Loyalty IV - THE ELEVENTH DAY OF CHRISTMAS

 . . . and they knelt down and paid him homage . . . 

 - From Matthew 2

It is not easy to kneel. It's hard on the knees. It's probably bad for the back. It's not the best position from which to spring and get moving. It puts people around you, that are standing, at a distinct advantage. They can do you great hard with a fist, or a kick. It's no wonder terrorists use that powerful image - of prisoners positioned on their knees, sometimes blindfolded. They are there. They are present. They are identifiable. You can easily discern their emotions, even through a handkerchief. They are at the mercy of the captors. 

Kneeling isn't good. At all. 

"Taking a knee" is much better. NFL football players have adopted the one-knee down as a way to protest. But it's a very lame way to protest. One knee down is more relaxing. It is what we can do when we need a break, from running, working, or standing in the sun. One knee down doesn't take the same pounding that two knees down takes. And you can switch if one leg gets uncomfortable. We don't let captives take the one-knee position. It has different symbolism and a different effect. 

Kneeling is hard, emotionally, too. When we kneel before another person, voluntarily, we are putting ourselves at their mercy. We're telling them that they can have their way with us. When you willingly kneel before someone else, it is a message of profound trust.

You will not harm me. I trust you.

It is hard for us to kneel, physically. It's hard for us to kneel, emotionally. We resist putting others ahead of ourselves, the same way we resist the discomfort of going down on both knees for a prolonged time. 

We seem hard-wired to resist . . . RESIST . . . kneeling before someone else. This is why we get so tangled up in politics. If the other candidate wins, our acceptance is akin to kneeling before them. We have conditioned ourselves not to trust the other candidate, and now you expect us to be a good sport and accept the outcome?

No wonder some people would rather not get involved in politics, or voting, at all! It's much less painful!

Consider the emotional act of kneeling - - - not the physical. Think for a moment what it means to pay your allegiance to another person; to express your loyalty to him or her. Even toddlers push back at the idea of loyalty to someone else. 

How dare you tell me what to do?

It is not natural to follow another person, to express complete loyalty to him or her. 

This is why loyalty is so highly prized, albeit by half the population. There are those that were taught to respect authority, and to be loyal to family and friends. People that value loyalty stay married. They protect their children at all costs. They visit their widowed grandparents, more times than necessary. Loyal people do not have to be urged to make it to family events. They understand the importance of funerals, weddings, greeting cards, thank you notes. 

It's not easy!! This is why so many people choose to undervalue the idea of loyalty!

You might as well ask some people to go down on their knees, on gravel, for an hour, as to ask them to call their elderly grandmother on her birthday. 

Loyalty is a delicate, hard, demanding, and rare commodity. 

And it's highly valued by the Lord. 

Were the Three Men Wise because they were so learned? Or were they Wise because they knew that kneeling before the Baby King was the right thing to do? Who puts themselves to such discomfort for a baby?

It must also be that . . . loyalty is, above all other things . . . wise.