How to win against the narratives of the day
As you encounter the narratives out there today, ask yourself, “What would they do to silence me?”
“What are the words they would use to distract me?”
“What are the stories they would tell to discourage me?”
Those are the stories you will hear on the nightly news — little else.
Truth hardly matters as the nightly news is being written.
Opinions of the commentator hardly matter.
The narrative is so very important.
And the narrative is so focussed on taking hold of your mind.
Those are the stories you will hear on the CDC website — little else.
Those are the stories that an uncountable number of local organs and institutions will overwhelmingly repeat like it were the gospel truth.
And yet there is nothing about that to be intimidated by.
There are even amazing books out there designed to get you through a time like this. One of them that I will mention contains stories written, among other reasons, to encourage you for a time like the one we live in.
These are very different stories than those told by the local purveyors of some deceitful narrative.
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The best looking, most strapping lads were visited by the prophet Samuel. And he knew that not a one of them was the one chosen to be the next king.
Can you imagine the reaction of the man of the house — Jesse, when the prophet said, “What else you got?”
Jesse had put before Samuel the finest of the land, the finest that his household had to offer, and that was what the prophet had to say? He was not satisfied. They were the best educated, the most athletic, the most clever, the most successful.
But Samuel knew he had not been shown ALL of Jesse’s sons.
They sent for the shepherd boy who they kept out back.
That was the one the prophet came for — the shepherd boy who they didn’t show off to the guests.
It was the same shepherd boy who one day visited his brothers on the battlefield. The same shepherd boy heard the taunts and blasphemies of the enemy. The same shepherd boy saw fear and submission in the eyes and voices of the great warriors he had grown up hearing of — some of whom were his older brothers.
Do you think anyone would have believed that morning, upon waking, what would have happened next in this story?
Would they have believed that the shepherd boy would fell the greatest warrior of the day with a smooth stone from a brook?
Who could have believed such a thing?
I will tell you who — perhaps the shepherd boy who made it a reality, perhaps the shepherd boy who came with his heart ready for that, perhaps the shepherd boy who didn’t buy into the narrative.
And the God that he rose that day to serve.
The first four books of the Bible were written by a murderer. They are the Books of Moses, attributed to that great leader. Who would have imagined that Moses could do such a thing as write the first four books of the Bible and turn into a great leader — not even Moses.
Do you understand how powerful it is that those books of faith were authored by a murderer? At that, a murderer living in the middle of nowhere.
Sometimes we just need to be able to do the next right thing in our walk through the world and to be willing to do the possible that our maker sees in us.
That is a special book for this time, and whether you be a mighty believer or a committed atheist, there is wisdom in that book for you.
No matter how bad things may seem around you, reading it may just change your heart, as it did mine.
Because one day, not long ago, I picked up that book of fairy tales, which is what my church had effectively taught me for many years that book was, and I saw it very differently, and never looked back. I saw it as so much more, and that changed me.
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And now for a different book meant to get you through a time like this, though it is one that I would never compare the Bible to, other than the fact that they are both books.
For some months, I had been struggling with whether or not I should prioritize a book that was currently number three in line for publication for me. I had other books that were much closer to publication and that I was therefore prioritizing. But that book which I had left unwritten was the book I really wanted to write — a book on the danger of face mask mandates. It had been on the back burner for some months and was really burning in me.
I did not realize how badly I wanted to write that book.
Instead, I was caught up in doing “the responsible thing” and following through on my open projects that were closer to publication.
One morning, a woman came to me and did something I had no experience with and which was very unfamiliar to me.
She answered a question that I had been trying to answer for perhaps 2 months — whether that book on the danger of face mask mandates needed my focus.
The only thing is that she answered a question about me that I never asked her.
She said something like this — I was praying for you and there is a book in you stirring. That is a book that you need to write now, or it will never be written. That is a book you need to write, even if it means to put down other projects to get it done.
It is a woman I hardly knew. And it is certainly not anyone who would know such things about me, especially since I never spoke to a single person once about such a question of priority of books. I kept those concerns close to myself.
Well, from that very brief and shocking conversation, I put down the two books that were almost ready for press, and I picked up what became of Face Masks Hurt Kids and dedicated so much of the following 8 months of my life to that book.
It is a reference book. It is not meant to be read front to back (the way I like to read the Bible these days). It is a book that you can pick up and with 20 minutes of skimming the chapter titles, you can use the book to really dig down and be ready for any conversation on the science of masks. It is a very useful tool to have in your collection and to put to work.
As one reviewer points out: “The author did a great job in telling everything you need to know, to really protect your child. Very readable and a clear message.”
And as another points out: “This has every possible argument against forcing kids to wear masks or against wearing them yourself, with solid citations to things like peer reviewed medical journals.”
The first book is the best resource for this time and for every era.
Face Masks Hurt Kids is a resource designed for a particular fight we face — having the conversations about masks that society never had. Through that conversation, we can permanently push the masks out of our lives, never to return.
Get your copy of that tool here, for yourself, for your family, for a friend.
Allan Stevo