Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 9: 25 "Dust in scattered strands is a sign of firewood's being collected."

I'm trying to picture it. Where would firewood be, such that various soldiers collecting it would send up "scattered strands" of dust? The commentators give little help. Various men sent, dust rises in different spot, etc. Still not really seeing it.

I think this may be what I need. First, trees, forests grow where there's water so it's hard for me to picture both firewood and dust. But I'm obviously wrong! Perhaps some naturalist might help me out. Where are there trees for firewood, but also ready, dry earth for dust?

Let me try to suss it out with yin/yang logic. You encamp higher up on the hill than your enemy does, because you get there first. Down below, not in the lush valley, but on the dry hillside there are trees, fallen branches, firewood, yet dry, stony, dusty land. So, there it is!

Perhaps what Master Sun is telling us is, if the strands of dust rising are scattered, it means that troops, or chariots, are NOT forming against you. It's just your enemy collecting wood, no threat to you at all for the moment. Also, even if you did attack, you'd not gain much.

If I've got this right, then let them have the firewood for their evening fires. Let them cook their dinners and heat their soup or tea water. None of that threatens you. And that brings me back, yet again, to perhaps the most important verse of all, 1: 2. Have you memorized it?

The Five Fundamentals:

1) The Way
2) Heaven
3) Earth
4) Command
5) Discipline

If you have The Way on your side then you must look to Heaven for timing. Timing for both when to fight AND when NOT to fight. Scattered strands of dust rising to Heaven don't indicate fight.

I wonder. How far is the nearest Unitarian church from your house? I assure you, they are gathering the firewood of progressivism in that church every last Sunday of the world. Don't go. Don't start a fight there. It will do no good. Heaven's will does NOT support that fight.

Let's say you're rich, everyone wants you to come to their fundraising this or that event. You might be tempted to go and make some futile conservative point at a liberal party, for laughs and giggles. Don't do it. They're just collecting firewood, and there's no fight to win.

Let's go back to verse 1: 2. The Way indicates that you're fighting for a righteous reason, and in fact, you're always ready to win without fighting, at all. We don't fight to fight, we fight to win, and then, we'd far rather win without fighting if we could. That's The Way.

These four verses we're studying right now are all about dust rising into Heaven. We know that Heaven is where we look to determine when to fight, when not to fight. You don't use archers at night. Snipers, with night vision goggles, sure. Archers? No. Do you see?

If archers are the main mode of your attack, you don't start your fight at 8:30 pm in September. You time your attack by the place of the Sun in Heaven, for its light. Your attack can never overcome failure to monitor Heaven. It's always on the Earth, but always guided by Heaven.

You don't need to attend small meetings of the local PTA organized by rich, liberal women, who will never comprehend The Way you follow as guided by MAGA. They're just gathering the firewood of gossip, or at best, support for what they believe in.

You must realize that there is, and absolutely, an anti-American Way in our nation, and it has a vast army of supporters. Men, who feel that they are actually women, must be allowed to spend their nights in shelters for abused women. There is an enemy army.

There are paid protesters bussed in to stir violence. Those show up with high, peaking dust rising to the Heavens, as they are the equivalent of chariots rolling in. Bad things will happen. Serious strategy must be employed. That's a totally different case.

The scattered dust of firewood gathering shows up everywhere as the assumptions the other side supposes everyone agrees with. Of course you can't discriminate against a homeless person, they must be allowed to sleep on the street.

If your city council is Democrat, what point is there in fighting that fight? Let it go, for now. Rather, go find a place where The Way and Heaven's signals indicate a battle worth fighting and winning. Wait, with patience. Lure with bait. Have a plan. And win.

Well, maybe don't let it go. Put together a small group. Lease some space. Hire some guards. Provide real shelter, for just one or two souls, or whatever you can cover with your group. Do it by your rules. Support transformation with clothing to rental help for them to leave.

But don't fight fights you know you can't win. Take action as indicated by scattered strands of dust rising to Heaven. Follow The Way and perform Heaven's will upon the Earth. Do you see? Master Sun gives us every bit of guidance we need for victory.

Solomon, about 400 or more years before Master Sun, tells us there is a time for everything under the sun. Isn't that interesting? The sun is the Lord of Heaven. Could Master Sun have studied King Solomon? Who knows? Master Sun tells us the same. There is always the right moment.

254 verses completed, 202 to go.

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