War

There’s a war going on.  I am not referring to the physical battle against “terror”.  My focus is not on explosions and fear.  What worries me is the battle between “truth” and self indulgence.  Some think “truth” is beyond definition or knowledge.  I beg to differ.  I believe everyone can feel truth.  Our bodies know the difference between what is right and everything else.  We may, at times, find ourselves confused, yet in the main we feel better when we harbor truth, our energy levels rise when we practice truth, and relationships grow stronger as truth is lived out.  In the presence of truth, self goes to war.
 
One of the ironies lies in how good indulging ourselves feels.  I like the sense of power and status.  I revel when those who have hurt or slight me experience the same type of emotional trauma.  When my views are vindicated there is an initial rush when comes to every fiber of my body.  Yet I know this isn’t what life is all about.  There is something more noble, honorable, and rewarding out there – and it is our mission in life to strive for this ring.
 
In the interim a battle ranges.  The war began a long time ago and continues right through this morning.  In one scene, the “God-of-the-Angel-Armies answered fire with fire, set the whole country on fire, turned the people into consuming fires, consuming one another in their lusts—appetites insatiable, stuffing and gorging themselves left and right with people and things.  But still they starved. Not even their children were safe from their rapacious hunger.  Manasseh ate Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and then the two ganged up against Judah.  And after that, he was still angry, his fist still raised, ready to hit them again.” (Isaiah 9.19-21)  Yet another scene, the one for today, has yet to be written.
 
We may not want to be part of this battle, yet we cannot avoid it.  We were born in the battle.  We may die in it.  The question is; what will our role be today?