"Then Comes the Long Winter & a Disappointing Groundhog’s Day"
“Again they came to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders came to him and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? Who gave you this authority to do them?” Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin? Answer me.” They argued with one another, “What should we say? If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But shall we say, ‘Of human origin’?”—they were afraid of the crowd, for all regarded John as truly a prophet. So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.””
Mark 11:27-33 NRSVUE
“Cold. Dismal. Grey. Long. Without a clear ending in sight. Always winter, never Christmas.
Dreary. Dreary monotony. Hoping for the Sun… But greeted each day by Dark and Gloomy storm clouds. Always winter, never Christmas. Always winter, never Christmas. Nothing to look forward to. Nothing but clouds. Nothing but grey.
The Long Winter after the Great Autumn’s harvest. A painful reminder of what could have been… Of what was promised. Empty words. Hollow. But found to be so, too late.
Yet fools aplenty will refuse to accept and admit their mistake. Though no amount of denial will erase the Truth—will change Reality. It was all a lie. A deception. A clever and grave ruse. A Trojan horse. A trap. A no-win scenario.
Only an accepted loss would have produced gain. But that matters little now and in the days ahead. Days when it will be winter but never Christmas. In the days just ahead, many will look for a shadow on the ground. A glimmer of hope that the Season will not be long but short.
Many will even prophesy its shortness. Futile words spoken from the mind. The ones who brought the Long Winter upon the Land were allowed in by the choices made by sons and daughters… Children who knew better.
Thus have the clouds not simply rolled in—they have been ushered in. Invited. Given permission. And settled in.
The Season has changed. Golden light exchanged for Cold and Grey. Long days and short nights inverted. A bright future sold for a quick fix by Children who knew better. Yet what was the outcome? A Long Winter following the Great Autumn.
How long will the Winter last? Seeing a shadow on the ground won’t provide an accurate forecast. Ground Hog’s day will disappoint. What will determine the length of the Winter is the response of the children who knew better to My Instruction.
Will there be honest introspection? Will I find in any, a humble and contrite heart? A willingness to admit error and repent? To turn from folly?Time will tell. For what is to come has not yet been seen.
The cold and dreary days of the Long Winter have not yet been felt. But they surely will be… seen and felt. For the Great Autumn and the Fall of Dead and Dying leaves that precedes has been set into motion.”