A Tale of Two Signs, of Two Minds and Hearts, of Two Paths & Perhaps a Cautionary Tale

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One afternoon some months ago, I took my weekly extended walk, a path of about three and half miles, and as I traveled through my neighborhood and wended my way through the side streets and cul-de-sacs, I ran across a sign I had seen many times before – the sign shown with this posting – proclaiming vividly – in bold colors infused with overtones of meaning – what the people within the home believe, choosing to honor the rights and support the needs of a great diversity of persons within our nation.

However, it was not this sign in and of itself that stopped me in my steps and again paused my mind to read and contemplate the words upon it.  For this sign, and a variety of similar themed signs, had graced other front yards and porches that I had passed on my walks during the last presidential election.  And more than a year ago now, all of the other signs displayed on the paths of my walks had been gathered from the front yards and put away, perhaps for future use, but this particular sign remained, and yet its colorful proclamation had ceased to convey to me the same impact of its placement during the last election, until this walk, when I first saw a much different sign at another house on the other side of the same street and several houses down .

 That sign, somehow imprinted in large white letters on the black glass of the back window of a large maroon pickup truck, displayed the ex-president’s name and the year 2024, but then in vulgar, angry, and even hateful terms of just three words, the “feelings” of all others – “your” – were vulgarly attacked and negated, the truck and sign by proximity, appearing to specifically target the neighbor’s sign.  This sign reduced then all of the neighbor’s beliefs – and the beliefs of all others – to “feelings” which were then dismissed from thought and discarded.  

And this sign, in bold white letters, meant to be read and clearly understood even with just a quick glance from a distance, did indeed shout from afar.  But this distance was not just measured in feet but was also measured by the degrees of the heat of its smoldering anger and dismissive intolerance – truly an immeasurable distance, and one not measured by the speed of light, but by the absence of light, a darkness that darkened even further the longer I contemplated its simple message – simple only in the economy and directness of its words.

As I left these signs and continued on my walk, I initially felt a concern for the house with the sign of color and the vulgar dismissal of their beliefs.  But after I walked a little more, my thoughts came to focus more onto the house where the truck was parked, for the household of the multicolored sign obviously possessed the strength and confidence to openly proclaim what they believed, regardless of what was displayed nearby, but the house of the sign on the truck, elicited a deeper concern from me.  For this sign did not state beliefs or appeal to careful and unhurried thought, but only screamed a seemingly omnidirectional anger and resentment for anything other than what the truck owner conceived the ex-president himself stood against and for and who he dismissed as unworthy losers – the others, “them” – and this was what troubled me most.

Now I of course do not know anything about either family, nothing about the residents of either house, but in my mind, my concern was primarily for the owner of the truck, as the sign with the vulgar message was only on the back of the pickup truck, and there were other cars without signs also in the driveway and front of that house.  And my thoughts primarily focused not on the politics, or even the ex-president the sign supports, but more upon the person who placed the sign upon this truck.

And I know nothing of the life of this man – I assume a man – how he was raised, if he was successful or struggled in school, what has transpired in his life, what has befallen him, if he freely made choices with deeply twisting consequences, or was he truly led unaware into accepting without thinking the thought displayed upon the sign.  And the contempt and hostility displayed upon the sign – were those things already deep within, was there agreement with this man from the beginning, when this divisive man first opened his mouth, or did he acquire this attitude and view of life along the way gradually, gladly, or unknowingly?  Did the political process trap him, or did he outright subscribe and own it from the beginning with a dismissive pride and a building contempt for all “others”?

Perhaps this person does not know history.  Perhaps there is no ability to bring perspective and caution within the constant political clamor and noise that constantly is made to swirl around us, many times composed of lies covered with deceit, and often religiously blessed from a corrupt pulpit.  Maybe they are one of those who have not been taught, or allowed to think, and is now more susceptible to being captured, motivated, and led and directed by falsehood and deception.  Maybe there are no family members or friends who think and believe differently, and who are able and willing to provoke critical and honest thought within this person.  Perhaps there is no understanding of God, and this person does not know that God is a God of justice, righteousness, and love and that the Lord delights in these things and not in violence and hate.

But…conceivably, any person displaying this sign may have possessed all this knowledge and understanding and lived surrounded by good and wholesome influences in their life, but came to not care for others, and not to value or honor the Holy God who created and gave them life.  Perhaps some willingly followed a path of darkness, enthralled with a dark vision of an entire nation, a kingdom, built upon and given over to a promised unbridled shared self-exaltation, and a promised and promoted oppression and suppression of all the identified and targeted “others”, whose rights and needs are only an inconvenient and temporary yet hated hindrance to the coming imagined restored greatness.  Yes, a person in agreement from the beginning of this divisive man’s rise and sway, and one eager to see the promised greatness enacted in their lifetime very soon.

This a despairing thought, yes, but more and more conceivable, as more evidence of this dark path in others is manifested more each day, increasing for some with each completed news day and weekly news cycle – a nightly and weekly confirming ritual, politically and spiritually dark for more than just some… A person it seems can truly only keep track of themselves, and only if they are thinking and aware…

And the cautionary tale?  For all of us – to remain “us” – we must choose carefully the signs and signposts we believe in and follow and the paths we walk upon.  This particular vulgar sign, which supports a man scripturally defined as an abomination to the Lord (Proverbs 6:12-19, 26:23-28), and which also dismisses and consigns to unworthiness and worse all “others” who do not bow the knee to him, is one of those signs and paths we must avoid as being one of the most dangerous signs of the dangerous times in which we live.

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