“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” – St. Paul

As a DA, I had this verse pinned up in my office. And how true that all turned out to be over the course of my career. Prophetic even.

I didn’t think it was a matter of the devil telling people to do so-and-so, even if some actions could only make complete sense with that framework.

The reality is that your true enemy isn’t a human. Not an easy concept to grasp but when done so, can be powerfully effective and efficient.

Before I entered the criminal justice-law enforcement world, I thought I would be an educator. I saw this as the avenue to address many of society’s issues. It is the battle for hearts and minds that is arguably greater than any other – even the ones fought with weapons, equipment, and such.

And also a harder one because of the type and quality of the enemy.

Internal and hidden enemies are often more deadly than the rest. Their names – well, you know them already.

I guess the follow up question would be what tools do we use to fight this battle? The cheap and dirty answer is prayer and I can’t discount that one but it’s more than that. I’ve heard enough about empty thoughts and prayers without accompanying action to fill multiple lifetimes. I will think more on this but Dr. Strange and his methods of fighting evil are instructive. There are probably “mystical” type weapons out there. Before you send me more tin foil, at least consider that one. My sect of the faith generally doesn’t believe in relics or other holy objects but maybe that needs to be reconsidered.