“12 “In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance. 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: 23 that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.” 24 And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.” 30 Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”” (Acts 26:12-32 ESV)

Beckoned to jibe and to Encounter, the Incident under report requires an equanimous posture, some freedom from any sense of being aped, being frustrated, being too aggravated to walk calmly, methodically, through the soundscape. That is, our Christian battle for life and that more abundantly, means honesty: Christianity isn’t a perfect religion; it does no good to put forth purely logical deductions, deductions according to man’s reason.

Such deductions, nonetheless, do test the soldier’s mettle, that is, his or her experience of enmity and frustrated, aped, one-upped, goat-like response to the pinch of War. That, for example, a vivid religion is made of persecuting Christians: “Let’s help him or her be better and more perfect, let’s reverse any accusation—for Christ would never judge others—and fulfill in the negative the charges against us; it’s only right, meet, and copacetic!”.

The soldier is not amused by a public investigation into the merits of Christianity. These are the work of a Satan! More, the soldier is reminded that Christians on some level “lose”: that is, that the Christian religion—fancy public square church bodies notwithstanding—is for the poor and beleaguered. More, that simple Choice comes into play, that the Christian does good minus any pride or assertive boast. We are called to humble lines of work. We are taught that the sufferings of Christ, even, maybe weren’t sufficient, and nonetheless, the religion isn’t a “perfect” my sins for His glory. Those with more irony about our faith, those with a familiar grin around aping parishioners and stealing from those drawn to the seductive message, to these we yield not for a second: our hearts are on our sleeves, our mind is in the game, our spirit boasts in plain Meaning, not derived license to rob and to destroy.

More, “there there be dragons”: healthy fear of another, no matter how offensively “Christian” their behavior is, is not a heavy-handed principle, but rather is politeness and manners, simply to say “Gosh” around another’s world, even if to approach the church to some means meekness, humility, no boast of one’s prowess in the world. Machiavelli notwithstanding. Wizard of Oz notwithstanding. Pomp and circumstance notwithstanding.

We all make errors. The soldier, moreover, is sought out as a number two now elevated to a numero uno. Basic boots on the ground? Check. Manual and concrete orders? Check. Tomorrow viewpoint? Check. Our personal friendships, for these we would trade not a thing, and money moreover cannot buy the experience of being loved in our youth… by a peer, by a girlfriend or boyfriend, by a family.

The soldier who makes life-and-death decisions, is sought out because he or she approaches the altar gregariously and self-confidently, magnanimously and peace-loving. He or she makes friends “on the reg” (regularly). Because of some experience of Joy reinvented each generation. Because of the humored Certainty, that we upbuild one another, towards the end of a better Tomorrow.

The soldier, it is a joyous affinity, alliance, and pattern to seek and to match: the pattern of back to back outward Volley, Launchpad, Sojourn. We are, after all, good enough for each other and, what’s more, our “pinchedness”, our experience of War and of being subjugated just a bit, one response is Prayer: to coach ourselves through the faith which ways that God will come up with some genius, accidentally genius, move for us to make on behalf of Spirit God. A second response is to learn to “die well”, that is, not to try and embrace the pinch and the frustration per se, but simply to Believe: My Cause is Righteous, and I shall live into this Cause. With the third, reassuring point: there is nothing “genius” or “Wait and see” about the devil’s platform. It is a platform couched in ignorance and futility, in proud boasts and miseducated lifestyles. We do not need too much to fear that “there there be dragons”, except as our manners and genuine calm or getting-along mentalism do naturally fear and accommodate; but we need not think that, success is a mark of genius. No, success is a mark of devilish obstinance at times, of satanic heaviness at other times, of demonic deviousness yet at third times. And if, in our testimony, we are Believed on (“he, she is a prophet!”) it behooves us always to be wise as serpents not to Betray our own logical deduction of Convert’s submission and humility, that is, not to seed any Ideas into an enemy’s mind as to “let’s do the opposite” mindset. The devil knows Christians, and respects them in odd fashion, to the end of opposites-day thinking.