{"id":57,"date":"2011-06-13T11:35:38","date_gmt":"2011-06-13T15:35:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/?p=57"},"modified":"2011-06-14T14:18:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-14T18:18:29","slug":"the-battle-of-the-squirrels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/06\/the-battle-of-the-squirrels.html","title":{"rendered":"The Battle Of The Squirrels"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I drove in my driv\"\"<\/a>eway this morning, I saw three squirrels chasing each other and making lots of chattering noises.\u00a0 Two of the squirrels were ganging up on the other.\u00a0 They were biting at him and pulling fur from his tail.\u00a0 They got him cornered in my flowerbed and really scolded him about something.\u00a0 All the while they were watching me, but didn’t seem to care that I was watching them.\u00a0 The poor little guy had no where to go.\u00a0 He ran up the tree, but they followed and knocked him to the ground.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Soon there were six squirrels, all chasing the little guy.\u00a0 They ran all around my back yard and across the street, up and down the tree several times.\u00a0 It was quite amusing to see this string of squirrels chasing each other.\u00a0 Of course, \u00a0I’m sure it wasn’t amusing to the little guy who was the subject of all their aggression.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This drama reminded me of how often people seem to gang up on the weaker ones or those who are different in some way.\u00a0\u00a0 Bullying is quite a problem these days.\u00a0 Even in the church, a place meant to be a safe haven, we find this kind of behavior.\u00a0 It has been said that the army of God is the only army in the world that\u00a0stands by and allows their wounded to die.\u00a0 How sad to think of that. This is sad, but often true.\u00a0 When a brother or sister in the Lord gets hurt or offended, we\u00a0just ignore them.\u00a0 We don’t seem to realize that thier pain is real and sometimes a compasionate touch or understanding ear can easily bring them back to the fold.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In Matthew 5:9 we are told, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.”\u00a0 I want to be a peacemaker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Romans 12:18 tells us, “If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.”\u00a0 Now that can be a challenge for sure.\u00a0 Some people just rub us the wrong way.\u00a0 They always have to be right. They have all the answers.\u00a0 Their ministry is far more important than anyone elses.\u00a0 Or they might just be quiet and insecure, an easy target for super Christians.\u00a0 Instead of loving and encouraging these people, too often we gossip and critisize.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 We all know someone on either the giving or receiving end of this kind of behavior.\u00a0 Let’s do our best to live in peace with all men and help others to do the same.\u00a0\u00a0 Peace is far better than war, whether we are squirrels or people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I drove in my driveway this morning, I saw three squirrels chasing each other and making lots of chattering noises.\u00a0 Two of the squirrels were ganging up on the other.\u00a0 They were biting at him and pulling fur from his tail.\u00a0 They got him cornered in my flowerbed and really scolded him about…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":420,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[5,4],"class_list":["post-57","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-encouragement","tag-compassion","tag-peacemaker"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Battle Of The Squirrels - Small Town America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/06\/the-battle-of-the-squirrels.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Battle Of The Squirrels - Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 As I drove in my driveway this morning, I saw three squirrels chasing each other and making lots of chattering noises.\u00a0 Two of the squirrels were ganging up on the other.\u00a0 They were biting at him and pulling fur from his tail.\u00a0 They got him cornered in my flowerbed and really scolded him about…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/smalltownamerica\/2011\/06\/the-battle-of-the-squirrels.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Small Town America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-06-13T15:35:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-06-14T18:18:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/smalltownamerica\/files\/2011\/06\/IMG_01861-300x193.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"dhanny\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Battle Of The Squirrels - 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