I have sometimes noticed that the people who preach peace so fervently are doing it from a comfortable place–often after a good meal. It’s quite another thing when you face armed men in the night in a lonely place, men who have no standards beyond their own selfish interests.”
–Louis L’Amour (Callaghen)
“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword. I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. Your enemies will be right in your own household!”
–Matthew 10:24-26 (NLT)
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I knew of a person, several years back now, who was quite the checker player. He played it all the time and even had several collections of checkers and checker boards. He said he wanted to collect checkers in all colors. Checkers and simple dominoes are games that I can handle, but chess… now that’s another story. I’ve played it a few times, but it’s not that much fun, at least to me. I read of a person who had the game of chess figured out, at least the philosophy of the game.
“The king and the queen, each in its own way, have and wield the ultimate power. In
approximately equal proportion, they use religion and their military, the bishops and the
knights, to defend whatever positions they may choose to take and to attack the enemies of
those positions. The castles at each corner of the board represent their crucial power of
wealth in terms of land and possessions…. But always, and forever, it’s the pawns, the
simple people themselves, who are the first to be sacrificed ruthlessly, for whatever reasons
seem at the moment to be an advantage to any of the others.”
–Clair Huffaker (The Cowboy and the Cossack)
Quite an interesting analogy of chess and politics. The kings/queens use whatever means they can to gain power, keep power, and extend their domain. All positions except theirs are expendable, and as stated, the first to go are the pawns–the people. It doesn’t make a difference if the government is a monarchy, a dictatorship, or even a democracy, the people are the first to go and all others are used by the leadership. Call it Machiavellianism, but the idea is the same–gain and stay in power by any means necessary, and using any means at your disposal.
One thing I don’t see on the chessboard, or in the game, is the element called “chaos.” One cannot create chaos in chess, however, in the politics of reality there can be chaos. Look around at the state of this country now; there is much chaos. What is the purpose of chaos? There may be several, but one of the main purposes is to cause confusion. Confusion, and who is the author and primary user of confusion? Satan.
Now, think of our country again. Quit blaming everyone and recognize what is happening–confusion. Hmmm, you might want to consider the foundation of your beliefs again.
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Proverbs 19:27, “Stop listening to instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.”
The Bible is for instruction in righteousness, or right living. Put it aside and you will begin to stray from the righteousness that is being taught. The Word of God is true, complete, and sufficient to live each day victoriously.
I have often wondered why people wander and are led astray by false ideas and doctrines. One reason is that we do not want to listen to God. Go back to the Garden, and that was the issue; do not listen to what God says; there is a better way. Yeah, right, and what happened?
In the midst of chaos Nietzsche calls for a “superman” to arise. In the midst of chaos I say that we better know the Word so as to protect from error. When was the last time you really “chewed” on the Word? It is vital in the time of chaos to distinguish good from evil.