“3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours searched and inquired carefully, 11 inquiring what person or time the Spirit of Christ in them was indicating when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the subsequent glories. 12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in the things that have now been announced to you through those who preached the good news to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.” (1 Pe 1:3–12 ESV)

Command central and the soldier takes a little bit of it for him or herself. We are Formed and Consecrated soldiers unto a cause to many invisible but to us the heartstrings of what, why, and how we Live out our days, what our Casus Belli is as to this Christian Jaunt, and the Mission central our command outpost of an invisible majesty, a gently-held Certainty, a gliding free fall no longer with angel wings and so much Imagined yet Real.

Fancy footwork and swiftly-poetized Words meet Instant Revelation and Unglamorous Purpose. We convey, with words, with our actions, with the fighter’s stance, that certain Intangibles, certain Non-negotiables, certain Visions of God, are coming alongside the soldier’s daily fare. We enlarge and we intake, we exhale and we sublimate, we go large and go tiny, all towards the end of living into this Command Central room we’re in, if not literally then with every Assurance of the Spirit: more than you imagine is Real; more than you expect is Attached; more than you do votives towards is Receptive. God is receptive, to Hear our plea and to Be both patient and perfunctory, both listening and no-nonsense Got This (already Got This). He Acts in gestures and wildly pre-planned responses to our petition. He speaks, and entire Cadres of secretaries and philosophers and soldiers do Listen. He doesn’t wait for an “aye-aye, sir”, but Knows: impactful chain of command via public pronouncements, and back-channel chain of command for a few Important things ‘round here. 

God the Father loves the son, and God the Father is never faulted, blamed, for this Affection, as if it has no place in the bunker and in the underground storm shelter: we hold these truths as self-evident, that God loves the Son, that the Spirit loves the Father and loves the Son, that the Son in some brand of meekness loves right back. Yes, it is a Cause called Love that we bandy about and charge forth with into the Night. Love… and its sister Mercy. Its brother Compassion. Its child Duty.

Strange confluences of circumstance and of Power do etch an irreversible line down the middle of our nation, as so many previously in the devil’s balance sheet flip sides in an instance Provided that the Cause is Ambitious enough. The Cause… for an entity or family or person to take massive losses—of reputation, of finances, of social standing—is only possible with Drastic Demonstrations of the rectitude of the other side… of Our Side, coming to the fore and doing battle with the entrenched Easy Route Taken. No joke, our route is also an Easy Burden to those thus called and consecrated, but theirs was the irresponsible brand of Lazy, of Easy, of Failing to strike a moral chord or to Judge actions according to a Testament and Received book of the Law. They prattle about us not having the Law, but in fact any casual once-over will show it to be Them who lack moral aptitude.

Our route is Christ’s route, patience for the fledgling child in need, love for the laborer in need, patient peace for the war-torn soldier, Reason and Substance for the innocent inquiring one. We anticipate a Large shift of allegiance, when once it is shown: God is with us. When once it is shown, God is Real in this generation. When once it is shown, it ain’t gonna be done for y’all: you have to step up to the plate On Your Own, yourself, individually, responsibly, responsively.