I would rather die than do something which I know to be a sin,
or to be against God’s will.
Jean d’Arc
Victorious warriors win first and then go to war,
while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.
Sun Tzu
(image of St Joan of Arc–Jean d’Arc / Joan of Arc, c.1450, Illuminated manuscript on parchment, Musée de l’Histoire de France, Paris)
No this is not a picture of the fictional character Xena, Warrior Princess but
rather an image of Saint Jean d’Arc otherwise known as Joan of Arc .
Joan was a warrior…a righteous warrior.
Myself you ask….
well, for as long as I can remember, I have often felt that I’ve been called to be
some sort of a warrior…like Joan…a holy warrior who has been called to
raise the sword of righteousness….
And adding the word princess behind the notion of warrior just seems to be
an added nice touch…
allowing any and all female warriors to still be a girly girl if she so chooses.
Yet my calling however may be more along the lines of a Queen Margaret of Scotland
or even a Queen Adelaide of Italy and the Holy Roman Empire…a role of leading
by example without the sword….as the word “Queen” simply adds a bit of umph and sophistication to the role…
For all of these were sainted women who lived virtuous and holy lives….
heeding the call of God by following the internal compass of the Holy Spirit…
be it with sword in hand or generosity of heart.
Holy warriors, be they of the literal role like Joan who led the troops into battle
or more like our two queens who opted to lead lives of holy virtue,
while living in the face of all that was not virtuous nor holy,
as each was following their gift and calling.
Yet both of these sorts of hearty holy souls heard God’s call and in turn
yielded to His instruction.
They do this by way of deep prayer, contemplation,
reflection, study of Holy Scripture as they then follow the God given
directions offered by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
They are not knee jerk individuals.
Nor are they passive pushovers.
They are tempered.
For their faith has been tried and tested and refined in a furnace of righteous indignation.
I am neither necessarily virtuous nor holy but I am willing to take my stand,
raising my sword and my standard when I see it necessary….
as I continue to learn how to bide my time, bite my tongue…
while holding my knees at bay.
Which is hard in today’s world with its current run of chaotic lunacy.
I keep telling God, “just say the word”…
and I’ll take off running and screaming into the fray like a banshee brandishing
my sword of righteousness….
Funny thing, He’s yet to sound my call into battle.
This country is currently teetering on the edge of a very dangerous precipice.
The slippery slope that our leaders, on both sides of the aisle, have chosen,
which is only pushing us even closer to the loss of balance.
Things around this nation and around this globe are an absolute mess.
The worst I’ve ever seen.
Not even during WWII followed by Korea which beget Vietnam,
or even the psychotic Cold War…because in each of those incidences, we
pretty much knew the enemy or at least what we were fighting for and against…
Western Civilization rallied together to stand united against blatant
evils and tyranny.
Not so in today’s world…for today we have seen the enemy and he is
actually us…as in ourselves
It is us with our ungodly choices of liberalism, socialism, Marxism, materialism,
anarchy, along with a free and open society..
all of which are not working…
Why isn’t it working?
Because we are a nation, we are a Western Civilization, that has turned
our backs on our God….
and there are repercussions for a people who turn their backs on God.
As we are living those very repercussions and they will only grow in
severity as we continue down this road of self destruction.
The global Christian family has become not only the whipping boy to an
out of control society, but the sacrificial lamb for all the worlds ills.
Well, maybe the first blame usually falls to our sitting President, but
eventually it comes around to those conservative, moralistic Christians.
(This is where I wrote about 4 more paragraphs that I had the presence of mind to
go back in and cut due to that pesky problem of knee jerkitis….)
Because the intolerant and childish behavior of the
‘oh so pious pseudo tolerant, materialistic, human rights, anarchist, liberal
loving, socialist blind ignorant progressives who clump everyone they can think
to blame, other than themselves,
into a single basket of their own perceived ills as they’re working fast and furious
to be our own true demise….
And just to make certain folks “get it” this “new” no holds bar liberalistic
society will riot, picket, protest, sue, demonstrate and demand capitulation…
and just incase you don’t get the point, they’ll break some windows,
block the streets, threaten your livelihood, scream and kick until you
bend to their will.
Yet during all of this, many Christians are simply turning the other way hoping
it will all just go away.
Yet the picture however has been painted and the die has been cast…
as the masses are demanding a head on a platter…
and that head is Christianity.
So they proclaim that the teachings of the Church, the words of Christ,
the teaching of the tenants of our very God… are in a word… passé…
as in no longer suitable,
no longer relevant,
no longer tolerable.
and therefore are no longer allowed.
And if you think such talk baseless or extreme or fanatical…
then you have failed to see the headlines from around the globe.
As we the faithful passively sit silently watching while allowing the masses to
chip away at the footings of the very structure that has upheld the life of our
monotheistic Western Civilization since Emperor Constantine conferred
the first council of Nicaea and Gregory the Great in 590 set the western
Christian Church in motion.
So I’m standing,
with a nervous hand upon the hilt of my sword,
as I await the call.
As our dear friend Citizen Tom so eloquently stated in his comment on yesterday’s post…the time for being nice is over.
(If you want some Christian perspective and wisdom regarding our nation, her history
and how God’s hand is a part of each and all, please visit Citizen Tom…. https://citizentom.com/2017/08/20/what-you-must-learn-from-white-supremacists/)
For we are not contending against flesh and blood,
but against the principalities, against the powers,
against the world rulers of this present darkness,
against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Ephesians 6:12
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
Bam!
Listen to the roaring voice of Tony the tiger: that was grrrrrrreat J!
Love the passion,the cutting, the fire, the fury, the pause to consider; and the quotes above, especially the 2nd one.
And of course, a worthy heads up to CT.
you would have liked those 4 paragraphs I cut but I decided to have a bit of restraint for decorum’s sake 😉
I’m thinking you know what you are doing!!
trying to discern!
Have you read The Wee Flea this morning Julie?
Not yet– I saw the title and was getting myself ready to dive in
just read it David–wow—food for tomorrow’s post—or maybe just a reblog—talk about sharing a world gone mad and calling the kettle black—Our wee flea friend has nailed it again—but the scary thing is that it is all truth and frightening truth for anyone who wants follows the Laws of God….
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Well said! I used to have dear pastor who would tease me with biblical references related to battle, where’s your sword of truth? Where’s your armor of God? “Gird thy loins,” was always good for a laugh. I too am quite ready to jump into the fray the moment God gives the word. Dressed for battle, ready to go.
Sometimes what I think is needed though, is simply a couple of grown ups ready to just say “no” to the tantrum we are witnessing,without any apologies or guilt or remorse.
I totally agree-as I sit ready on my trusty steed right next to you waiting for the Word!
Julie, you are an inspiration. You remind me of the little engine that could. I’m right there with you. We are faced with a life or death battle and if we don’t stand strong against those who would destroy everything that makes our country great, why are we here? No more “I think I can, I think I can” Now it’s time for I know we can
Well—it troubles me though that much of this is preaching to the choir—as most who read what is written are all already on the same page….
I know, but we all have different audiences. Maybe among the mass choir we can stir up some kind of noise.
I like it, making a little noise—let me go get my party noise makers and we’ll be good to go!!
We are the choir. We should make noise!!
🙂
Amen. Take me when you go in.
polish thy sword!!
Wally
They were certainly enough French soldiers that followed Joan of Arc. So I suppose in times like these it makes sense to follow a brave and virtuous lady like Jule. Still, I don’t think we have to wait, and I do not think you are waiting.
We need only take our place standing with Christians like Julie. We need only to spread His Gospel. Our enemy will come to us. Our enemy has come to us. Now we must stand and not retreat (Ephesians 6:10-20). Now with God’s grace and the power of His Word we must stand firm and pray for each other.
Julie
Thank you for the kind words and the honor of a link.
It is I who thanks you Tom—you are the wisdom I am just the one who gets mad, frustrated and eagerly ready to do something to bring about some semblance of sanity in this sea of idiocy—-
I’ve never really had the knowledge to go toe to toe–but I have the heart…yet sometimes being lead by the heart can be dangerous, so I’ve learned that I must often bide my time—I had a dear friend and principal who taught me that….
I wish I could go rouge on these crowds of hateful nuts….but I can’t….so I make my stand here…
And I thank you for what I learn at your feet
We each have the opportunity to do something.
Accidentally fired off the comment.
As this article indicates, our government does not have the same priorities in educating us that the founders had. => http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/what-should-be-goal-education
We are supposed to be good citizens, but we were not taught to be good citizens. So now we have to learn.
I think there is a time for demonstrations and confronting people, but the Christian thing is to love our neighbors, not to be nice to them, but to love them.
😉
Therefore, we should see the purpose of government as protecting the rights of our family, friends and neighbors (You know what I mean. See the Declaration of Independence.). That means we take the time to vote wisely, write our elected leaders and participate to the extent we can in civic activities.
What works did our Lord prepare for you? I am still trying to figure out what He prepared for me, but I know there is stuff out there both of us need to do.
always the teacher Tom!!! Thank you!
That is an excellent point, Tom. The enemy has come to us and we don’t have to go looking. As you said, all we have to do is stand.
now I have the whole red rover, red rover picture in my head of a long line of kids standing while holding hands telling the opposing team to come on over cause our defenses will hold!!!!
That’s actually a good visual analogy Julie; I think it rather captures the essence of it very well. I sure used to love that game, and do you know school kids don’t get to play it anymore? But, that was off topic LOL. The analogy was great!
Why don’t they play it? Old fashioned I suppose—I find myself wistful for old fashioned…
I think it’s too dangerous, or probably too competitive you know. Wouldn’t want to hurt the feelings of the ones who can’t break through LOL.
true that…I can remember feeling like a weak link when being eyed by the opposing big boys…a character builder however that is sorely missed today…
Yeah, no character building allowed these days. Give em all a trophy.
Hence so much of our current troubles
You know, I didn’t do a lot of things right as a dad but I did one thing right. My kids never expected the world to give them a thing.
And that was a great lesson!
So you got a little heated on four paragraphs you cut, huh? We just got the bland stuff, huh? Hummm. I get a bit frustrated sometimes myself. Seriously nothing works better than prayer, and my opinion, to have guts enough to start with our President since he is the man I believe God is working through. But like with King Saul God sometimes turns us over to our demands. And there are some riotous voices making demands. Praying for an end to the terrorists in Afghanastan. (knew spell check would complain.) Wish it had made a correction since I’m too sleepy to care. lol
but in my obviously ADD and Dyslexia touched brain, at least that’s my excuse 😉 I knew exactly what you meant 🙂
Julie, as an ‘older’ woman I am so proud of you for jumping into the fray and doing your thing. There is a scripture that tells us that we seldom know the extent of influence one action accrues. I wish that more of us had the courage to take the same step. I know because I procrastinated too long, but am in it now. I, too, am writing articles and they have gone places I would never have though to send them. I think you express yourself extremely well and your words will touch hearts, so I hope you will continue to send them out into realm of the unknown. God will take over from there.
Oh Marie, I am touched by your kind words.
My circle here is small, but as you say, “God will take it from there”
Onward and upward I like to always say 🙂
That is beautiful and encouraging, Marie. We need to remember that God desires us to come to the end of our own abilities, then as to Jehoshaphat, he says “The battle is not yours, but mine.” And he is more than competent. But he did need Jehoshaphat’s army to get on the march.