The Sword
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth. I did not come to send peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be those of his own household” (Matthew 10:34-36 MKJV).
I am not sent for division’s sake;
I do not come to attack;
Strife and debate I do not sow,
Yet all these are found where I go.
I haven’t come for evil’s sake,
Bearing trouble, sorrow, and pain,
Yet the sword I bear
Will cut in two
And each half in two again.
There are those who wish to take the truth
And claim it for their own.
But others, joined to them, declare,
“If you go, you go alone.”
I cannot help but cause this woe,
If I am to speak what is true;
I can only hope as time goes on,
That your loved ones will come, too.
But you cannot wait for them to come,
The time to heed is now.
Just as you cannot wait for yours,
The call cannot wait for you.
As friends increase, my enemies mount
In numbers greater still.
There are very few who know they are sick
And eager to swallow the pill.
But many there are who take offense
That the truth should upset their life;
And hence the division, the sorrow, the pain,
The debate, the anger, the strife.
But come if you will, take the medicine,
Be healed in your soul, set free.
In place of what you leave behind,
There are far greater things to be.
Part I ~ Part II ~ Part III ~ Part IV ~ Part V ~ Part VI ~ Part VII ~ Part VIII ~ Part IX ~ Part X
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Page 11 PART NINE - Signs of New Times (cont.) Particle - A Strange ReactionA regular and pleased customer, Kathy Kvile, came to our farm. She was extremely curious about what we were all about, religiously and spiritually. She asked many questions, differing with us on many matters, such as creation, evolution, and homosexuality. She disagreed about not belonging to a formal church and about hearing the voice of God on many matters. The Bensons were present; we talked until 11:30 at night. We were patient and friendly with her, though frank and unapologetic. Kathy turned from incredulous to scornful. We never heard from Kathy again. However, I did write her parents, Harvey and Janet, who were churchgoers, her mother professing faith. I described the incident to them, but never heard from them, either. Particle - Paul at It Again Sara arrived in Helena late in the afternoon of the 30th of July. On August 9th, Paul sent me a bomb by email. He had said nothing to me at the Hartman wedding twelve days earlier, but Paul was planning or hoping to marry Sara (unbeknownst to her) even before we saw him at Kerri's wedding on the 29th. Here is that email: Good Day Victor! I don't know of a gentle way to introduce what I want to tell you in this letter. So I will only begin by saying this is a heavy duty thing I want to tell you about. It is time. I have loved Sara for some time. It started, I think, after the first time I spoke with her on the phone. It was...
Page 11 PART ONE – Darkness to Light (cont.) Particle – The Guess Who A little tidbit: Randy Bachman and the rest of The Guess Who occasionally came through our Basement Housewares department for chocolate malts at the Bay Malt Shop in the late sixties. This was when they were already famous and popular. Particle - Hooked, Hat and All On a visit home from Winnipeg, my father and I went fishing at the Waterhen, north of Dauphin, where he had a trailer and often spent his leisure time fishing. I was seated in the boat behind my father. As we were casting for pickerel and perch, my father's hook flew within inches of my head, more than once or twice. I warned him and even protested, but he paid no attention. Suddenly, there it was, a hook lodged firmly in my scalp, through my hat. Thankfully, it was not in my eye. While there was very little pain or blood, my father panicked and sped off with me down a gravel road to the nearest clinic in Ste. Rose du Lac. Walking into the doctor's office, he asked me how he could help me. “I can't get my hat off,” I replied. I pointed to the fish hook; he smiled, gave me a local anesthetic, cut the hook, pushed the remainder on through my scalp (you can't pull a hook out against the barb), gave me some painkillers (which I didn't use), and we were off. They say sons should listen to their fathers. Just as the direction of a hook needs to be reversed at times, so fathers need to listen to their sons. Particle - Shaky Shelter for a S...
Page 21 PART TWO – Pentecost to Israel (cont.) Particle – Isum Organized Summer Camp In that summer of 1977, we decided to go to a camp near Williston, North Dakota, where Marv Isum was having a retreat for a week. Driving through the Badlands on hot days with our Volkswagen and its air-cooled engine, we overheated the car, but we made it. Particle – A Prophetic Word from the Sioux Nation At one of the first evening services, a Sioux fellow began to prophesy. Marilyn and I were sitting in the seat directly in front of him. I knew the words were meant for me and, in talking to him after the service, he acknowledged that he knew those words were for me. While I don't recall the prophecy, I do recall these words from Isaiah, which are also linked with the verses I received from Theo the year before at Canmore, Alberta: “Behold, I will make thee a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth: thou shalt thresh the mountains, and beat them small, and shalt make the hills as chaff. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the LORD, and shalt glory in the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:15-16 KJV). Particle – A Word for Marv Isum I received a Word to speak to Marv while we were there. One evening, just before a service, he was standing outside the hall entrance, making sure everyone was at the meeting. We saw him from our cabin because we were late. I saw an insecure man, tryi...