The War Can Be Lost


The War Can Be Lost Even as I came to understand the meaning of His words, I grew impatient and critical at what seemed His inaction to end the horrors of man against man. So I cried out to him in anger. “Father, do you not have the power to command good and cause us to take your path?” And, for the first time there came no reply. Yet the silence was not empty, for in it I recognized that His path is ours to choose – and in not doing so, the war can be lost. The persistence of violence, hate, killing and indifference says little about God but much about mankind. It says nothing of His attention or inattention to our many transgressions, nor does it speak to His ability or inability to stop us from committing such crimes against one another. He does not choose for us what we do in life. We are created persons of free will and must take responsibility for our actions – and their consequences. That hate, violence and killing persist is ample proof, however, that the war against the degradation of Man rages on. If good is the greater force in our lives there is far too little evidence of it. We must not be lulled into complacency for it is easier to hate than to love, to take than to give, and to kill rather than save. The horrors we observe are of our making. In their continuation, it is clear that evil can triumph. To assure that it does not, each of us must freely choose God's path and actively engage in the struggle against our own degradation. Although this war may be won in the absence of your participation, it might also be lost for the lack of it. Whether God allows this war to rage or is powerless to stop it is of no matter. We cannot know. What is clear is that we have the power to stop it. We must have faith and be strengthened in the knowledge that He is with us in our efforts to do so.
		The struggle is ours to carry on. Each of us must work to secure the future. God shows us the clear path to success – if we would but choose it.
	The warrior and the killer do the unthinkable without hesitation and without fear. We must show the same resolve and fearlessness in helping to preclude violence, war and killing through love, compassion, intelligence –- and action. We must rise without hesitation to aid and protect the weak and the vulnerable. In following God's path, you will be confronted by forces and influences that would deter you. The voices of good and of evil are akin to those of a truthful man and a liar. They whisper and point to directions each would have you take along your way. The liar confounds and entices so that you may not discern his path from that of the truthful man. But God has given you what is required to determine the right choice – His Law and your own intelligence. God's Law is your compass – it points constantly toward the right path, constantly toward victory in the great struggle. Test your direction always, and you will find your true course.