Become a Minor War Hero

Morning Thoughts #198

There is no such thing as a minor war for the one engaged in its battles. Friends, we tend to view our lives from far too great a distance—even during the very moments they’re being waged the fiercest! And when we reflect on what we’re doing, too often the best we can manage is a kind of nosebleed introspection.

For the person under fire, the geopolitical implications (or lack thereof) of a given engagement in no way mitigate or exacerbate the immediacy of the dangers whizzing past. If life is on the line, nothing else needs to be considered to grant an event the utmost importance.

And friends, the battles I speak of are the waking moments of our lives! To breathe is to engage in hand-to-hand combat with our very fate! And that’s truly how we must face each day. Some historian in our heads may attempt to classify certain days as minor and others as major, but don’t let that distract you for one second from the unconditional immediacy of it all!

Yes, some days may seem to exist in the in-between—not here, not there—just an anonymous midweek day in September that seems harmless to lose. But oh, friends, when you are commanding your own beating heart, the outcome of the war is always at stake! Let the book write itself before you read it! The contextualized moment is already lost!