into the car. . .with me stuck in the middle with both sisters on either side of me.

Today, in the midst of civil unrest, pandemics, financial ups and downs, rumors of wars, political strife and lots and lots of hatred and intolerance from every race, creed and color… I feel that same car-sick nausea and discomfort of being stuck in the middle.

If I complain that I’m uncomfortable, I’m ignored.

If I try to grit my teeth and fight through the discomfort, I only get more agitated and aggravated because of my discomfort.

If I try to do something to take my mind off of it, the discomfort constantly reminds me that it’s not going away.

The squabbles, the tensions, the hatred and contempt of people on both the Left and the Right is not only pathetic but annoying as hell.

They perform battles of ignorance and stupidity and combine it with indecency, lack of respect and lack of courtesy towards everyone and everything, including their own bodies.

It’s all extremely frustrating to watch from the middle seat.

What’s more, it’s aggravating for us in the middle seat to witness just how vain and inconsiderate the cattle on both sides really are.

I hope that very soon all of you on the Left and the Right are brought to the realization that you are just naïve, lowly cud chewers who follow the most ignorant of your respective herd, but I know that’s wishful thinking on my part.

You bovine imbeciles on the Left and the Right won’t stop throwing temper tantrums.  You’ll continue your plot and schemes against those of us caught in the middle, just so you can continue sitting by the windows.  And for those of us who will forever be stuck riding in the middle we will continue to endure with much patience the discomforts of having to sit between two of the most inconsiderate groups of cattle God ever created.

Consequently, don’t be surprised when those of us who are stuck in the middle of this very long, hot, uncomfortable ride called “life” eventually get so frustrated with both of you that we start throwing elbows.  

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Hey Liberals!!

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Where are you? 

The United States of America is burning at the hands of terrorists, and you’re no where to be found. 

When a mass murder happened because some lunatic decided to terrorize a community by shooting up a school or a mall, you were quick to pick up a microphone, condemn the actions and cry injustice!  Intolerance!  Hate!! 

But now…as law enforcement is attacked openly for wearing a badge, as United States citizens are dying in the streets due to ignorance and as businesses are being looted and burn due to incivility… where are you? 

Are you are locked safely behind closed doors with your security cameras scanning your property while a nation, you claim to “love”, is being destroyed by terrorists?  Or are you out there on the streets participating with those who terrorize?

You hypocrites!!   

You cowards!!!   

You wanted a lawless nation where people roam free to live as their personal desires lead them. So, you legalized all forms of debauchery.  Heinous abominations against what is good and wholesome.  You rationalized it with the phrase, “People are doing it anyway, so we might as well legalize it.” 

But you sad-sack imbeciles didn’t know what fire you were playing with.

You liberals have proven your ignorance.  The ignorance that you never understood the true nature of the human heart and the crimes humans are capable of. 

You liberals failed to understand that the inherited desires of humanity are disobedience, selfishness, cruelty, arrogance, lies, intolerance . . . . hate.  

You wanted free thinkers!  Opposed to the ways of God or even the existence of a god or any god for that matter! 

You liberals appear to appreciate others beliefs and you pride yourselves in letting the world know that you’re so tolerant, but your ultimate goal was to ruin anyone who you don’t agree with and to rid these “intolerant bigots” from your lives so you could continue your hate-filled way of life without feeling any guilt or shame.  

In the public eye your words were sweet as honey, alluding to a higher power to appease those you despise.  You spoke of prayer and used the name of their Savior and Lord to charm them into thinking your motives might be true; but in secret you devised and plotted against them.

You liberals elevated science and government…human idols!…as the new standard of rule. 

You liberals used education to push your agenda into those you could indoctrinate easily…the young minds of children. 

You liberals preached to the masses that if they believed the way their parents believed, they weren’t truly “free”.   

And by using guilt and shame you deceived people into believing they were racists and bigots.  Words you love to shout every time you want to make someone feel inferior.  The same words still being shouted by the terrorists who are now rioting, looting and pillaging cities all over the United States.   

Your hypocritic words resonated in the minds of the unsuspecting and weak, leading them to question their own beliefs and causing them to fall into a life of debauchery against their very souls.

But you didn’t stop there. 

With education, science and government in your pocket you planned an all-out assault on your enemy by using newspapers, journalists and eventually the internet to push your unholy agenda.  After all…you still believe that the pen is mightier than the sword.  

Therefore, you liberals wrote speeches that pronounced all humans as being inherently “good”.

I got news for you…

It’s pathetic to refer to people as being “good” if the people refuse to abide by the law as it was written and aren’t held accountable for their disobedience or their terroristic actions towards others.  At that point the nation of which those people reside becomes a nation of selfish ambition.  Intolerance.  Injustice.  Hate. 

Humanity is not inherently good, and if left to themselves, they will destroy one another!  This is proven every single day.  Just read the headlines! 

But during all of your plotting and scheming, you never once considered the outcome of your actions.  

You liberals never once considered that humanity and the true nature of a human heart will always leave the world in disarray if left to its own desire and will. 

You Fools!!   

You liberals wanted a nation of sinful, worldly people who are filled with pride, arrogance, disobedience, immorality and abominable acts. . .

well . . . 

Congratulations!!!  You now have the nation you always dreamed of.

Liberals… You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.  You prove this every single day!

Your father was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.  Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies, and you are a mirror image of him.

Consequently, the discipline that awaits you and your father, the devil, is coming very quickly. For the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone.

I know you don’t care, and I know you won’t heed these words of rebuke.  I know this, because you have been chosen for destruction.  Created for this very moment in time so that the Word of God will be proven true.  

It was by the foreknowledge of God that He created you just as He created Pharaoh in the days when Israel was held in slavery to Egypt.  For the Scripture says to Pharaoh…“For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth.” (Romans 9:17).  Those same words can also be spoken to you!  

Therefore, God is able to create some for honorable use and others for dishonorable use.  No matter how they are created, God will use them both to accomplish His purpose and have His name proclaimed in all the Earth.   

As for you who claim to know the Lord Jesus…the Son of God…the Almighty King of Kings…turn from your wickedness and repent!  And Take Courage!!  Fear not!!  Do not be dismayed!!! 

For those of us who are truly followers of the LORD JESUS can rest in the fact that God the Father causes ALL things to work together for good to those who love God, and to those called according to His purpose.  For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that Jesus would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom God predestined, He also called; and these whom God called, He also justified; and these whom God justified, He also glorified. (Romans 8:28-29) 

But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. 

Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. 

Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. 

Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.  (Luke 6:24-26)

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Recipe for Civil War

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The ingredients:

1 part lies

1 part deception

1 part ignorance

1 part anxiety

1 part fear

1 part frustration

1 part stupidity

1 part selfishness

1 part anger

1 part bitterness

1 part hate

1 part greed

1 part hostility

1 part violence (if desired)

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**Note:  No oven is needed for this recipe.  The mixture is self-baking and radiates enough internal heat to bake on its own.** 

In a large bowl begin by combining half the lies, deception and ignorance and blend on a low speed until it appears to be almost blended.  It should have the consistency of a lumpy mess.  If it’s smooth, keep blending until the lumps appear.

Once the mixture looks like a lumpy mess, add in the anxiety, fear and frustration then blend on a low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand.  Slightly increase blender speed to medium low and one at time, blending well after each is added, add in stupidity, then selfishness, then anger, then bitterness.  Blend until the mixture becomes a very thick and almost hardened substance.  It should look like rocks by this point.

Remove from the blender and quickly fold in the remaining half of the lies, deception and ignorance.  It should form a hardened ball after a few quick stirs.

Add in the hate and keep stirring.  It’ll take some time, but the mixture should appear to soften and mellow at this point.  The hate will give off it’s own heat and help the mixture to solidify and bake on it’s own.

Set aside and let harden completely by secluding the mixture in a well-confined space for a period of time.

Once it’s completely hardened, remove from confined space and top off with greed and hostility.  Riots should form on the surface.

Add garnish of violence if desired.

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