#in a world with powerful gods where the exact mechanics of the divine gate are not commonly understood

[helimir]

if this is the arch heart’s position, then what events have led the unseelie believe that they are under his thumb?

[christology101]

Two or more masters...

We are told, in no uncertain terms, we cannot serve two masters.  What does this mean?  It means you cannot serve your nation/country, nationalism, patriotism, nationalistic pride, personal pride, greeds, lusts, angers, laziness, inaction on live-supporting mechanisms, political leaders [which now is beyond idolatry and idol worship], Hollywood or sports stars, or any of these other things for in any way you do you lessen your bond, decrease your real and potential attachment to the Divine.  If that there is ZERO question, New Testament or Old Testament, where we are told to have no other gods except God, there is no difference.  

The World, in all its wiles, and business interests, moneyed organizations and peoples, want us to believe otherwise.  They do not want us to serve and put God first, put the ongoing and continuous search and seeking for the Lord first in our lives because we would see these false prophets, idols, dominions, principalities, powers for what they are.  Every time we take our eye from the path, we lose our way a little more and become more deeply ingrained and grafted to the World.  

Take the recent issues about the national anthem in the US and the obvious idol worship involved in anthems, flag salutes, and anything of this so-called patriotic and nationalistic intent.  There is nothing of God here.  NOTHING.  Just because we throw the name into the flag salute doesn’t make it of God...  It defames Him in our presence and belittles the Divine for our country’s wants and needs, for the needs and wants of the Worldly powers, dominions, principalities...  Small and potentially insignificant as these events may seem, the froth and division sewn as a result are also not of God but of man and the World.  

No God-fearing and worshiping Christian should be anywhere near this issue or salute the president or any political power or entity.  None.  It disturbs me that we fuse God to our flag salute and everyone seems okay with that, like God has a special watch or interest in the politics and powers of the US.  He does not in any way, shape or form have interest in any nation, no matter how pious it claims to be.  He sees only the cities, the powers, the dominions, and the World, manifested and supported by us at almost every corner and in every way.

This will not sit well with people, and that’s okay.  The Lord provokes us and is not of us but for us.  His ways are not our ways, and almost everything the Divine does, from making military decisions by how someone drinks water or how many times a musical troupe traverses and plays around a city, to saying “It is as you say” the powers and dominions like Pontius Pilate, to warning us to have no idols other than God, to put Him first, and then turning the other cheek or giving the shirt off our backs, shows the exact opposite of what we would do in our worldly nature.  We are called to something much higher and more important in our human journey. 

Follow the nationalism, patriotism, racist and empty selfishness of immigration and refugee policies, drop bombs, shoot guns, read about Hollywood, sports or music stars and call them out on things you do every day and focus on the trivial and divisive while the lord of this world, the World and its ways, take dominion over you and your ignorant ways and easy followership.  Or you can follow the path that God sets before you, albeit a difficult and contradictory one where we are told we will be ridiculed by the World, by those of the World.  We must prepare for this.  

None of us should worship a president, a priest, a religious or political leader, a nation, a race, or anything like it.  NONE!  Other than mere obedience for the sake of order and to do no harm, show me where God says He loves a nation or a country, a city or a political or economic ideal.  He loves His people, He loves certain of those more as He tasks them hard, and He loves us enough to save us [if our free will will take it and graft His love unto us and put Him first above and beyond all things].  

The path is not easy.  Let me finish With Matthew 7:13-14:  “ Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”