“2 You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, 2 and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. 3 Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. 5 An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. 6 It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything. 8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12  if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13  if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Ti 2:1–13 ESV)

Bright eyes and standing at attention, the basic Capabilities of Christ’s soldier are roomy, advantageous, Inspiring. We are Inspired, that a kit and caboodle of Principles, of Inspired Plans, of Individual Diaspora, Individual Largesse, Individual Fit-the-Mold Immediacy, Relevance, spacious Domiciling, do apply.

To the Harbingers, then; to the Overlords and Institutions and Sane Citizens of the Community: to these go rhyme of a pleasant day’s Flourishing, as to Faith: in the Created Individual, at the Ready and Game-to-Go. God has Created us in His Image, something mystical and weird, even, to see the Heights of All Things lived into by the Soldier in her or his visage, uniform, bodily sphere and holy Halo. Part of a Cohort and Platoon, part of a Fact: these National Interested Parties can lean in on, can rely upon, can patiently Query and Listen right on through the dayspring from on high, the daybreak and first light. Light of Inspiration, of center-stage all lights on You commentary, submissive and Dutiful Commentary: “I have an idea”!

On then to the harbingers, a second time, whose foray into Radical Oppositional thinking, does start a war of a sudden. All of a sudden. Because sometimes the orders coming down from the On High are to budge not, to make this casus belli, to Refuse to honor the oinking and petulant requests we Stand Down, go Blase, Cease to Challenge and Cease to live into the community with All its glory, All its pairings and fraternal, sororal Institutions and Alliances. All those things, and to deny any One Person, One Pair, One Outfit, their rightful Expanse, in which expanse to Roam and Neigh, to Roar and Purr, is to deny life itself.

Finally, then, the soldier’s purpose is Enabler, perhaps, but also each experiences in a trench or forward position, the large Luggage, Suitcase or Battle Rucksack, of just how much relies upon him or herself. Life is strangely not quite communistic, politically-speaking, but Capital merges with Institutional, Military-Wide, Karma. We serve because to do any less would be murder and oversight, dereliction of duty, even, were we to Ignore some of the missives received or outlines held aloft. Karma spells mutuality for us, that we serve for the sake of our bunkmate and neighbor in the trenches, more than neighbor, comrade in arms.

The simple service, then, surrounds the prayer-warrior with reassurance and with Backing, some air traffic control-aspect meets those very real pilots and command-and-control bridge dwellers who command and land and take flight the airplanes. To each… hear the pained cry of the Machiavelli in our midst, of the Capitalist or Contentious Ones: all is striving and betrayal and competition! No, however, our Peace and Gestalt, our Outward Deeds and Strife, is not denying this, only it is Hopeful… in the saint or fellow, gal in arms, of a gladsome repartee: so-and-so is always Cheerful! And this notwithstanding the hardships, the contentious spirits, the demands to Deny Him who sent us. No, none of us quite survives the malaise if we aren’t supernaturally Empowered, Endowed, Peacefully-Remade. Yes, and peaceful are our thoughts, forgetting to Allot some time and space for the melancholic, forgetting the sad news that accompanies the gladsome Repartee. We go forward, but subdued as to Spirit, but Enabled as to Spirit, as well. Karmic coming together Divine, to have the License and Privilege of living in this age. To prophesy, and then not to deny ourselves, but more, to have tenacity and staying power. To stay… to Imagine an unfeeble Ally “out there” who themselves arrives on time, in season, with the humorous or insightful compliment or remark.