Know Thy Enemy Epilogue

Painful as it was, I remember it well. I was a young kid. One of my older brothers was chasing me. As I ran around the side of the house, I turned around to see my brother hot on my heels, still chasing me. For whatever reason I was laughing and did not have a care in the world. He was about to catch me when BAM! I had forgotten about the three legged pole that held the television antenna! I was running full bore to get away from him when everything went dim and then stopped abruptly. I had a huge bump on my head, a blackened eye and the chase was over. I was so fixated on who was chasing me that I failed to see the real enemy lurking around the side of the house. The tower never budged but, my body did.

That tower and antenna had been there for years, as far back as I can remember. It was part of the house and I had went by it many times before. It had stood through many storms, many rains, strong winds as well as blizzards. In later years during the summer months, I would trim grass around it. We took it for granted. It was always there and it had become just part of our house. It was painted silver and rose up toward the sky maybe 20 or 30 feet. Its three legs were fastened in the ground with concrete while a bracket above my head affixed it to the garage.

I had forgotten about the tower. I’m not certain why I had forgotten about it but, this time I had. Instead of my foot hitting a hole, a hill or something else my flight was ended by something that I knew existed. When I turned back around, still running my hardest, I was stopped abruptly by an immovable object. As I laid there in a heap, my brother nonchalantly picked me up and carried me in to the house for my Mother to assess my injuries. I can’t remember if I lost consciousness or not but, I was a mess. It was a difficult and painful lesson but, one that has stuck with me through the years.

It is easy to point your finger at another person(s) and claim that they are the enemy. It is easy to label another person an adversary who we can see is different from ourselves. Liberal Democrats for example have attempted to claim that Conservative Republicans want dirty air and water while clinging to their God and guns. Conservative Republicans have attempted to claim that Liberal Democrats are against freedom, liberty and limited government. Some of the labels are true and some aren’t.

The Bible cautions us that we can be so busy fighting amongst ourselves that we fail to see the real enemy. Just as I failed to see the tower though I knew it was there. It is easy to label one another as an enemy while it is more difficult to find or fight an enemy that we cannot see. The U.S. military uses stealth technology so that the “enemy” does not see the destruction that is coming upon them until it is too late. The U.S. military’s goal is to fight and kill the enemy before they have a chance to inflict any casualties on us or our soldiers.

In the same way, magicians use speed, manual dexterity and distraction so that even if you are right in front of them, you cannot see what the magician is really doing. In this way, the magician performs a “magic trick” when in reality, they are no more magical than anyone else. Some magicians call themselves “illusionists” because they give the illusion of being magical.

When the election was looming, political ads were invading every possible source, the Wuhan virus was pushed 24/7, the obvious misinformation and disinformation and the widespread riots, violence and destruction, it was easy to get distracted. It was and is easy to believe that “they” are what is wrong and “they” are the enemy. Thankfully, we have the Holy Spirit and God’s word to ground and guide us. As the Bible says, “Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12