Sun Tzu said: All warfare is based on deception.
The War Stories on my desk have been Inspiring me lately. Maybe it's because I Find something Beautiful in them. Maybe it's because I Find nothing Beautiful in them. Either way, the Inspiration in my soul to Seek and Find Him there seems to be lining up with what God had to say.
I've spent a good part of my life on the battlefield of my mind. I've lost many battles, but I've also won a few. The Upside-Down truth of my War Stories is that my victories usually come through Surrender. But not to my Enemy; to my Commander. I like to imagine - believe, even - that Jesus was hanging on His cross with not just vinegar and Psalm 22 on His lips, but the words, "I see you, daughter. Me, too."
My husband and I spent our Fourth of July building Lego and watching The Hunger Games saga (all 9 hours' worth). I forgot how barbaric it was. And how Inspiring.
Just like when I'm reading my Bible, I tend to take particular note of the most intense emotional reactions I have when reading or watching other inspired stories. Jesus always has something to say to me through them.
In the last film, Mockingjay Part II, I was punched in the gut the moment that I realized that it was the Rebels who dropped a sky full of bombs on a crowd of scared people and screaming children that were being dragged away from their parents. They used deception to make the people in the Capitol think that it was their own ruler so that they would join the Rebellion.
At that moment, Jesus brought these words to my mind: "How we get there matters."
Sun Tzu said: To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
Katniss Everdeen is such a Beautifully dynamic hero. There is so much in her that I admire. 'The Girl on Fire' exudes Light not only from her gowns of flame, but through her sacrificial Love for her sister, through protecting the underdog, through her gut-wrenching remorse for taking Life, and through her brilliantly strategic mind. But what stood out to me the most was the fire in her eyes. The girl had a Passion against injustice that smoldered in her soul. She believed strongly in Justice, but she also believed that how we get there matters.
Sun Tzu said: Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
Please take the next two minutes to watch this clip.
What do you see? Deception? Anger? Self-Sacrifice? Trust? Love?
Two more minutes of your time, if you don't mind.
What about here? Deception? Anger? A discrepancy about who the Enemy is? A Pure heart?
Sun Tzu said: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
I've been thinking a lot about Truth lately. Is Truth the same thing as honesty? Isn't dishonesty in moments like these a part of the bigger-picture Truth? Is deception ever justified?
As I weigh these thoughts against The Word, I recall a few Bible Stories: A cunning snake deceiving Eve. Abraham Trusting God when he was asked to sacrifice his only son. "Trust me. Trust me." An Enemy thinking he had won the War.
Someone recently shared with me a quote from the video game Final Fantasy:
Squall Leonhart said: "To understand each other is to understand the Truth."
Within the game's plot, Squall Leonhart is a 17-year old student at a prestigious military academy for elite mercenaries. According to the internet (I know as much about video games as I do about sports), the RPG (Role Playing Game) Final Fantasy is not primarily classified as a 'War Game', though it features War, conflict, and political struggles between nations, factions, or even different worlds as a significant element. Despite this War backdrop, the game primarily focuses on story, character development, and intricate narratives, often involving large-scale conflicts and political intrigue. While War and combat is present, the game also includes puzzle-solving, character interactions, and exploration.
My Seeking led me to another quote from Squall that I find profound:
"Right and wrong are not what separate us and our enemies. It's our different standpoints, our perspectives that separate us. Both sides blame one another. There's no good or bad side. Just two sides holding different views."
How is it that we get to understand each other? To Know each other and the hopes and dreams that we each encompass?
We listen to each others' Stories, and Remember who the real Enemy is: The Enemy of Tov. Of Light. Of Life.
Jesus says: The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have Life, and have it to the full.
Jesus followed up His Salt Story that we explored in Part IV with another comparison:
You are the Light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your Light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16, NIV)
Let's recall what we know about Light: God saw that the Light was Good (Tov; Life-Giving), and He Separated it from the darkness (Genesis 1). The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1).
Not only did Jesus call us the Light of the world, He calls Himself the Light of the world.
I am the Light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life. (John 8:12, NIV)
I often struggle with Gospel messages that tell us that we "need" Jesus. What do we need from Him? What does it mean to "have" Jesus? What does that practically look like? Do I get a receipt?
Sun Tzu said: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.
Many people (myself not excluded) ask, "WWJD?" but ignore what He actually did.
Jesus says: If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will Know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.
Remember - Jesus is what God has to say; Pure Truth, Separated from any darkness or deception. And how do we get to Know the Truth?
We listen to His Stories.
What if Truth is a collection of our truths, like pieces of a puzzle? Or a Lego? Maybe we can't collectively see the Big Picture because our truths are Separated and scattered. What if living out Truth looks like offering your own pieces of Truth to each other and to the One who can see the picture on the box. Not just that - the One who Created the Design. I wonder what kind of Beauty that would come together to look like.
I hand-wrote a poem recently. With pencil, not ink. I had to erase a lot of words that didn't feel quite True to me and find a different Word for what I was trying to convey. Even now, there are a couple owords I would change. The poem was inspired by the work of another poet, Christopher Sexton, who wrote one of my favorites poems:
someone asked me,
"who's your favorite poet?"
they expected me to say whitman.
dickinson. rumi. or keats.
but I said octopuses.
because three hearts mean they feel
what the rest of us can only drown in.
because spilling ink is how they keep living
at the depths of existence.
My Dad knows a thing or two about ink. His artwork is inked permanently onto my skin by his own hand. But before he spilled ink onto skin, he spilled ink onto paper in the middle of a war, writing Love Letters to my Mom overseas. I like to think that this spilled ink is perhaps how he kept living at the depths of existence.
What happens when you were too young to know the reality of War in this world, but Knew it anyway? What happens when you related more to War Stories as a child than Love stories? What if you never Knew perfect Love from a parent? Or rather - what if your idea of Love from a parent was distorted and rooted in fear and punishment, for that's all you Knew?
The Holy Bible says: There is no fear in Love. But perfect Love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.
When you find yourself not having started a War but forced to fight anyway, is it wrong to fight back?
I'm not convinced that it is. But how we get there - that is, our Strategy - matters.
Sun Tzu said: The skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
With his force intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by Strategem.
So what's our Strategy? I certainly don't have all the answers. But I've Found a few clues, a couple puzzle pieces, and some things that are True for me. I'd like to offer those pieces up to the One who can see the picture on the box. The one who Created the picture on the box. And trust Him that they might connect to a few others so that we can collectively experience His Beautiful Design. I'm eternally grateful for the ones who came before me that have have offered up their pieces and have told their stories that landed in my corner to help me catch a glimpse of this Beauty.
One of those True pieces for me came from my dad's mother. She aid it all the time, but it wasn't until recently that I started believing the Truth in it.
Gami says: "You are such a Precious Treasure."
A Precious Treasure, in a Treasure Chest full of Beautiful Jewels. They are so Beautiful that...
C.S. Lewis said: We do not merely want to see [them], though, God knows, even that is bounty enough. We want something else which can hardly be put into words - to be united with the Beauty we see, to pass into it, to receive it unto ourselves, to bathe in it, to become a part of it.
Lean in close and I'll tell you a secret:
I've Seen the Treasure. And you can, too. Go look in the mirror, Beloved. Who do you see there?
Squall Leonhart said: "How many are there in you? Whose hopes and dreams do you encompass? Could you but see the eyes in your own, the minds in your mind, you would see how much we share."
Keep looking. Take note of the Light in your eyes. The Light that the Enemy waged war over with his deception.
The Bible says: Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals that the Lord God had made..."You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman.
Keep looking. Love who you see there.
Abraham Lincoln said: Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?
Are you still looking?
Jesus said [to His Enemy Judas]: Do what you came for, Friend.
Jesus said [to His Enemy persecutors]: Father, forgive them, for they are deceived.
Jesus says [to His Enemy]: It is finished.
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