“This is the world, the evil we live with, and yet the hero’s are here. That’s why they come, these warrior-monks, not just to protect the people, but mothers, for the sake of their children and future generations, who will one day have to face the world as warriors themselves. If not, the generations to follow will have to face far worse.” (Krish Thapa (Gurkha and former SAS Officer)
In direct illustration of the foregoing we need look no farther than the Russian invasion of Crimea in 2014 and Ukraine in 2022, not to mention the Hamas massacre and kidnapping of Israeli civilians and foreign tourists on Jewish Passover, October 7, 2023. The fact is that not only does violence exist in the world today, but it’s increasing due to a lack of vision and political resolve in doing what’s right when everything is going wrong. Unfortunately, the environment in which war germinates is not only due to conflicted interests, but a world vision that everyone might get on board with. Yet, the prospect of unity is far removed when the general public can’t even recognize a threat when they see it. Whether due to political expediency, popular opinion, or as willing participants in some grand scheme, the diffidence of the political sphere speaks more of self-interest than “the social contract”.
If religion and government is no longer the answer, then, what is? The measure of a man! Faith made incarnate in the image of a conqueror, not a victim of a fallen world, but an overcomer. Yet, not until one realizes the warrior within and embodies those virtues. What, Incarnate in a world subordinate to spiritual bondage, how is that possible? By virtue of the fact that their is a higher dimension that the believer plugs into. And so, the warrior emerges like a moth from a cocoon, drawn by the flame of the eternal light, and by it, transformed by its creative fire into the very likeness of the once and future king to come. As Christian theologian R.C. Sproul (1929-2017) put it: “The only way the Kingdom of Heaven will ever be made manifest on earth is if believers reflect that heavenly reality within themselves, not just spiritually, but virtually, by the way in which they live, think and act!“
CoupStick Chaplain 