MMW A Modern Incidental Parable

I recently had a moment to myself and caught an old American western on TV.  This resulted in a thought that was entirely alien to that which I was watching.

The history of American “civilization” for want of a better word was reliant on the laying of the railroad network as if a couple of lines of steel could “tame” a country as immense as diverse as the mainland is.  Then it struck me that the facts of the story are essentially true, if taken in its context.

The real story is that the rail network connected points where there was a large cluster of white people.  This in turn gave power to these people that in turn disadvantaged the original inhabitants.

Now for the thought came from the TV program.  We are not so very different from the folks that tamed the west.  We have the islands of populations in the corrupt environment that existed in America.  We also have the equivalent of the railroad system that made these islands of European and British peoples.

As the Church we are promised that Father has an unwavering interest in yours and my wellbeing.  In much the same way that the outlying towns of the west, were vulnerable to the Indian attack by virtue of their isolation from each other, the Church is embroiled in a skirmish with our opposition. 

In the western saga, the sheriff was on the train when the local Indian tribe had an issue with two travellers on the train about some bad whisky, they had sold to the Indians.  Now they knew they the sellers of whisky were also on the train and between stations they blockaded the train front and rear to prevent someone calling for help, only blocking the train at the rear after the train passed that spot.

The railroad in the TV show is the equivalent of the Holy Spirit for you and me, without Holy Spirit’s influence in our lives, we would be subject to ambushes by God’s opposition.  He, the Holy Spirit, not only connects up churches but also strengthens us in our individual lives. As Holy Spirit directs our ways, so in the TV plot the railroad in conjunction with the telegraph network kept the Indians from attacking the train.  It was as they say a Mexican stand off until almost the end of the program when the Indians melted back into the snow after they cleared the road blocks and accepted the Sheriff’s arbitration on the outcome

It is important to acknowledge the importance of the relationship of the sheriff with the Indians and the reflection on his release of three of the tribe who he “delayed” in order to reach the telegraph outstation and who were standing with the chief as they parted

There are a number of ways that Father gives us messages and although there may be a bit of a stretch between the stories here outlined.  I feel that there is a strong link in this situation.  I will leave the answer to this up to the reader to determine.