The New Warfare

We are, all of us, at war. It is a war, like all wars, for life against death. It is also a war for good and against evil. 

Everyone is involved, but most don't know it. Most of us are bought off by the evil side, or are used as pawns against our will. Some of us are fighting with greater or lesser degrees of skill. 

Any of us can take up the weapons given us by God and fight. Anywhere, anytime, anyplace. And we can wound the enemy and spread the Kingdom of Light. 

"God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all", says 1 John 1:5. "If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another." (1 John 1:6-7, ESV)

The forces of darkness and those lost to their lies roam the planet like lions. Desperate and cynical worshippers of violence and power injure and kill women, children, civilians and each other in Iraq, Syria, Africa, Israel. Fossil fuel companies leverage the future of our children and Gods planetary creation against their own pleasures and comforts. Ecosystems fall into increasing chaos and plants and animals disappear. Religious systems- technologies of the sacred, liberating messages, soul disciplines- are co-opted by fundamentalists, mocked in the public square or minimized and disempowered by on the one hand secularists and on the other jihadists. 

What we need is not only a new monastic but a new type of souljah. We need discipline and training for the body and mind to foster strength, cunning, knowledge, survival skills. 

What are the disciplines of the new warfare? The answer will differ depending on your own worldview and religious commitment or non-commitment. In this blog I want to start outlining some of the disciplines that I think are necessary for this benevolent war on the forces of darkness within and without. My  answers will come from a Christian perspective but I welcome (and long for!) thoughts and inspirations from others whether Christian, secular, or a committed to another religion. 

Some disciplines that come to mind are: prayer, frugality, self-sufficiency, non-violent communication, generosity, love, knowledge, and strength. 

I will start next week with my first post on discipline number one: the weapon of prayer.