I happened across an article the other day about Google’s business strategy. Uh, yeah. Not exactly light reading, and not the kind of article I normally spend time surfing around the Internet for. What attracted me to the article was the castle.

I love castles, and this one caught my eye. When I clicked over, I realized that the article wasn’t about the castle at all. It was about the moat. Actually, it used the moat as an example to make its point about the Internet giant’s business strategy, which frankly bored me. But I was fascinated by the writer’s approach, and thought it was worth a few minutes’ consideration.

The caption defined a moat as a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building, or town, historically to provide a line of defense. The premise of the article was that Google is an acknowledged king of the Internet. The kingdom is their business. Every king has to build some sort of defense against having their kingdom protected against attackers who would rip it to shreds.

I got to thinking about my own kingdom – my life. That includes my family, my marriage, my friends, my beliefs, my activities, my goals. I live in a castle constructed especially for me, and around that castle I have a moat filled with the water of faith. In a very real way, my faith enables me to live safely within the castle the Lord gave me. The water level fluctuates sometimes. Periods of searing heat cause some of the water to evaporate. But that’s okay, because then there are the rainy seasons, times when my faith rises and overflows into the rich, fertile grounds surrounding the moat.

It’s kind of fanciful to think of life as a castle and faith as a moat. Eh, what can I say? I’m a writer. My brain is wired toward fanciful thinking!