1 in the morning. Just a dark house, me, the Knee, the Chair, and the Woodstove.
I had the Woodstove on mute since the Knee was doing most of talking.
The conversation was painfully boring so I rather rudely put the earphones on and did one of the four things I know how to do with a smartphone.
I finally tapped and muttered my way to late night Christian radio from a town just about two hours away.
"Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" started playing.
It's been awhile since I've heard that one.
I had flashbacks of hardwood pews, hymnals, and four-part harmonies.
When the song finished, another took its place but I kept hearing "Stand Up" over and over in my mind.
Two things hit my mind and stuck, hanging on like a terrier on a steak.
Growling, tussling, and ruining a perfectly painful evening.
The first: "the arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own".
Yeah. Ouch.
Just had a let-down from someone I was kinda relying on.
A promise made, at least in my mind.
Now it wasn't a malevolent act.
It wasn't meant to be intentionally hurtful.
It was more like a promise that eroded, withered away, and broke due to circumstances.
And the song reminded me to hold fast to the promises of the One who says there are absolutely NO circumstances that can break His promises.
None.
Nada.
Ain't possible, amigo.
The second: "where duty calls or danger, be never wanting there".
Now quick- what was the first impression of that line?
A) there shouldn't be a lack of soldiers to stand in the gap.
Or
B) I definitely don't wanna be in danger or havin' somebody else tellin' me to dive into it.
This song was written before the 1900s started, back when those words had a different meaning.
I was born at the start of the
"Me-Generations" that started in the 50s and are now in full-bloom in the Facebook age.
Back then, it was about us. Something bigger than myself.
There should never be a lack of someone to stand in the gap,
to face the danger,
to do their duty.
Next man up.
Into the breech.
Now, it's all about me.
Just check the posts. The songs.
I don't wanna be in danger.
Can't I pay someone else to do that?
I've got my own life to live.
But good luck with that duty thing.
Hope someone steps up.
Buh-bye.
Yeah.
I picked B, too.
And I wish I hadn't.
I won't hear "well done, good and faithful servant" by sticking with the B-Team, doin' my own thing.
Only the A-Team gets to hear that.