“14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. 16 But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness, 17 and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, 18 who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some. 19 But God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.” 20 Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. 21 Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. 22 So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. 23 Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. 24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, 25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, 26 and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Tim 2:14-26 ESV)

Shunned unto blindness, rather, as those of Game Day attentiveness, in tunedness, Timeliness, it isn’t so much damn the torpedoes as it is, Fly a Lofty Altitude, O Man! Fly way above the childish taunts and self-righteous aggressions masked as a pat on the back.

Indeed, in any family there comes a blessed time when there is no warring between siblings. Sometimes this comes about. But also, to the immature and uneducated ones, it is a small thing to declare war. More, it is a sad turn of events, and here lies the childishness of such declaration: do you not know what war will do to us… to all of us? Do you not Recognize… any occasion comes with it, however unimaginable it is apart from the testimony of the accused actually being heard, an actual Explanation that suffices.

Two frontiers, and its very important not to get too cozy that the other looks at you wide-eyed. Indeed, twenty years in, a week in, haven’t we as Minted Disciples already proven ourselves Just as Go witnesses, Christians, shriven ones? Yet the absence of lust means we forget the appearance of lust. The absence of simony means we forget the appearance of greed. The absence of rebellion means we forget the head-nodding in the direction of oblations.

As the vehicles of war start to roll, the question taunts all Believers: why has God hidden Himself from me? More, to live in the cosmopolitan city, is to an entrenched, bunker-dwelling Master of Arms, Analyst, Mover and Shaker, like living in an Afghanistan or Turkmenistan: what gives? What is the way to make sense and heads or tails of anything, all things told? Indeed, all such Movers and Shakers… the best are always short-staffed, always desiring to Make themselves known to each and every Believer… more, to those Entrusted with Christ’s Gospel, it is no small thing to ask others therein to Meditate: see the pat on the back inspired, but repent of its aggression. No, sometimes it is a friendly move; most of the time, indeed we hope.

Each entity in society, each of us Individuals, has our day in court vis-a-vis how a Christian looks at court: our encounter with Christ. And the peaceability to understand, this Christ is for others, but at the very least as for me personally I will not find fault… and my own personal Christ will soon follow and appear to me. Instead, it is rumor-mill and sad plausibilities, that the one who should by now be accounted Trustworthy, to him or her is imputed utterly devious motives. And minus the scriptural injunction if your brother sins go and tell him his sin between the two of you. And if he won’t listen, only then tell the church (and we hope is meant, starting with just the local church). Because it is a sociological phenomenon, that we love to Encounter a Talking Point, a Slanderous Jaunt, a Criminal to Accuse. And what if… what if that was all we were going to get by way of an Encounter with the Risen Lord?

Looking high above the clouds, we answer patiently the Queries as to Christ’s locus and situation: is He a Trinity, after all? Yes. Is He in touch, really in touch, with people like me, like us? Yes. Does the buck, nonetheless, sometimes stop with us, with us personally? Yes. No longer short-staffed but hunkered down in a blindingly Real war posture, the Fact is that Christ’s means of Action in our world are mysterious and for one thing truly faithful to our Scriptures. More, Christ daydreams and prays on the mountain side to the Father: one artistic category after another, all visions flashing before the eyes, each societal Segment ministered to, from the slick-minded Jacobs (films like “Catch me if you can!”) to the pensive arbiters of wartime’s intelligence (films like “Zero Dark Thirty”) and more; Jesus in each of us is way above art in and of itself, above Art Alone. He is Lord of those wartime vehicles—tanks on forward Move, in the far reaches of our world. We therefore Pray… for the Regions here and there, the Afghanistans and Turkmenistans, the Americas and the fellow international Players.

We Pray, because the family childish ones declaring war… it is thought to be a mild war, but any Hindrance is deleterious to the ones consecrated and On Mission: in said Tanks, in said Bunkers, in said Trenches. Strange Days… the hindrance escalates in strange sense, unintended, of Timing Belts, of wartime Today is the Day: Go! Go! Go! And we… flying high above the Clouds with Christ’s prayer for us, learn to Rep the Cloth, Rep the Flag, Rep the Confession, most wondrously and in dearly-needed Hope.