{"id":2533,"date":"2023-04-14T07:14:07","date_gmt":"2023-04-14T11:14:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=2533"},"modified":"2023-04-14T07:14:07","modified_gmt":"2023-04-14T11:14:07","slug":"maybe-its-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2023\/04\/14\/maybe-its-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Maybe It’s Time"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0<\/em>click here<\/a>.
\u00a0
Lt. Hiroo Onada did not give up without a fight.\u00a0
\u00a0
When the Japanese withdrew from the Philippine island of Lubang in December 1944, they left behind four soldiers.\u00a0 Their orders were to \u201ccarry on the mission even if Japan surrenders.\u201d
\u00a0
One of the soldiers gave up after six years.\u00a0 Another was killed in a skirmish with local police in 1954.
\u00a0
The 22-year-old Onada remained hidden in the island\u2019s mountainous interior and dug in for the long haul.\u00a0 He kept himself alive by raiding the fields and gardens of local citizens.\u00a0 He killed some of them in violent clashes.
\u00a0
A national manhunt was organized.\u00a0 More than 13,000 soldiers and volunteers tried, in vain, to capture him.\u00a0 The search cost almost half a million dollars.
\u00a0
The authorities pleaded with him to surrender.\u00a0
\u00a0
He ignored the loudspeakers that blared the news of his nation\u2019s defeat, believing it was a plot designed to draw him into the open.\u00a0 He studied the leaflets that rained down on the jungle announcing that Japan and America had actually become allies, and even looked at pictures and letters from his own family urging him to give up.\u00a0
\u00a0
But he decided it was all a trick.
\u00a0
Finally, Onada\u2019s former superior officer, Major Yoshimi Taniguchi, flew to Lubang and personally ordered him to surrender.\u00a0 He did so on March 10, 1974, almost 29 years after the formal end of World War II.\u00a0
\u00a0
Onada handed his sword to Philippine president Ferdinand Marcos, who pardoned him on the spot.\u00a0
\u00a0
His war was finally over.\u00a0
\u00a0
When asked about what he had endured, Onada was blunt:\u00a0 \u201cNothing pleasant happened in the 29 years in the jungle.\u201d
\u00a0
Before we dismiss this Japanese soldier as hopelessly stubborn, it\u2019s worth remembering that all too many people are acquainted with waging an Onada-like personal war.
\u00a0
Perhaps you are one of them.\u00a0
\u00a0
You\u2019ve read books and heard messages and gone on retreats and consulted with wise friends and experienced moments of inspiration that have led you to consider throwing your whole self \u2013 body, mind, and soul \u2013 into the arms of God.\u00a0
\u00a0
But maybe it\u2019s a trick.\u00a0
\u00a0
Maybe it\u2019s just your longing for a heavenly Father because your earthly father never came through.\u00a0 Maybe some people with an axe to grind made up a story about a Jewish teacher centuries ago and millions of others have fallen for it.\u00a0 Maybe it\u2019s just your digestion.\u00a0
\u00a0
God keeps extending his hands in your direction.\u00a0 He\u2019s offering peace.\u00a0 Reconciliation.\u00a0 Hope.\u00a0
\u00a0
But maybe his real game is that he just wants you to feel miserable for all your years of not-good-enoughness.\u00a0
\u00a0
There comes a moment when you have to decide if he\u2019s telling the truth, and if you really want to stay in the jungle forever.
\u00a0
Maybe it\u2019s time to put down your sword.
\u00a0
Maybe it\u2019s time to let God accept your surrender.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To listen to this reflection as a podcast,\u00a0click here.\u00a0Lt. Hiroo Onada did not give up without a fight.\u00a0\u00a0When the Japanese withdrew from the Philippine island of Lubang in December 1944, they left behind four soldiers.\u00a0 Their orders were to \u201ccarry on the mission even if Japan surrenders.\u201d\u00a0One of the soldiers gave up after six years.\u00a0 Another was killed in a… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2534,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[338],"class_list":["post-2533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-surrender"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2533"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2535,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2533\/revisions\/2535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2534"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}