Protest. Protest Everything.

Seriously.  It's who I am as a 5 on the enneagram. If you don't know what the enneagram is, look it up and take the test.  It's not medical or scientific but it's incredibly accurate.  And being a 5 doesn't mean that you love to protest.  But it means that you get involved in things that aren't always popular.  You want to be one that incites change and discovers new things.  Often times, it's a protest that reveals something that most didn't know about.  It gives you feeling a competence.  But, it is a protest.  And like most protest, you've been oppressed for years.  And protesting, while you finally feel as though you have a voice, you're still being oppressed.  Some people see what you are doing, and others just tell you to get back in your place.

There are some serious protests going on in Standing Rock, North Dakota.

There is an oil pipeline coming right through Native American land.  Treaty Land.  It is theirs.  I wouldn't want a pipeline coming through either.  Go around.

I've not been keeping up with it.  I don't know where the accurate news source is.  I just know there are hundreds, maybe thousands of Native Americans not happy.  I'd like to say I'd stand with them.  But how many things do I use on a daily basis require oil?  The very thing the pipeline is transporting.  Lots.  Plastic, Synthetic rubber and fabrics, gas, cosmetics, cleaning products, medicine, asphalt and this partial list of things.  So I guess you could say that I'm part of the people laying the pipe.  But you know what....if it came down to it and there wasn't any other way, I'd gladly give up the things I use that require oil.

Who are the immigrants here?  Right?

Now I get to talk to all you Christians.  Remember where you came from.

"Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that’s in you, love him with all you’ve got!

Write these commandments that I’ve given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.

When God, your God, ushers you into the land he promised through your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to give you, you’re going to walk into large, bustling cities you didn’t build, well-furnished houses you didn’t buy, come upon wells you didn’t dig, vineyards and olive orchards you didn’t plant. When you take it all in and settle down, pleased and content, make sure you don’t forget how you got there—God brought you out of slavery in Egypt.

 Deeply respect God, your God. Serve and worship him exclusively. Back up your promises with his name only. Don’t fool around with other gods, the gods of your neighbors, because God, your God, who is alive among you is a jealous God." Deuteronomy 6: 5 to 14 or something.  

We were strangers in this land.  Remember.......Careful your patriotism doesn't outshine your love for God.