Joan of Arc

St. Joan of Arc.

Joan lived during the 1400's when England and France were at war. She saw her sister raped and murdered. From a young age she heard “voices". According to my reference, St. Catherine and Michael the arc angel spoke to her . . . in the movie, Messenger, it was God or Jesus.

Her voices urged her to return France to God and make sure that Dauphin was made king of France, as he was the rightful heir to the throne.

After much debate, the dauphin gave her an army and sent her with his troops to fight the English. . She won. Again and again . . .

The dauphin was made king.

Now this sounds great, but once he was king, he pretty much abandoned her . . . she was captured by the English and after being imprisoned for a year, she was burned at the steak for dressing like a man. . .and not revealing whose voice she was hearing. 450 years later, she was canonized.

The compelling thing about this story is that Joan was a teenager.

She led an army. She never gave up on what she knew was true. She had faith enough to listen to, and follow her voices. She was a Nobody who stood up to the Somebodys. True, she lost her life . . .but she gained heaven and is still an inspiration nearly 600 years later.

Think about that the next time that you are confronted with something that you know is wrong, something that you know is against what you believe . . .. Stand up . . .stand up to the Somebodys. And Joan will stand with you. Or, as they sing in veggie tales . . . stand, stand up for what you believe in, believe in believe in God. . .He's the one to back you up. . . he'll stand with you. . He’ll stand with you.

-Jamie Dillon