Xena the Warrior Princess, whose outlook on life belies her name. Photo credit Steve Henderson Fine Art.

I have a cat named Xena the Warrior Princess, which is a diverting misnomer because she is one of the timidest animals alive.

Admittedly, as far as staying alive, running away from trouble is a successful stratagem for Xena, who spends her days concealed in the bushes, wide-eyed and paranoid. When she does venture out, she flat out runs, which invariably results in the dog hard on her heels. And then it’s back to the bushes.

As I say, it’s a successful stratagem for staying alive, but not necessarily for living.

So it is with many Christians, who are some of the timidest humans I run into. Not all of them, mind you — there are many, many believers persecuted and punished for living their lives with honor, grace, and truth, and too many of them we know nothing about because they are in prison or in poverty . . .

But in the United States, the country in which I was born and in which I live, while we are not yet at overtly complete totalitarian status, we’re definitely not free and swingin’ in the tropical isles, contentedly living our lives in liberty and without interference from the powers that be, which, theoretically, “serve” us.

The more awake you are as a Christian, the less you fit into the group. So why do we insist upon trying to fit in? Paperback and digital at amazon.com.

Even the densest insensate realizes that “stuff is going on.”

Please follow the link to Afraid to Post on Facebook — especially if this is a sentence that describes you — at my blog, Commonsense Christianity at BeliefNet. Also, you can hear this read on YouTube by Conrad Carriker, who picked it up from Google Plus. Thanks, Conrad!

This article is linked to Time Warp Wife, Titus Tuesday, Table for Seven, Kathe with an E, Handmade Tuesdays, The Shady Porch, A Peek into My Paradise, Wholehearted Home, Raising Homemakers, My Daily Walk in His Grace, A Wise Woman, We Are That Family, Ducks in a Row, The Life of Jennifer Dawn, I Love My Disorganized Life, Moonlight and Mason Jars, Graced Simplicity, Shine Blog Hop, Jenni Mulllinix, Children Are a Blessing, All Things with a Purpose, Donna Reidland, Simple Moments Stick, Fellowship Friday, Essential Things, Family Fun Friday, Hungry Hippo, Jenny Evolution, A Look at the Book, Count My Blessings