Ours is not to reason why

Ours Is Not To Reason Why.  Remember that saying?  Ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do or die.  I was pretty sure I remembered it - 
but apparently, that's not the way it goes.  It really goes - Theirs not to reason why, theirs but to do and die.

It's from The Charge of the Light Brigade, by Alfred Tennyson.

I got it wrong.  However - what I really want to write about today ...

Well, actually, it's not today anymore.  In fact, that "today" was almost 8 years ago.  November 7, 2011.  But now, "today" is August 7, 2019.  At least, with "today" being defined as the day I started to update this.  As usual, I'll be adding new stuff.  That's a good thing.  It's horrible to think that nearly eight years went by, and I didn't learn anything.

Anyway, the new stuff is in text like this - brown with whatever font this happens to show up in your browser - so you can tell what's new.  Maybe, hopefully, you can learn from my experiences.  If so, hopefully without some of the pain that came with my learning.

And so - back to that thought of "today", November 7, 2011.

However - what I really want to write about today is the way I thought it went, because for this purpose, I think that's how it really goes.

Ours is not to reason why

Ours is not to reason why,
ours is but to do or die.

So - I'm having a conversation with someone about this group I'm leading.  We're studying C. S. Lewis' The Screwtape Letters.

Totally by coincidence, believe it or not, I just happened to finish some major reformatting of the Study Guide we used in the group.  If you're interested, the info on the entire series is at Screwtape Letters.

Anyway - the person says something to me.  Something I apparently completely misunderstood - took the wrong way.  But it made me wonder, what am I doing leading that group?

That made me start to wonder about this site.  Am I really doing anything useful?  Or is this more about what I want than what God wants?  Is there any value in it at all?  All sorts of thoughts.

That in itself is interesting - given that The Screwtape Letters is all about ways that Satan tries to take us away from God.

Anyway, last week when we were meeting, I look around the table and realize that of everyone there, I'm the least qualified to be running this group.
Now I'm really wondering.

I really need to know - what am I doing?
Is it the right thing?

Gideon's was not to reason why

Well -

The sermon Sunday was about Gideon. Part of Gideon's story includes -

Gideon

Jdg 6:11 The angel of the LORD came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. 12 When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior.”

Jdg 6:13 “But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fathers told us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

Jdg 6:14 The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Jdg 6:15 “But Lord,’” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

Jdg 6:16 The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together.”

Jdg 6:17 Gideon replied, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. 18 Please do not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”
And the LORD said, “I will wait until you return.”