I thought that today would be a great day to celebrate our Moodscope buddies!

Last Sunday, I preached up a storm at my home church – a storm based on a famous passage about the armour of God. The bit that made me think about our buddies is something called 'The Shield of Faith.'

The Apostle Paul, himself in captivity and under oppression, had ample opportunity to look at the armour his Roman guard was wearing. Paul then used this as an object lesson for his own 'blog' – the letter to the Ephesians!!!

Paul believed in a literal devil. This same devil was thought to fire fiery arrows at believers, causing them mental torment, sickness, and dis-ease. Whether you believe in a personification of evil or not, I'm sure you can see the relevance. Personally, I don't care if there's a literal devil or not – I've met some pretty evil people – and I've seen what was done to the Jews and other persecuted peoples. Furthermore, I've experienced enough mental torment to make the metaphor work regardless of belief systems. There is evil that we need protecting from.

Back to the message: the shield of faith/belief/confidence can quench every fiery dart that comes at us from wherever, whoever, whenever. And that's where the buddies come in. You see, the Romans were box clever! Their shields were designed to slot together, like the lid of a box, keeping them safe inside. There was a groove that enabled this to happen – similar to roof tiles. Once the 'tortoise' had been made, a whole group of soldiers would protect one another from anything that was thrown at them – even flaming arrows.

My buddies have been like that. When I've been too weak to hold a shield up against the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune (Hamlet, Act 3; Scene 1), my buddies have slid their shields into the grooves on mine, and together, have lent me their strength, carrying me through the battles I no longer had strength to fight. I too, in my season, have been a shield bearer for others.

So, I say, "Hail to the Shield-maidens and Shield-men who have loaned their strength and kindness to us all!"

How could you say, "Thank You!" to your buddies today?

For whom could you be a buddy?

Your buddy, NeiLex MMO - Moodscope Morale Officer!