Life Matters - September 20, 2023
Many moons ago, when in my young twenties, I was put in charge of a roofing crew by my father-in-law for whom I worked at the time. The crew consisted of myself and two other guys, Leroy and Kennedy, both a few years younger than I, and both of whom worked together with me quite well. We worked hard, we had some fun and when the summertime sun beat hotly and reflected against the shiny galvanized standing seam roofing we did a lot of, we consumed water by the gallons to avoid turning into a vague resemblance of the jerky we were very fond of. I was also fond of corn chips, and my lovely young wife kept our larder well stocked with them filling a sandwich bag to a bulge and adding it to my lunch box every day. Much of our work was in the Carlisle area, which meant most times we had a 30 to 45 minute drive from Shippensburg, so being on the job by 7:15 a.m. meant leaving the house quite early with barely enough time for breakfast as we also met first at the shop. But those corn chips ... ah yes ... once we were on the road to work I could relax in my usual spot, the front passenger seat, and enjoy my corn chips! Ken always drove the carpenter van, Leroy sat on a seat behind him and the rest of the van was filled with tools and shelving for the various screws, nails, and small parts we might discover ourselves in need of during the day. Ken, driving the van, was usually the most talkative in the morning, with Leroy leaning forward to take part in the conversation or slumped back in various stages of conked out. Me? Well, either taking part in the conversation or in various stages of eating corn chips! From their usual spot on the center console.
“Look! Look!” Ken hollered, pointing excitedly past my face through my side window. I looked, I searched the fleeting farmland, but saw nothing unusual. “Was that a deer?” Ken asked. I shrugged, “I wish I had seen it if it was!” A few more miles... “Look! Look! Is that a deer?” I turned again, scanning the fleeting countryside intently, determined to see it this time, but it was not to be, I couldn’t see it. I turned back to Ken, meaning to ask him more about what he saw but ... wait ... did I see this side of his mouth twitching a little? Oh ... and was his sun-tanned jaw-line moving ever so slightly? Well. Whatever. “I didn’t see any deer,” I said. I don’t remember what the third “Look, look!” was about, but I did look, simultaneously and suspiciously reaching for a handful of corn chips and true to my fully awakened senses, I clutched a handful of hand!
Practical jokes among friends can be harmless fun and this particular one – distracting the targeted person (me) – for the sake of corn chips still brings a sense of chuckle rising from my innards.
Purposeful distractions, however, when employed by a man’s enemies, turn into serious business. No joke. Distractions in war, an age-old tactic, can quickly turn deadly for those targeted if unaware until too late. In politics, though not immediately deadly in the physical realm, distractions can be deadly to the pursuit of justice. Deadly to ideologies. Deadly to exposure of Truth. Targeting a prominent figurehead to distract from the true intent of self-protection through destruction is as old as satan in the garden of Eden. Since times have not gotten any better since then it behooves us to be aware of distraction tactics. First of all whether we ourselves are guilty and then being aware of present tactics employed by satan to deceitfully distract us from awareness of his hatred. Allowing facts and Truth to be overrun by a pursuit of good feelings may not initially feel like hatred, but it is. Attempting to destroy an opponent as a cover for oneself may be initially passed off as a pursuit of justice, but it is not. Not for a U.S. President nor for anyone else. Let us pray for the prevailing of Truth. Life Matters!