I Am Being Colonized

I am being colonized.

And I’m letting it happen.

What is colonization?

Colonization is a process where another nation, or culture, or people group, enters and wrests control from indigenous people. It’s happened all over the world. Today the word is often used to refer to cultural appropriation, when a dominant culture forces their views and way of life on others.

Dandelions are imports from Europe to North America. Like bad ideas, they spread across the continent. We easily recognize the picture above because dandelions successfully colonized the Americas from sea to shining sea.

So, who, or what, is colonizing me?

I’m being colonized by the seeping, constant dripping of values opposite to those I believe, values that I cannot avoid.

I watch shows in my home that are far more violent and sexual that I would have even considered years ago.

I consume without thought or guilt.

I consider what I once thought immoral as acceptable.

I’m being colonized.

Ideologies colonize me. Legal definitions. Economic philosophies. Moral perspectives. Proponents of these views don’t care about me, they care about themselves, while relentlessly pushing their agendas.

Social media colonizes me, shouting messages from the edges of society. It urges me to fight with others, to make instant value judgements, to feel guilt and angst and anger. To posture in the correct ways. To hate those different from me. Mostly, it urges me to never turn off social media.

Advertisers colonize me, manipulating me to desire something I do not have, making me crave for more, to believe that I’ll finally be happy with their product in my hands. Beer companies colonize me. Drug companies. Internet shopping. It’s the colonization of my good desires, pushing them well beyond good to greed and lust.

News about the ongoing pandemic, racial upheaval, politics and cancel culture, all colonize me by sowing distrust. My natural skepticism moves beyond healthy to where I trust no one.

I am being colonized.

As a follower of the way of Jesus, I’m reminded that the devil wants to colonize me. He’s the father of lies, prowling around seeking someone to devour.

I think of Solomon, the wisest and richest of the kings of ancient Israel, colonized by his multiple wives. His devotion to the Lord collapsed due to the ceaseless pursuit of ever more exotic women and their exotic gods and the political alliances they strengthened.

I want the Lord to colonize me. I’m asking the Holy Spirit to colonize me. I’m adding the Scriptures to the colonization efforts along with prayer to the Father.

Colonization by the Holy Trinity.

Here’s a vision of the colonized follower of the Lord, a vision of my hoped for life:

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:2-3

You will join me in embracing this colonization from the Lord?