There was a very popular story in the Middle Ages about a dog named Gelert. One night his master returned home to find his child’s cradle overturned and Gelert was covered with blood. Immediately his master killed him only to turn around and see the body of a dead wolf that had attacked his child and had thusly been killed by Gelert. It was then that he found the baby still alive under the cradle. There are several variations to the story but the message in all of them is the same. Wise people do not act without gathering as much information as possible. How fortunate we are that our heavenly Father knows everything about us.
In a time of edited media clips and sound bites it is relatively easy to make one’s opponent say anything we want them to say and then watch the masses rise up with so little real information. We do it in the arena of politics, in the world of religion with one group pitting itself against another, and we do it in our personal relationships at work and at home. Have we ever been riled because someone told us a certain someone said something we didn’t like to hear? We were not there. We did not know the context. And we did not hear the tone of the voice which can actually reverse the meaning of a sentence.
Revelation 12:7 speaks of war in heaven; an almost impossible thing to imagine. Lucifer, the master of sound bites, the subtle raising of an eyebrow, tonal inflection, and outright lies had attacked the throne.
The Gelert legend continued that the master buried Gelert with great fanfare and honor. But he never smiled again.
Written by Roger Bothwell on March 27, 2012
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
Rogerbothwell.org