There is an old Celtic proverb… Never give a sword to a man who can’t dance. It means a man must know how to celebrate life before he can be entrusted to protect it. The battle is over love and all about love. Think about that for a minute. How easy is love? Far too often we seem to fall in and fall out, we are experts at the conditional kind of love. But I’m talking about experiencing a love in which you entrust your heart to another. There is only one who guarantees he will never leave or forsake, mishandle or take advantage. It is love that makes Him stay and love that is the practice and presence of Jesus, His art form. Love requires both a strength and a finesse.
Remember William Wallace’s uncle Argyle? Pointing to the Braveheart sword young William is reaching out to touch, Argyle says... “Before you can use this, you have to learn how to use this,” pointing from the sword to his nephew’s head. William’s father told him, “I know you can fight but it’s our wits that make us men.” More battles are won in the strategy, planning and preparation than on the field. There is an Art to the practice of a Warrior’s life: silence, solitude, patience, and an inner world of rhythm, beauty and strength. We will have to fight, but that isn’t what a Warrior is nor what he does. A Warrior is a peacekeeper, one who loves well and is about freedom and life… providing it, protecting it and promoting it… ready to fight for it if needed. It was the author Victor Hugo who wrote in his classic, Les Miserables, (1862),
Life's greatest happiness is to be convinced we are loved.
“AMEN” to that! A man who knows he is loved is a Beloved Son, and a man who knows he is a Beloved Son possesses one of the great treasures of the Kingdom, a settled heart. A man who is settled is a man who is free to love all those around him fiercely and tenderly. Jesus rolls out the challenge to love even those who are against you. Love your enemies (Luke 6:35). These are the hearts who are yet to experience that they too are the beloved; no doubt they will be affected by the presence of a man who is settled and knows how to both fight and dance. It was Sarah Young in Jesus Calling who wrote,
Teaching you would be simple if I negated your free will or overwhelmed you with My Power. However, I love you too much to withdraw the godlike privilege I bestowed on you as My image-bearer.
