I've been missing since the 25th and I apologise.
No excuses but we've had a general blackout since 23:30 on the 24th of February. The power was restored at 23:30 last night. In the meantime, we also had a water outage for 12 hours on Wednesday. I know that this sounds like a fairy tale but it is true. This 72 hours of no power is 28 hours less than the longest blackout that we experienced a few months ago and greater than the frequent 40 to 50 hours blackouts which we experience every few weeks.
When the power was restored, my geyser (boiler) burst and flooded my kitchen. The geyser is in the 'loft' area, which isn't really a loft, it's the little more than crawl space between the roof and the ceiling. My ceiling is completely soaked and the kitchen light was so waterlogged that it kept tripping the DB board. Work for next week.
In the meantime, I've been working on a blog, now that I have power again.
REPETITIVE DECEPTION
Hey
Did you hear?
All mushrooms are edible
The headlines told us today
That all mushrooms are edible
Whether black, red, cream or grey
All mushrooms
Are edible
You know
It’s true
Because
That is what
They told you
What’s that
I hear you ask?
All mushrooms
Are edible?
Absolutely!
It’s the truth
Plain and simple
A truth
You’ve known
For years
We’re here
For you
We’d never
Lie to you
You know that we’re the news
You know that we’re not cons
All mushrooms are wholly edible
Although for some of them it’s only once
Disclaimer: Very many mushrooms are highly poisonous and will kill. Do not even taste mushrooms that you have not 100% identified as safe to eat. The last line of the poem tells us that some mushrooms will only be eaten once (because we'd die).
How easily words can be misinterpreted!
This brings me to something that we've all been living through - narrative warfare.
This brings me to something that we've all been living through - narrative warfare.
It's true that repetition works for good and evil. The above poem is an example of ill will, the passage below shows the positives of repetition.
I can’t remember who said that if a lie is told often enough, it will be believed as truth. This makes perfect sense. Do you remember how you learned as a child? It was repetition upon repetition upon repetition. How many of the words of the songs that you sang as a teenager come immediately to mind when you hear that song again? This is not because you are less interested in songs as you grow older; it’s because you now do not play the same song on repeat for days and weeks on end.
That is exactly the method that media of all types use to channel your mind into a direction that they decide. The narrative is repeated ad nauseum from every corner and within every message.
Do you think of media as newsprint, television, radio billboards and the like? You’re correct. However, media is also songs, stories, films, sermons, among many others and yes, schools, colleges and universities are major and important participants in narrative control. When all of these are aligned to force a specific interpretation on to the population, there is very little protection that we have against the offensive.
Repetition in and of itself is no more than a tool in the hands of those who desire certain outcomes, just as a weapon is no more than an inanimate tool which can be used for good or evil. That is something that we need to understand.
When everyone is mimicking the same theme, we need to look deeper to discover what narrative is being advanced because as sure as night follows day, there is a narrative. The intent of the one who wields the tool is what we need to discern and uncover.
The old adage of knowing what a person does, rather than believing their words is what has contributed in recent years and in large measure to many people standing back and examining intentions far more acutely.
In Matthew 8: 15-20, we find this example, given to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ:
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall now them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
I chose this particular passage to highlight the main theme of this post, which is the use of repetition to drive a narrative and how repetition by itself is merely a tool to intent.
I can’t remember who said that if a lie is told often enough, it will be believed as truth. This makes perfect sense. Do you remember how you learned as a child? It was repetition upon repetition upon repetition. How many of the words of the songs that you sang as a teenager come immediately to mind when you hear that song again? This is not because you are less interested in songs as you grow older; it’s because you now do not play the same song on repeat for days and weeks on end.
That is exactly the method that media of all types use to channel your mind into a direction that they decide. The narrative is repeated ad nauseum from every corner and within every message.
Do you think of media as newsprint, television, radio billboards and the like? You’re correct. However, media is also songs, stories, films, sermons, among many others and yes, schools, colleges and universities are major and important participants in narrative control. When all of these are aligned to force a specific interpretation on to the population, there is very little protection that we have against the offensive.
Repetition in and of itself is no more than a tool in the hands of those who desire certain outcomes, just as a weapon is no more than an inanimate tool which can be used for good or evil. That is something that we need to understand.
When everyone is mimicking the same theme, we need to look deeper to discover what narrative is being advanced because as sure as night follows day, there is a narrative. The intent of the one who wields the tool is what we need to discern and uncover.
The old adage of knowing what a person does, rather than believing their words is what has contributed in recent years and in large measure to many people standing back and examining intentions far more acutely.
 |
| Testing Good Trees |
In Matthew 8: 15-20, we find this example, given to us by our Lord, Jesus Christ:
15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
16 Ye shall now them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire.
20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
I chose this particular passage to highlight the main theme of this post, which is the use of repetition to drive a narrative and how repetition by itself is merely a tool to intent.
Consider how many times Christ compares good and evil fruit, until, in verse 20, he brings us his ultimate point of, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them”.
The adjacent point of the poem is the deception behind the pushing of a narrative, knowing full well that it is not the truth and hiding the truth in the depths which few will discover or discern. This is a tactic which is used liberally by all forms of media.
In the poem, even when the truth is bared in the final line, it is couched in terms which could be overlooked or misinterpreted by the unwary. To repeat, many mushrooms are highly poisonous and will kill.
We need to live each day with our heads on swivels to protect us from those with evil intentions.
Keep yourself protected with the full armour of God.
The adjacent point of the poem is the deception behind the pushing of a narrative, knowing full well that it is not the truth and hiding the truth in the depths which few will discover or discern. This is a tactic which is used liberally by all forms of media.
In the poem, even when the truth is bared in the final line, it is couched in terms which could be overlooked or misinterpreted by the unwary. To repeat, many mushrooms are highly poisonous and will kill.
We need to live each day with our heads on swivels to protect us from those with evil intentions.
Keep yourself protected with the full armour of God.
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