Sitting on the porch, a peaceful place, a peaceful time. The air is torn apart with the sound of barking. Into this quiet morning, the dogs are going to protect me from the terror that is at hand. One is growling and barking, the other is parking that loud, harsh, mean bark meant to drive away anything that hears. They are focused. They wish to keep me safe, to protect me and the house. The porch is not meant for such terrifying things to attack.
What is it that they are protecting me from? A flight of killer robins that are streaming in one after another, seeking to carry away me and everything on the porch? Perhaps rabid squirrels who have been turned into zombies and are seeking to eat anything that is still alive? Maybe it is the life threatening jogger who is attempting a run by? What could this be that has caused them to place themselves between it and me?
In fear, I look out the direction they are looking as they are barking and growling. What I see takes my breath away. My heart races. Never in all my days have a I seen such a sight. Never have I felt so threatened as I did sitting there on the porch in the quiet of the morning. How could this happen in this quiet little town in southwest Iowa? I could see if this was in cities. Maybe where we came from. We might see this on the news in some far away place, but here? How is this happening? Why is it happening? Save me...
...from the terror of a red desk chair. Yes, the thing that was causing such a commotion in the quiet on West Main St was a used desk chair. It was sitting on the curb, waiting for someone who might think that they needed such a chair. It must have escaped from the office or study of someone on this street. Or maybe it has migrated from another part of town. Could this terror have really come from this part of town? Maybe it was migrating from another town or even another state. Oh my! The terror of it all.
I sat and watched Zeb and Wrigley barking at that chair and wondered, "What were they seeing?" It was a chair on the side of the road, for anyone who had need of it. How could they see this as something that needed to be guarded against?
And I thought, "How often does that happen to me?" How often do I see something mundane as a terrible, awful attack upon me and my life? Do I get caught up in things that don't really matter? Do I spend my time fighting the chair at the side of the road?
Instead of actually keeping my eyes and soul open for those things I should be on guard against. The devil is after my soul. He seeks to devour me. He wants to tear me away from the Lord Jesus Christ. He does what he can to attack me, and do I see it for what it is? Do I see those temptations to sin as something that could really cause me real spiritual problems? Or am I so busy barking at the chair at the side of the road that I don't see how those temptations are much more deadly for me in my life?
Makes me wonder. Why don't I actually fight the real battles instead of the pretend ones? I should speak up concerning racial injustice (not the systemic stuff that is thrown out there but the real racial issues that need to be addressed), or life issues such as abortion, the murder of innocent unborn babies, or the abuse of spouses and children, or the wrongful sexual actions taken by so many in society (such as living together outside of marriage, heterosexual activities outside of marriage, homosexual activities, and all the other sexual sins that society wants us to accept as normal), and a whole host of other atrocities that are perpetuated in our world today.
Instead, I bark at the chair. It is much easier to address. It doesn't cause me to have to do anything. But our Lord calls us to stand up and be counted. We are called to live the Christian life, in all areas, not just the ones we like. That is a challenge. And me, and you also as well as the whole Christian community, need to live our faith, profess our faith and act to begin to make changes in this world.
Yes, sitting there calming the dogs down, the Holy Spirit nudged my conscience. Lord, help me to answer that call.
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