It is natural, even easy at times, for a man to be a warrior. This characteristic is written deeply into our souls, and it is one that we long to play out from birth to death. But it is essential that we note that the stage of the Warrior is not where our journey ends. Yes, we will need to be warriors until the day we die, there will always be evil to battle, but we must continue to grow beyond the stage of Warrior. There is so much more in God's heart for us than to simply be soldiers who move from one battle to the next. "The great danger for the Warrior is not defeat, but success... We must not let the battle become everything."
There is more to life than battle and hardship. There is more to life than training and trials. There is also great beauty, and we must make sure we take time to soak it all in. "Now we come to a fork in the road in the masculine journey, a stage that is both essential and, sadly, often overlooked and bypassed by many a man. The stage of the Lover. By this I do not primarily mean that time in a young man's life when he falls in love with a girl. Though that is part of it, I don't believe it is the core of the stage or even its ultimate expression. I do hope that there will be a girl in the picture, and that she turns his world upside down. Eve is God's glorious intrusion into the world of Cowboys and Warriors, for nothing, absolutely nothing, disrupts like Eve, and she is meant to change their lives forever. However, there are movements in the young man's soul that would be best to take place before Eve steps into the picture, movements that often do take place but go unrecognized until she is there."
This stage, as we will see, is not primarily about a woman, it is crucial that we clarify that right at the beginning. This stage is about something so much greater. It's about God. This is about coming to a deeper, more passionate, and more intimate knowledge of and relationship with God. With each step of the journey we grow and mature, and with this maturity comes an ability to know and understand more about who God is. And as we understand Him more, we see more clearly who He really is. We begin to see His beauty, and are captivated by it.
"As we think over the stages of the masculine journey, we find that the boy begins to understand Good as he learns fight from wrong, and the Warrior fights for what is True, but when a man comes to see that the Beautiful is the best of the three, then is the Lover awakened... Awakening with his passion for a battle you will often find another longing emerging, a longing for ... he knows not what. An ache, often expressed in music, or perhaps poetry, a film or a book that stirs him like never before. his soul is undergoing a sort of second birth. He begins to notice. Sees moonlight on water for the very first time. Is stopped by certain movements in a song he loves. Pauses to realize that a snowflake or a flower is really altogether amazing... Now yes, it is often aroused by a woman... Woman is the personification of Beauty, and it often takes her to turn the young man's attention from adventure and battle, 'turn his head,' as the phrase has it, and his heart comes along for the turning, too... But often the awakening comes in the world of Nature, especially if the young man has been allowed a generous season in the Cowboy stage."
Has it happened for you? When? For me I think it really began in high school during a hunting trips. You begin to take in the sounds of the woods before anything is awake, and then when everything comes to life. In the spring you see the flowers and trees budding, in the fall there is color everywhere. Even in winter, when everything seems to be dead, the sparkle of sunlight on the snow is incredible. I've had the chance to watch some incredible sunrises and sunsets from the Pyramids and Delphi, the Sea of Galilee, and the Mediterranean and Aegean Seas, as well as the Kokosing River and Lake Erie. Nature is full of so much beauty.
And then, of course, you have to think about the woman. She is after all, the half of God's image that captures His beauty most clearly for us on earth. I'll never forget the first time I saw my wife, though it would be three years before we had our first date. I walked down the stairs of my on campus apartment, and she was sitting on the couch in our living room. She had her hair pulled back, and glasses on. And she looked stunning, which is funny because in college she really didn't try to look good (just a testament to her beauty). We lost touch once she graduated, but in September of 2010 she reached out to me, and I began to pursue her. We were married the following August. When I saw her enter the room on our wedding day, I couldn't breathe, and when her dad finally gave her to me all I was thinking was "I just want to stand here with her forever." I'll never forget that moment.
"This is very good for the Warrior, to be arrested by Beauty. It provides a great balance to his soul, lest he simply be a fighter. The Celts had a phrase, 'Never give a sword to a man who can't dance,' by which they meant if he is not also becoming a poet, be careful how much Warrior you allow a man to be." The line takes me the final moments of Brave Heart. You see men charging, and you hear the voice of William Wallace say, "In the year of our Lord 1314, patriots of Scotland, starving and outnumbered, charged the fields of Bannockburn. They fought like warrior poets. They fought like Scotsmen and they won their freedom." Early in the movie, after the funeral of Wallace's father and brother, he is seen with his uncle who allows him to hold his sword. He takes it back and tells him, "First learn to use this" pointing at his forehead, "then I'll teach you to use this" and holds up his sword.
There must be more to a man than the ability to fight, there must be a deep love and value for what is beautiful. We are more than Warriors; we must be Warrior Poets, Lovers of beauty.
"Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another."
To God alone be the Glory!
Strength and Honor
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