Dickens’ classic novel is being replayed, this time on a global scale. It is not the aristocrats the revolutionaries are murdering and destroying now. In fact, many of the revolutionaries ARE the modern equivalent of aristocrats – waging murderous war on ordinary people and the whole premise of Western Civilization. In Dickens’ novel, the revolutionaries severed children’s heads and cheered it…if the children were aristocrats. Now, the new revolutionaries sever children’s genitals – and cheer it. I guess that is a marginal improvement. Weirdly, though, our modern revolutionaries seek excuses to sever their own children’s genitals, too. For social credit and all that, you know. As long as someone else pays the price for their malevolent enthusiasms, I suppose.

I posited in a recent A Sign of Hope article that we are in the midst of Armageddon, that this is the final, decisive battle between good and evil, before the great renewal of the faith and face of the world. And so we are. Even as the madness ramps up throughout the world, a flood of new faith and commitment to it is growing throughout the same world. Everyone is being called to their battle stations.

It seems we are finding great clarity in these times. Jihadist Islam and the radical left have embarked on an increasingly nihilistic war on any form of civilization. They just want to be in charge of watching the world burn. As this happens, more and more people are figuring out that the faith and sort of ordered rules that make civilization possible are more vital than they thought.

In the first book of his tome, City of God, St. Augustine contemplated the reality that generalized social suffering comes to all, the wicked and the noble. He posited, though, that the same fire has a different effect on different souls – as it does on different substances. For the chaff and the wicked, it consumes them and creates a stench. For the noble, and for gold, the fire refines and reveals its strength and beauty.

There have been many instances of collective nihilistic madness in world history. It can rage from anywhere from a few months to several years before it burns itself out. The madness is always a pretext to seize power, but it always bears within itself the seeds of its own destruction.

We are at the very edge of that final, pitched battle. Large cohorts of the most elite classes have been gripped by the growing, self-destructive madness. A large cohort of ordinary people have desperately wished that this would all pass over them without having to get involved. Neither the lunatics nor the ordinary folks will get their wish.

The battle is joined and all that is left is to find whether you are chaff or gold.

It is the best of times for gold and heroes. It is the worst of times for chaff and the wicked. But there is no place to hide. We are about to fully enter the refiner’s fire.

As Jeff Childers wrote on Saturday: “I guess we can chalk another one up for the conspiracy theorists. Good job, preppers. You’re mainstream now.”

Indeed. Governments around the world have suddenly started telling their folks to lay in 3 days-2 weeks of emergency supplies. My guess is that the American mid-terms represent something existential to the globalists who have not had any limits on their power until Trump became a factor. These midterms will make it easier/harder for the Trump team to defeat the globalists for good. Do your part, and vote.

I expect Team Red to do well on Tuesday, which means the “No Kings” crowd (AKA Antifa and any other thugs looking for an excuse to act up) will be mobilized. The fallout could be serious enough to make us grateful we laid in supplies.

You all know the drill. Beyond peanut butter and instant coffee, pay some mind to clean water and sanitation.

Below is our good old Stay-In Bin. This has been on our website for years. You probably already have supplies, so check expiration dates on food as well as batteries, rotate your water, make sure everything you’re counting on is still useable. Restock where necessary.

I highly recommend checking the CORAC website under the Sustainable Living tab. You can bulk-download info sheet PDFs. You can also use the search feature to find such things as field sanitation and water purification.

Protein sources: tuna, Spam, salmon, other canned/pouch meats; beans; jerky
Fat sources: olive oil (healthiest of the oils), mixed nuts, peanut butter
Carb sources: canned or dried fruits and vegetables, cereal, grains
Coffee: you get 15 times as many cups per ounce from instant as from grounds; or tea
Garlic: strong anti-inflammatory, keeps colds at bay, adds interest to food
Dark chocolate: anti-oxidant, feel-good treat
Vitamins: at minimum, C, D3, zinc and quercetin
First Aid kit, supplemented by Neosporin, Advil, Advil PM, and alcohol
Medications, prescriptions going forward 3 months
Lifestraw: water purification (also Katadyn or Sawyer)
Heavy duty Hefty bags: sanitation
Pocket knife or multi-tool
Duct tape
Zip-loc bags, all sizes
Flashlight
Portable radio, AM/FM at least (crank style is good option)
Batteries
Sewing kit
Baking soda
Toilet paper (one roll per person per week)
Plastic drop cloths: for catching rain, sealing gaps in doors and windows
Binder clips: modern man’s answer to clothespins
Bleach: disinfectant, water purification (only 6 month shelf life)
Lighter: for your portable stove, sterilizing needles (or matches)
Cash; if cyber-attack, electronic payments and credit cards could be useless
Blessed salt or holy water
Large storage bin: can be used with plastic sheet for rainwater collection
Plan for family safety, communicated to all members
Self defense
OPTIONAL:
Items to barter (coffee, ammo, seeds)
Toolbox
Camping equipment (stove, propane, tent)
Portable power station (like a Jackery or Bluetti)

If anything actually hits the fan, and we all pray it doesn’t, our best protection is good community, knowledge (see above about bulk downloads), calm, and prayer.

It might be a good idea to have extra, if you can. Many of our neighbors will not have prepared, and may be elderly or infirm. This would be the right time to GO FORTH with extra supplies, as needed.

We’ve been through these nervous times before, and never had to resort to our preps, which makes us a bit complacent. When I moved last year, I found some food that was well past expiration date (well past) and had to be thrown out. Don’t think of prep as a static thing; you want to rotate and use things before they go bad. If something is marginal, don’t take a chance on getting sick! Toss and replace.

Lord, You are King over every nation and every election. Give wisdom to every voter and every candidate. Protect those who serve at the polls. Keep our communities at peace and our words kind. Whoever wins, give them humble hearts, honest counsel, and strength to serve all people well. Comfort those who lose. Help us honor every leader and keep our hope in You, not in any outcome.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

Election Prayer >

God of all Creation, You fashioned heaven and earth, the sea and sky, and all creatures of the world. You are the master of the seasons, and all of the elements obey your commands. Even in all of your glory and greatness, you remain faithful to those who call on your name. Be with those in the path of the storm. Send your Spirit over the waters as you did at the dawn of time.

Speak your Word to calm the winds, rains and the hearts of those who are in its path. Protect them from harm, bring them to safety and make of us a warm welcome. We ask this in the name of Jesus, who walked on the water, calmed the waves and is ever-present in the storms we endure. Amen.

The CORAC website has been built over six years, and is a treasure chest of helpful and inspiring information. If it’s been awhile, check it out; there is new information being added all the time. You can bulk download information sheets from the various teams, like Prayer or Health or Sustainable Living. These would be great resources if we ever suffered a cyberattack and couldn’t get online. Print out what you think you might need. Or print out specific articles that help you close the gaps in your preparation plan.

Most of what you’ll want to see is under the MEMBER RESOURCES tab. On the far left of that tab, you’ll see the categories: Health, Prayer, Sustainability, Communications, etc. Click on the category, and you’ll get a master page for that category that includes a search function. If you know what you want, search it; otherwise, browse around to find what you might need.

In any large-scale or prolonged disaster, sanitation quickly becomes a major issue. Be sure you have a plan, even if you never need it. This could come in handy in a hurricane or freeze situation at any time.

Emergency Toilet Guide >

What to do in a Water Emergency >

These ladies are new favorites. They’ve been delivering serious economic and political news for a long time, but I’ve just started listening regularly. You can subscribe to their channel on Youtube at Promethean Updates or website.

Their latest update: The Real Reason They Hate Trump. If that doesn’t pique your interest, nothing will. I believe they are correct that we are seeing the climax of plans that go back decades. And Trump is in the way. Thank God.

It’s always Jeff Childers. It’s as if I know him personally, since he is a part of each day. I rely on his analysis, optimism, good faith and humor. He searches out the nuggets that the mainstream media hides.

Subscribe for free here, and if you rely on him as much as I do, consider a paid subscription to keep him doing his great, otherwise-unpaid work. Paid subscribers get his Sunday posts, which he tries to make something special.

I recently wrote a short article about Q, which I was surprised to have gotten published. Like so many things that were ridiculed (not taking the shot, studying homeopathy, having an emergency stash) there may have been some validity to Q. In my opinion, quite a lot, actually. Anything that the entire mainstream media and the Pelosi crowd viciously attack may have something valuable to communicate.

See what you think >

Bishop Strickland continues to teach the faithful from his website, Pillars of Faith.

Scripture Study: weekly reflections on Scripture >

Vatican II reading challenge: We’re on Lumen Gentium now >

Arise and Shine, morning prayer inspiration >

Fr. Michael Gaitley has a gift for explaining items of our Faith in terms anyone can understand and follow. The book that made him known, 33 Days to Morning Glory, is an everyman’s guide to the Marian Consecration, based on St. Louis de Montfort’s preparation. Then he came out with 33 Days to Merciful Love, a guide to the consecration to Divine Mercy. All of his books make things more simple and manageable for busy people, without losing the essential heart of the devotion.

Recently I worked my way through his Consoling the Heart of Jesus, which is a do-it-yourself weekend retreat based on the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius. The original Ignatian retreat is 30 days, which almost none of us could swing, so Fr. Gaitley boiled it down to a weekend, Even so, it was more than I could take in, but it got me started down a path I badly needed.

You can order Fr. Gaitley’s books directly from Marian Press here >