“A Portrait Of The Case Of Loss” (Judges 18:10)

“Right story, wrong side”, was word when I read;
While sitting by soldier and wife, preacher said,
“And then when you reach it (we saw there as spies)
The land is defenseless; and Valley is wide.

“There, nothing is lacking of all man can want
On earth – they’ve no allies; they’re fat ones, not gaunt;
Like Sidon, they’re peaceful and trusting in trade;
For lush is their valley where home is they’ve made”.

Five spies had discerned that it could be a home;
Asked God if it’s worth it on road they had roamed;
It was, so they carried their news to their kin,
And urged them to march and the slaughter begin.

When I first had heard it, I thought, “That is us!”
Though hunch that the preacher heard “David” in such;
But I heard “Goliath” – too big for his boots –
Unable to dodge one smooth stone boy would shoot.

For we’ve become peaceful and land of our bliss;
There’s no lack of comfort, seems nothing’s amiss;
But we’re in for trouble, a plum to be picked;
And we are quite blind that we are now in the fix.

It all will be over ’fore we can prepare;
We’re whiners, complainers, see no problems there;
There’s spies all around us with high-techie ways,
At home in their arm-chairs, unlike former days.

So what can be done, for one soldier’s no match
For hordes of contestants with eyes on our stash?
Why, nothing – they whine when yank-leader prepares
For war that is coming, and warning he blares.

They’re so sure they’re righteous, but joke is on them –
They’ll all cry, “deception” and suit up again
To fight in the battle not finished before
(Though fighting had stopped, not the undeclared war).

Lord, that’s not the picture we like to believe;
As refugees pour from the homes which they leave,
They think, “Land of plenty, and peace from the hills;
But no, it’s a cesspool – we’re knee-deep in swill.

Oh yes, there’ll be conflict, and struggle ’round here;
Too late, and are mind-set is clouded not clear;
Too long on oasis in land of delight;
Big brother beside us – Lord, thanks for Your light.

So, yeah, we’ve a problem – Sun Tzu set to biz;
The way robber-barons did business now is
Just like Veblen cautioned, the manner for all,
As globalization lets, “Winner take all”.

As farmer once put it, “Pay tax but don’t use –
It’s price of our freedom – so peace we don’t lose”;
Folks don’t get the problem – discrepancy’s clear,
And there’ll be a showdown, the conflict’s soon here.

Well, we may be long gone ’fore conflict breaks out,
But conflict is coming, of that, little doubt;
We’ve lived in a bubble, oasis of green,
While out in the desert, majority’s been.

So others are reading such passages too,
And say to themselves, “God says what we should do –
Just walk in and slaughter each man, woman, child;
And valley is ours, no more desert-life wild.”

This same thing will happen to them here, when rich;
They’ll slumber and sleep when our lifestyles are switched;
Prosperity’s trap is the softness of ease
That comes when our valleys give all that we please.

We laugh – Book of Judges – “Those folks never learned”;
Don’t look in the mirror – clear warnings were spurned;
So just like that church thinks this life will not end;
It will; it’s illusion – like spendthrifts – we spend.

Thanks Lord for this.

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