Standing up, and making a difference isn't something that is easy. It doesn't mean every once in a while, after months of mustering up all your courage, you might dare to tell someone WHY you won't read that one book about vampires. It means that you may well be giving up friends, popularity, lots of things you have always thought of as important, all for the cause of Jesus. I recently re-read a book, Swipe by Evan Angler. It's post-apocalyptic, and a Christian novel. To be a part of society at all, you have to have this mark, and you to pledge your lifelong allegiance to General Lamson. There are a few people called Markless, who refuse to take the mark. They can't have jobs, or buy food. They can't live in the same place as the Marked. But they don't get the Mark, no matter how hard it makes their lives, because they don't believe in it. They won't pledge to follow Lamson, to get rid or their faith, and believe in nothing beyond each day of life. One specific group called the Dust tries to get kids to refuse the Mark a few months before they are supposed to Pledge. They call themselves the Dust for a reason. Partly to remember that the world doesn't revolve around them, that they aren't the all-righteous all-important people they could end up thinking they are. But also because dust gathers. It gathers in the cracks, it's numbers grow. Their numbers grow, and they become stronger They don't assault people, they aren't trying to start a war. They just want people to learn to think for themselves again instead of doing every little thing the government tells them to. Reading this book reminds me of the importance of standing up for what you know to be good and true, no matter how severe the consequences may be. And you know what? I am Dust. Are you?
Katie Stone
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