Little Foxes ~ by Shirley Corder

Catch the foxes, the little foxes, before they ruin our vineyard in bloom.

Song of Songs 2:15 GNB

In our younger days my husband and I used to climb the famous Table Mountain in Cape Town.

One day we decided to try out a new trail. All went well in the beginning until we came to a fork in the path. Should we go left, or right? Either way would presumably get us to the top, so we went left. 

Turned out we should have gone right.

We hadn't gone all that far when we realized we were climbing the other side of the gorge to what we'd intended. Still, it seemed a little thing. We were still going up, so what did it matter? We persevered.

Several hours later we found ourselves trapped half way up the mountain, not able to continue, but unable to turn back. To top it all, clouds were closing in and it looked like rain. My boyfriend, as he was then, left me sitting on a ledge while he tried out various possibilities. Eventually he found a way, difficult but possible. By the time we eventually reached the top of the mountain, it was night. We were exhausted, frightened, and lost.  

That wrong turn early in the climb was only a small mistake. But it nearly cost us our lives.

The writer of Song of Songs knew that if the little foxes were not caught, they would ruin the beautiful vineyard. How often I make unwise decisions. Sometimes, because they are just small slips, I press on, thinking I can sort it out as I go along.

But little mistakes ignored tend to grow into big problems. 

I need to stop as soon as I recognize that I’m on the wrong path and ask God to show me how to get back on the correct track.

Our world seems to be in a political turmoil at the moment. 

In Britain, some who made the seemingly small decision to leave the EU are now wishing they could change their vote, as they see the fallout, how it's affecting the global economy and so many other situations. Families are divided over the way family members voted and conflict abounds. But it was only a small decision, surely? How can one vote make such a difference?

In America, the Presidential Race is on, and at this point it looks as if the results are between two unlikely candidates. Shortly, voters will go to the poll to make a small cross to choose the candidate of their choice. Each person has only one vote. Surely, their decision is a small one? I don't need to tell you the possible fallout if the wrong person ends up in the White House.

In South Africa, an ill-informed decision made by our president, seemingly a small one, threw the world economy into chaos and suddenly the country faced the possibility of being downgraded to "junk status" in the political arena. All because one person took one wrong decision. 

As Christians, let us become more aware of the "little foxes" in our lives and countries. Let us pray for wisdom before we make decisions or cast votes. They may be "little foxes" but they have the power to destroy entire vineyards. 

Tweet: Be careful of little foxes! ICFW:  http://ctt.ec/5e5Wl+

SHIRLEY CORDER lives on the coast in South Africa with her husband, Rob. Her book, Strength Renewed: Meditations for your Journey through Breast Cancer contains 90 meditations based on her time in the cancer valley.

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Please visit Shirley through ShirleyCorder.com, where she encourages writers, or at  RiseAndSoar.com, where she encourages those in the cancer valley. You can also meet with her on Twitter or FaceBook.  

Interesting Times

They say you should never discuss religion or politics if you want to avoid a fight. I am a Christian who has only recently become interested in politics and, to be honest, I couldn't think of anything else to talk about, So, here goes.

My interest in politics only really began a few months ago. Prior to this I always voted for the person or party I thought would do the best job, but generally ignored the stuff going on behind the scenes.

Sure, I knew that the UK Torie party is "conservative" and the Labour party "socialist", and I knew that a person's political views could be plotted on a swinging scale between Left and Right, but that was about it.

If you had asked me the difference between the Democrats and Republicans I would have just shrugged. I knew one was Left and the other Right, but I had no idea which. And the GOP? No clue.

Then Trump arrived on the scene.

Suddenly I found politics interesting. I wanted to know why one man could generate so much animosity both within and without his own party. I started reading up on the differences between the Left and Right, and between Democrats and Republicans. I bookmarked a few politically-inclined blogs and did research on the political leanings of major UK newspapers, selecting one from each side of the center to get a view from both perspectives.

What was interesting was to see how much friction there exists between the two sides, even close the center. I would expect this from the extremes but not from the moderates. What was really intriguing was that, once I identified my own position, I found myself becoming increasingly prickly when reading comments from my "opponents". Ignorance, they say, is bliss. After spending most of my life observing politics from the outside, I suddenly found myself with an opinion.

What was also interesting was to realize that my political leanings have changed through the years. As a young agnostic, I was definitely quite far to the Left. Like many young non-believers I hated rules, thought I knew everything, and believed everyone's morality was equally valid so long as they felt the same way about about my morality. Then, as I grew older and raised a family, these things shifted. I started to appreciate the value of rules, got that I did not know nearly as much as I thought I did, and (especially after becoming a Christian) came to understand that everyone having their own moral standards does not work nearly as well as people say it does. I had, I discovered, swung from the Left to the Right.

Not that I am alone in this political migration. According to the statistics, there is a general move from Left to Right with advancing age. There is also a tendency for Christians to be right-wing and atheists left-wing. Last night I had a chat with my daughter and we discussed the Brexit referendum. During the conversation I realized that my daughter, although Christian, tends towards the Left in many of her views. I had the TV on in the background and a CNN reporter was firing emotionally-charged questions at a very calm Brexit supporter while, behind them, Remain campaigners were protesting loudly over the results of the referendum and demanding the the whole thing be run again. Best of three anyone? How about best of five? CNN, I have learned, is strongly biased towards the Left and is referred to by some as the "Clinton News Network". This explains something I had noticed but could not explain: how Donald Trump is always shown in a bad light and Hillary Clinton invariably pandered to.

Meanwhile, my daughter and I had a civilized discussion over Brexit and the future of the European Union, as well as the curious success of Donald Trump. I now have a better idea as to why the Democrats and Republics both have problems with him, and I can only wonder what would happen if he made it all the way to the White House, but I thank him for sparking my interest in politics. He is no politician, and perhaps that is why he is so popular. You have probably heard the old joke of being able to tell when a politician is lying*. And I challenge anyone to locate a news clip showing a professional politician replying to a direct yes-or-no question with a yes or no.

Perhaps people are sick of feeling misled by the people who are supposed to represent them. Trump may not be pretty but you get what you see. It's the same with the European Union question. Many people in the UK feel that the European parliament is a distant monolith with little interest in the lives of the people it is supposed to represent. Getting out may be uncomfortable but at least we will be free to steer our own ship in future.

The British were evenly split between staying in Europe and leaving. We voted to leave. The people in the US appear to be roughly evenly split between Trump and Clinton. The media favors Clinton, but then they also predicted Britain remaining in Europe.

We live in interesting times.

*his lips are moving

Br-exit or Br-in

Giving that the world is now a ‘global village’ and news in one part of the world is fodder for water cooler discussions, it’s no surprise that from Donald Trump’s many pronouncements to Immigration issues in Europe, to the atrocities committed in the name of various ideologies, there are many things to talk about. We are almost as much affected by what’s going on in American politics as Americans and just as affected by what’s going on in Belgium as the Belgians.

There’s an atmosphere of part defiance and part fear. Those who are defiant go about their lives and refuse (at least on the surface) to be affected or change their behavior patterns, believing that the way to defeat the enemy is to not give in to terror; to travel freely to the places where carnage has become the new normal. On the other hand, those who are afraid almost want to placate terrorists; to open up dialogue with these people, as if that were possible.

In the midst of all this and also affected by the events in Paris and Belgium, is the fact that in June Britain will be voting on whether or not to remain in the European Union. Emotions are running quite high in both camps – those for and against. Interestingly, the same arguments seem to support both camps. The vitriol is quite surprising. The general sentiment for the Brexiters is that Britain needs to regain its sovereignty, and this can only happen if we leave the EU. There is strong resentment that Britain has been restricted from spending UK resources for the benefit of its citizens, and the inability to control our borders. The effects of immigration on housing and on the National Health Service cannot be overstated. The country, as far as the Brexiters are concerned is bursting at the seams. Having to pay an astronomical sum to the EU coffers doesn’t help matters either.

The Stay Campaign appears to use fear of the unknown to convince people to vote in the referendum to remain in the EU. Some of their reasons to remain from their perspective include free trade, peace between member states and a stronger job market.

It’s interesting that both camps use the events in France and Belgium to support their claims that leaving would make us more secure as we would have greater immigration control and that staying would make us more secure because there would be greater sharing our intelligence with the other member states of the EU respectively. Hmm.

I can’t help but see this issue from a biblical perspective. We’ve all heard of the new world order and various theories about what is going on in the world today. About corrupt governments and about plans to reduce the world population, make people dependent on government and about preparing minds to accept a world ruler via the media. That is not my purpose here. I’m just aware that however I use my vote, I have a responsibility to do what God wants me to do to further His kingdom. If you’re interested to read more about this, check out http://www.jubilee-centre.org/the-eu-referendum-an-overview-from-a-biblical-perspective/.


In all things, in our daily lives, in our writing or vocations, and in everything we do we must be led by the Holy Spirit. Only God knows what will happen come June, but I know what I’d like.