“13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 5:13-16 ESV)

Any and all personal equanimity comes under fire when once the soldier sees through the Call to wage war. There is no inner peace in such a decision, except the Peace Received from On High. Calamity, reorientation, the soldier’s calm is always dicey, always on the line, through some unforeseen persistent trial. Some trial that will put front and center a New Thing, an Angle Corrupt, a Personal Inquisition. We make holy search, and are today Calmed to know: the unholy is not impeding; the Dastardly is not imposing; the Regrettable is not making solemn injunction; the Self is, for all reassuring fasts kept, all reassuring equanimity of soul’s center, the Self is still vulnerable unto the end of being protected by Jesus.

Because strange days call for genuine Christian Response, the hurried communiques in hindsight… too much? Too doubting? Too forward? We are now Forward around the call to arms, because we are now ceasing to let sin wave and foment over innocent villa and town. We are now Forward because we gave up on trying to make the “sensible”, the “calm”, the “meager” foray and outward stance. We lance forth, because of having given up on self-reliance, and trusting God to descend with an angelic Call unto the soldier’s equanimity, to make Peace and to give solemn Calm around the declaration of armament. Of the end of armistice. Of whatever it takes to be able calmly and cogently to speak up about sticking to Principle and to Purpose.

To these things we adhere, but always in the utmost humility of Christ-bearers, bearers of the Name, eager to do the Christian walk and talk: to surrender all things in the name of turning the other cheek, whilst also not losing sight that that is a radical Move. It is radical because it ends the hostilities whilst putting moral rectitude in our own courts! To be upright, morally astute, this is to make high noon around the enemy’s aggressions. It is somehow to turn that cheek while not going limp on the Principles, the Selfsame Stature, the Town and Villas poor and vulnerable.

We turn a cunning cheek because any old aggression is not sufficient to corrupt us into War Talk. We talk Love, we talk Peace, we talk social Gratitude and Progress; but no, no enemy can drag us down to their level of murderous balderdash and limp, morally weak, sad lackings. They lack: in childhood euphoria, in reverie of prayer these latter days, in expansive wanderings and civil “marriage” of engagement most Benign and Holy and True. So to turn that cheek: it is to see can we go another hour still unengaged with the warring mentality? For the betterment of our eventual own declaration of arms, that it be at the last possible moment, after turning cheek and after forgiving and praying for our enemies.

The Christian owns a personal reverie so exalting, so expansive, so lauding of Goodness, as to have already Won Tomorrow’s War. We have this peace within ourselves, that we will stir them and engage them with our Love. We will inspire them and give pause by our Mutuality, our Common Decency, our Grateful Posture. And if and when the arrows start to fly, we will only engage vis-a-vis what God has ordained. Only in gladsome taking up of the sword that Christ indeed commands, because it has come to a more precious or cognisant Moment. We are cognisant of some substratum of War even though still patiently in forefront of thought, loving and forgiving and praying right on through it.