With all the news, I have learned not to believe everything you hear or read. But still, I listen and sift, and sometimes, something rings a bell. This time, it’s the destruction of national monuments. The chain of events seemed to start with the Covid-19 Pandemic quarantine, which gave rise to riots over police brutality when a white cop caused the death of a black man by kneeling on the man’s neck. This event then led to riots and Black Lives Matter protest marches, which includes the destruction of national monuments. Some statues were of Confederate men, some slaveholders, and yet, some statues were of men fighting against slavery.

Now, I have thought a lot about monuments and statues, and don’t think it’s always good to erase one’s history. The Egyptians and other ancient civilizations did this, which makes it more challenging to study their past. But then again, I don’t think we should have statues of people — seems like idol worship to me or at least an old tradition. I don’t like the “hail to those in the high seats.” I don’t like the graven image, especially since listening to Dennis Prager’s Bible Commentary, where he explains the commandments. I’m not sure we should have pictures of the Virgin Mary and Jesus since we don’t know what they look like. Regardless, the monuments are part of history and tearing them down, may be like destroying the pyramids or other ancient relics like those bulldozed and bombed by ISIS.

But, destroying statues or busts has been going on for a long time in other parts of the world:

The ancient Greeks made their major monuments out of bronze. Hardly any of these survived because as soon as regimes changed, as soon as there was war, as soon as someone could steal the statue, it got melted down and made into money or cannon balls or a statue of somebody else. (NT Times)

Anyway, not to get side-tracked — I had just recently re-read Charles D. Evans vision, and he mentioned monuments being destroyed (besides some other gnarly stuff):

 Monuments erected to perpetuate the names of the noble and brave were ruthlessly destroyed by combustibles. (The Contributor, August 1894, volume 15, No. 10, pg 638.)

So there seems to be the cry of havoc, which is not a good thing. I’m not a doomsday-focused person, for I believe that only God knows the end time. My job is to keep going, not guess the timeline. I do not agree with small fringe groups analyzing visions or near-death experiences and deciding they know the timing. Recently we’ve seen this result in a sad disaster in Idaho.

I have also come to think that visions and dreams are not timeline specific, meaning one event does not necessarily follow another as one sees it in a vision or dream. If you look at the book of Revelation and the book of Isaiah, which are apocalyptic books, some of the events are difficult to place in time.  I like to remember that God’s time is not our time. He sees all time at one time; there may be no way for us mortals to put a timeline to events. And I guess that’s what He wants, and it is good. History is full of terrible events, and we don’t know when the end comes.

Live each day a little better, help others, be thankful for the things you see each day.

Another surprising part of Charles D. Evan’s vision — he mentions how the United States becomes a wealthy nation,

…the nation had reached an unparalleled prosperity, wealth abounded, new territory was acquired, commerce extended, finance strengthened, confidence was maintained, and peoples abroad pointed to her as the model nation, the ideal of the past realized and perfected…

And then,

Factions now sprang up as if by magic; capital had entrenched itself against labor throughout the land; labor was organized against capital. The voice of the wise sought to tranquilize these two powerful factors in vain. Excited multitudes ran wildly about; strikes increased; lawlessness sought the place of regular government…(The Contributor, August 1894, volume 15, No. 10, pg 638.)