Once upon a time, Satan was having a garage sale.
There, standing in little groups were all of his bright,
shiny trinkets. Here were tools that make it easy to tear
others down for use as stepping stones. And over there
were some lenses for magnifying ones own importance, which,
if you looked through them the other way, you could also
use to belittle others, or even one’s self.

Against the wall was the usual assortment of gardening
implements guaranteed to help your pride grow by leaps and bounds:
the rake of scorn, the shovel of jealousy for digging a pit for
your neighbor, the tools of gossip and backbiting, of selfishness
and apathy. All of these were pleasing to the eye and came complete
with fabulous promises and guarantees of prosperity.

Prices, of course, were steep; but not to worry!
Free credit was extended to one and all. “Take it home, use it,
and you won’t have to pay until later!”
old Satan cried, as he hawked his wares.

The visitor, as he browsed, noticed two well worn,
non-descript tools standing in one corner.
Not being nearly as tempting as the other items,
he found it curious that these two tools had price tags
higher than any other. When he asked why,
Satan just laughed and said, “Well, that’s because I use them so much.
If they weren’t so plain looking, people might see them for what they were.
” Satan pointed to the two tools, saying,
“You see, that one’s Doubt and that one’s Discouragement —
and those will work when nothing else will.”
~Author Unknown~

There is a great battle that rages inside me.
One side is the soaring eagle.
Everything the eagle stands for is good
and true and beautiful, and it soars above the clouds.
Even though it dips down into the valleys,
it lays its eggs on the mountaintops.

The other side of me is the howling wolf.
And that raging, howling wolf represents
the worst that’s in me. He eats upon my
downfalls and justifies
himself by his presence in the pack.

Who wins this great battle?

~Author Unknown~

© Tina's Prayer Gate March 16, 2014