Sheep in the midst of wolves

"Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves.
But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans.
When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say.
For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. -Matthew 10:16-20

setting the record straight

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A recent post of mine: Finding Help drew a lot of comments, many of which were words of encouragement and I wanted to thank folks for that. That being said, I am not downtrodden or dismayed. I am not surprised at the situation, or fearful of the environment. God has told us... that it will not be pretty out there. When he commanded the disciples to go out... he told them that he was sending them as "...sheep in the midst of wolves. So too, should we expect to "...face the wolves."

I want my readers to know that I am not dismayed. I do not think that I have it bad. In fact, quite the opposite. God called us to Alaska. We know that, or we wouldn't be here. He also seems to be calling us to stay, we hope that otherwise we are foolish for what we are doing. In fact, even in the face of a difficult liturgical and parish situation, we have found some of the most amazing friends and people that we could ever hope to meet. We have been asking ourselves what does God want to use us for? How can God make good happen by us being here? We are not asking...what good will come to us by being here? We want to serve Him. We are much less concerned with being served.

in the face of lions

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It is daunting as a Catholic to expect that we are not only to live our lives according to the faith, but in such dire conditions such as the culture we currently live in. On top of that, we are also to face enemies... that often appear to be friends, but are in fact wolves in sheep's clothing. How then can we expect to survive, let alone thrive?

Well, I know I thrive on situations like this. Some people call sky-divers, bungee-jumpers, and other extremists: adrenaline junkies. I would like to think of myself, and of my family as God's-will junkies. We thrive and get a rush from trusting in God in the most extreme and nerve-wracking of situations. Now, I want to clarify that we don't go out looking for trouble, but much like the picture of Daniel to the right, we focus our attention on what is important when we do find ourselves in precarious looking situations. (Dan. 14:32-42)

Isn't that what we are called to do? Are we not supposed to trust in God? As I said in previous post, "sure, I would love some help and guidance" but I know that doesn't always come in the form of another human. I know that our help comes from the Lord, I know that he will guide us and keep us safe. I am not worried. The world can kill our bodies, but not kills our souls.

A song of ascents. I raise my eyes toward the mountains. From where will my help come?
My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.
God will not allow your foot to slip; your guardian does not sleep.
Truly, the guardian of Israel never slumbers nor sleeps.
The LORD is your guardian; the LORD is your shade at your righthand.
By day the sun cannot harm you, nor the moon by night.
The LORD will guard you from all evil, will always guard your life.
The LORD will guard your coming and going both now and forever. -Psalm 121 

the reason

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Many of you probably want to know why I wrote that post then, in that way? Well... I do feel that way but at the same time I feel this way. I don't think that the two are mutually exclusive, in fact, I think they are common competing thoughts and feelings that people have in the face of adversity. To say that Daniel never feared the jaws, that David looked down on the giant, or that anyone in the face of danger doesn't pause out of self-preservation doesn't understand the gravity, nor the bravery that accompany the commitment of trusting God in the "...midst of the wolves."

Recently, this blog, and a few others, have been "discussed" by some folks in somewhat public forums. We have been accused of being various things, none of which are very commendable. We take that seriously, at least I do. That isn't the intent of this blog. Does it happen? I hope not. Could some posts be perceived that way? I guess. I don't really know how people perceive my blog or my intentions. I try and state things in an honest, sincere and transparent way; I try to mean what I say. I am not perfect, and the Internet is not a perfect medium.

What is most surprising though is that those that speak out against myself, and other bloggers, is that these people never directly confront us. They often use the same means and methods that we do, and yet accuse us of being somehow malicious. It is perplexing at best. I would love direct communication from others. It doesn't have to be public either. I post my email address at the top of the blog. If you read my blog you cannot possibly miss my email. I have never received an email from someone challenging me on my posts; but I have indirectly received quite a few notices about others using facebook, gatherings, and other means to address what has been posted on this blog . Again, this is perplexing at best.

what I am not... and what I have not done

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I am not a perfect Catholic. Far from it. In fact, I don't know where I fit... as I have never really had any direction or formation. I don't profess to be perfect either, in fact I profess to be quite a poor one really. I don't judge other peoples hearts. I don't know their intentions nor do I pretend to know every ones motives. I can't say who will or won't go to heaven, who is or isn't a good Catholic or anything of the sort. Although, we can and should judge actions; be our brother's keeper. (Gen. 4:9) We learned as much in Mass recently. That doesn't mean that when we judge an action... we simultaneously judge that heart. Instead, we should judge an act and pray for the heart.

Again, I find it perplexing, that others would accuse us of being malicious in what we do as bloggers and yet are unwilling to discuss our blogs with us. We are willing to put our thoughts, ideas, and livelihoods out there in a very static and concrete way. Unlike spoken word, my words are immortalized on the interwebs the second I publish my post. I have the luxury of thinking and praying about it before hand, but the clarity that comes from scrutiny of the words comes post facto. Therefore, to attack what I say but to do so without giving me any reply or recourse is... as I said, perplexing. Aren't such attacks guilty of the same thing we are being accused of (albeit falsely) doing? Are not assumptions made about our intentions and our hearts when one judges the motives behind our posts?

I continue to pray everyday for our Church. I pray for the Bishops and priests that have the unenviable task of guiding us all through this tumultuous landscape of war, fear, attack, and disobedience. I pray for their courage and willingness to settle in our hearts and souls these things which trouble us. I pray for the Nuns and Religious that pray for the Church in unrelenting hope and faith. I pray that they not loose confidence nor loose their way.

In conclusion I must state that we will not relent here. We continue to be inspired by the overwhelming support of those readers, lay and clergy alike, that ensure us that our testimony and defense of the faith is worth continuing. We know that the Devil will fight hardest and send his strongest legion of demons upon us when we are closest to truth and victory. We expect the attack, we prepare for the fight, and we place our safekeeping in the hands of our Guardian Angels. We fear not, for the Lord has commanded us. (Joshua 1:9)

We do not foolishly think that it is our doing or our efforts which embolden and inspire you all as readers. We know that it is not us that speak but... "...the Spirit of our Father that speaks through us."