We have met the enemy...and he is us.

Pin It Following the battle of Lake Erie, in 1813, U.S. Navy Commodore Oliver Perry sent a message to U.S. Army General William Henry Harrison stating,"We have met the enemy, and they are ours." Around 158 years later, cartoonist Walt Kelly, in his cartoon strip about a swamp possum, Pogo, drew a cartoon of Pogo, sadly staring out at the pollution that threatened to ruin his swamp home, as Pogo forlornly intoned, "We have met the enemy, and he is us."


I've been thinking over the lessons I have learned so far from my study of the book of Isaiah (I'm participating in a Bible Study Fellowship class this year, for those of you who haven't been following my blog). There are a lot of warnings, grim warnings, in this book. That was Isaiah's job! He was a prophet, appointed by God to warn the people of Judah to repent, and if they did not repent, Isaiah predicted that judgment was coming. Judgment, in this book, is one of the promises of God, and it's one of those promises that we really don't like to think about.

We like to think about the promises of God that make us happy; things that make us feel better. And there are lots of those very excellent promises in the Bible, and they are all true. Those of us who are a part of God's family are promised eternal life. We are promised hope, and joy, and peace, and love. We are promised that He will never leave us. I love that God has given all those things to me, and to all His children.

So, as I've been reading all the warnings God was giving to the people of Judah, and Israel (you know, THOSE people, WAY OVER THERE, A LONG TIME AGO), thinking, "My. That's pretty much a downer. Those people sure were bad!!!", when I had a very sobering wake-up call kind of moment. Those warnings were NOT to the "bad" people of the world, but to God's own, dearly beloved people. In other words, those warnings were to people like ME. And, maybe, to people like YOU. And what He wants "those people", who are actually US, to know, is that He detests arrogance. And that those who exalt themselves will be humbled. He detests the unjust treatment of widows and orphans - of people who cannot speak up for themselves, who have no defender.

I think it is so easy for Christians to get into a mindset of fear: that somehow we must build walls to protect ourselves from the evil people of the world. But what I hear Isaiah saying to us is that the enemy is actually inside the walls, and can be found in our own pride and self-reliance (as opposed to having a heart that humbly seeks to follow Christ in a life of service to others).

I don't wanna be my own worst enemy. Do you? Yet I hear God calling me to examine my prideful, arrogant attitudes. Maybe I'm not saying consciously to myself, "Who needs God anyway?", but I'd say that lately, you'd be hard-pressed to find evidence of a deep relationship with my Abba Father in Heaven in my everyday life. Too absorbed in life's business and activities, or in playing on the computer or watching my favorite show on TV to talk with my Father in heaven.

Furthermore, if we start comparing ourselves to those outside the kingdom of God to make ourselves feel better, and start thinking, "Well, I sure am glad I'm not as bad as THOSE people! Look at how evil THEY are. I need to stay AWAY from them!" we begin to develop a "circle the wagons" mentality, which totally misses the boat on why Jesus came to earth.

And why was that? Why did He come to earth? To seek and to save the lost! Who? Oh, yeah, those "bad" people we're busy isolating ourselves from.

If I'm looking for an enemy, I really don't have to look much farther than my mirror, and my own reliance on myself.

God grant me the humility to realize my desperate need for You. And grant me the love that I need to reach out to those who are different from me, but for whom you also died. Help me reach out in love to those who don't yet know You as their own loving Father in heaven.

Back in the Saddle Again

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Well, looks like I truly am back in the saddle again, in more ways than one.

The school year has begun again, with a vengeance. And we have realized that with all the activities we have said "yes" to, we are going to be behind the wheel of our car, driving, every day of the week. Or, at least one of us will be driving. And it is a LONG drive, in and out of the Boonies.

What were we thinking? I'm not really sure. Each activity SEEMED like such a great opportunity at the time we said "yes"! I'll start by mentioning modern dance for my daughter, who did kind an introductory class to modern dance this summer, and just loved it. Youth group at church (for both kids) is really rocking. REALLY rocking: because the worship band that my son participates in (and that my husband is mentoring) requires an extra night of rehearsal. Youth group is great; the band is great. But that's a lot of time. Then there's Girl Scouts - but that's only every other week. And, oh yeah: both my kids got minor parts in a musical that a large group of families from town are putting on. That's two rehearsals a week, for a while. And don't forget ballet for my daughter...because we can't give that up.

Have your eyes glazed over yet? I bet they have. If you have a family with teenagers, I bet you can top my list times three or four.

It just feels like a lot to me, because for so long, we were a peaceful, stay at home bunch of people. And because each activity requires so. much. driving.

And all those people who think homeschooled kids aren't socialized? Well, if I had time to worry about that, in between taking my kids to all these activities, I'd give my head a rueful shake and move along to figuring out how early we need to eat dinner TOMORROW night, before we once again blast out the door.

But the thing about which I have the most excitement (or is that apprehension masquerading as excitement?) is that this year, after taking a hiatus of about six years, I am going back again to a Bible Study Fellowship class. If you don't know what that is, it is an international organization that teaches the same Bible study class to groups of men, women and children all around the world. In other words, if I were going to be traveling this week to San Francisco, I could probably look up the BSF class there and attend it as a visiting member, and they would be studying the exact same lesson there as the people in my group back home are studying. This year, the classes will be doing a brand new study that I have never done before, so I'm going to an introductory class tonight to sign back up. They will be studying the Old Testament book of the prophet Isaiah, which is a book in the Bible I have longed to study for years. I was so intrigued by the book that one year, for our ladies' retreat at the little church I was attending at the time, I taught my own kind of a survey study of Isaiah. It is a book full of prophecies that point toward the Branch, the coming Messiah, and Christians see those prophecies as finding their fulfillment in Jesus.

I attended BSF classes for 14 years, back when we lived in town, and was an adult discussion group leader for 7 of those 14 years, so it feels a little weird to be revisiting what SHOULD be familiar territory, but doubtless, the landscape will be changed after 6 years away. If nothing else, I have changed over those six years. The people attending the class will nearly all be new to me. I know the procedure in general, but I feel like a kid on my first day of school: I bought a brand new notebook, fresh clean notebook paper, a couple of new pens, and new highlighters for using while I read my class notes. My only concern in regard to my class supplies is that my Bible is falling apart, and the zippered fabric cover I bought for it to hold it together so many years ago is grease stained and covered in dog hair. I really OUGHT to do something about that, but I don't have the time or the money. Oh, well. Take me as I am, grease stains, dog hairs and all.

Well, fellow cowpokes, it's time to be moseying along. I've got my own little dogies to ride herd on, meals to rustle up at the old chuck wagon, and a campfire devotional to attend.

Happy Trails!!!