A great book, "The Power of Four," by Joseph M. Marshall III, writes that a leader needs to have these three principals for success: Know Yourself, Know Your Friends, Know Your Enemies, and Lead the Way. The Bible says that we have an adversary, the devil, who seeks to kill us and destroy us. He is a formidable foe.

Whether we like it or not, each one of us at some time or another, have enemies. These enemies could developed from our choice, or at times from someone else's choice. Hopefully our enemies can later become friends due to reconciliation, which is good. Some 'things', not people, can be an enemy that figuratively fights against your ideals and beliefs.

One enemy everyone faces is death. We have no choice in the matter, but we do our best to fight death. Some take chances and try to challenge death with stupid acts of defiance. No matter, the enemy of death is waiting before us because we are flawed creatures and of a sinful nature.

Throughout the world and even in America we see many forms of the enemy. Our eyes are filled with poverty and homelessness as well as disease and hunger. Out there in earnest is the enemy of the soul; loneliness and desperation. All of these enemies of mankind, today, in my opinion, are wrapped up in one great enemy.

Today, I would like to expose the enemy we might call 'Apathy.'

Apathy, according to Dictionary.com is "absence or suppression of passion, emotion, or excitement or the lack of interest in or concern for things that others find moving or exciting."

Through my observation from being around in this life for sixty plus years, I have seen at least a several types of our key word, apathy. There may be more but one I have noticed begins slowly and then speeds right along. The other is a type of inherited apathy. There is also a good type of apathy that keeps us from getting distracted and lulled into a path that destroys us and our spirit. Apathy in the negative sense is a spirit breaker.

In the book mentioned earlier, the author talks of the Lakota Tribe of Native Americans, and their chief Crazy Horse. When the chief was younger he was one of the better 'scouts' that were sent out into enemy territory to find the strengths and weaknesses of their adversaries. Without this information a battle could be lost, but with it, a victory would be celebrated.

We really don't need scouts to tell us we have apathy in our country and in the world, but we do have observant people in place, as we speak, diligently doing their best to confront the problem head-on and are working to discover the solutions. Apathy has permeated the culture. It has literally changed our culture from a pronounced freedom loving society to an apathetic dependent socialistic state.

Know your enemy. There are hundreds and thousands of 'scouts' out in the trenches revealing to us the truth. We need leaders who will carry the torch and others who will get off the couch to fight this literal disease in our culture.

It seems as though, millions of individuals are mesmerized into a deep sleep by the lights of Hollywood and that bright shining tube that sets high and mighty in the middle of most living rooms today. Many highly concerned citizens (scouts), who really care, are using their positions in media and the pulpit to expose 'leaders' who condone and take advantage of America's dull spirit.

I have to say at one time I was an uninformed and unmotivated American. I too was distracted by making a buck and filling my free time with entertainment. I was a school teacher in a Christian school. Life kept me so busy that fighting for freedom was far from my mind. I was an uninformed educated derelict. I voted but didn't know exactly who I voted for and why.

Just over two years ago before the last election, I ran across some friends who were in the process of self-directed education. They taught my wife and I to do the same. I learned about freedom and how and why it is so sacred. But most important I got off the couch and away from the big tube. I started reading leadership material and information on how to get along with other people. Instead of being apathetic, I learned that there was hope for our culture, and there are hundred of thousands of people who fell like I do.

I ran across individuals in the media and the pulpit, who had studied the founding fathers and freedom. They were the 'scouts' in the midst of the enemy like the the scouts of the Lakotas, who gave us new information to fight a better fight. While millions are swayed by the liberal media there are and will be millions more that are patriots and freedom fighters. We just have to find them.

Because of this enemy, who few will admit they are fighting with, our society in its complacency has allowed those who would control the masses do exactly that. The above mentioned 'scouts' are exposing many of the politicians who seek to trade our liberty for their own agendas and their own personal gains.

Today is the day to stand rather than sit. While millions are sleeping and swimming in discontent, it is the time to speak up and speak out. Our neighbors and friends, our classmates and acquaintances, they all need a wake up call. It took that for me, but that was so hard.

Apathy is a killer. When an older man or woman loses a spouse, in most cases, the living spouse will not survive more that few years later. They don't care any more, and basically the give up on life. A long time companion is gone, and hope is evaporated. But when you remove or deter the apathy, and help that individual change their focus, life can be worth living again. I experience this first hand with my mother who is now 84 and she is thriving three years after dad passed. They were married 63 plus years.

I believe my job is to meet people where they are, one at a time and help them move from the enemy of Apathy to a life of fullness and expectancy. Each one of us who cares about our country and our fellow man should make the same commitment. One person at a time is all we need to focus on.

Know your enemy. One of your enemies is the "Enemy of Apathy."

David Erickson

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