Who Dares Wins

 

The recent Ukrainian ‘Operation Spider web’ which targeted airbases and military hardware across Russia in a simultaneous drone attack over several time zones deep behind enemy lines without loss of life was a sharp contrast with how the rest of the war was being waged in the trench warfare in eastern Ukraine aka ‘the meat-grinder’ where every foot of territory gained is measured in lives lost. 

It’s reminiscent of the way in which the allies turned around the desert war in North Africa with the creation of the SAS and its first synchronised raids on German and Italian airbases, a new methodology comprising meticulous attention to detail, covert manoeuvring, split second timing. All the damage was done before the adversary knew what was happening. 

We can certainly draw parallels here too with how humanity handles itself in dealing with the spiritual world around us. If situational awareness of the world we live in is absent then people are essentially walking into machine gun fire, like the trench warfare, being constantly taken out by the enemy of our souls with temptations, weaknesses, and misunderstanding of every kind. This results in helpless victims of an unseen war raging around them. And the world is becoming more broken, damaged and deranged as a consequence. 

There is however another way. Perhaps best demonstrated by our own version of the SAS; the contemplative monks and nuns all over the world and across the centuries know their enemy; their lives and prayer and intercession for us is targeted to do great violence to the enemy camp. They succeed in disrupting his plans and dismantling the apparatus he builds, by applying the power and authority of Jesus. 

Perhaps we are at a stage in human history though, where we cannot leave everything up to the few specialists behind the monastery walls and the heavenly angelic armies. The days we are living in, require something of us too; firstly to be aware of what we are up against or to be more precise who we are up against and to engage in the struggle ourselves too. We need to push in to prayer rather than simply being dismayed by what we see unravelling in our world… to be part of the solution. Put aside the enticing distractions or what gives relief and exchange them for intercessory prayer for what is needed instead. And this will surely tip the balance or move the needle in the right direction. 

Who Prays Wins!

The Best Kept Secret

There were 3 rural parish priests who had a problem with birds nesting in the nooks and crannies of the ceilings of their churches. One had a shotgun and fired a few shots at the ceiling and they flew off, only to return soon after. The second rigged up a net and caught them, put the net in his truck, drove them 100 miles and released them and when he got back to his church they were already back. The last one had one of those high pressure car washing devices which he filled with Holy water and Baptised the whole flock; and never saw them again. 

Many in the last few generations align to tradition without knowing why and maintain a skin deep relationship with the church and often no relationship at all with their God. 

When I was taught about religion; it was by religious sisters, who could talk about hell with such clarity and detail that we all knew they had been born and raised there! I could probably pass a test on the Catechism but didn’t have a clue who God was really or how this could be a part of life beyond having to go to Mass on Sunday; and this unimpressive start was before sin entered the picture much. 

Who God is and what He can be for a follower of His, is probably the best kept secret in the church and strangely religion often stands in the way of its discovery, distracts from the goal rather than leading to it. Grace has its own timing of course, but it’s seldom entirely independent. The catalyst is generally a witness, someone who does know God, who has experienced that touch of grace in a way which brought about a transformation in their lives and can then do the same for the listener. God is experiential, a theoretical one won’t captivate anyone, He is living and acts mightily in the here and now, not merely historically. 

When someone opens their heart to God, in all sincerity, then it’s like being unplugged from the Matrix.., to suddenly see the world as it really is, who we are, and who God is. And then the journey begins together and we realize all He can be for us. The most beautiful thing to realize is that we are not alone. There is a good Father on whom we can rely entirely for everything we need; there is no need to be afraid of life anymore, you are in safe hands. But we must be intentional about seeking him out, trusting Him and being aligned with His Spirit through prayer. 

How can the current or next generations ever know God unless there are authentic witnesses to tell them the church’s best kept secret?

A Walking Weapon

Whilst praying the Rosary this morning, I had an unexpected insight.

I had been reading an article on the Israeli self-defense system Krav Maga and a phrase had stayed with me that a ‘well-trained practitioner of Krav Maga is basically a walking human weapon” My insight was that praying the Rosary was our equivalent in the realm of the spiritual life.

Many of the traditional martial arts are primarily defensive; derived from a philosophy or observations in nature and tend to take many years to master; it becomes a way of life. They also tend to be quite precise and elegant in movement. Transplanting them to western culture it becomes competitive with tournaments and grades and so on.

Krav Maga on the other hand was developed out of necessity by a Jewish chap in Slovakia to protect their communities from fascist anti-Semitic thugs who attacked them in the run-up to the second world war. It is the ‘blunt force trauma’ of martial arts, which has only one objective- to neutralize an attack (with multiple attackers in mind) and render them unable to continue. It is easily learned and improved with practice. 

Within the church we do have our own experts in the martial arts of prayer; like the desert fathers who spent their whole lives in fasting and contemplation and today’s monks and religious sisters whose life of prayer is derived from that and continue to hold the world together by their intercession and holiness and inflict great violence on the enemy. 

For the ordinary man in the street though; we have the Rosary, our means to weaponise our prayer life; to neutralize the attacks of the evil one on our own lives on a daily basis. The reality is that we are all in this fight, like it or not, acknowledge it or not, and to protect ourselves and our families is essential. Particularly for men; the heads of families need to enter into this. Let your sons see you praying the Rosary so they will learn it too and become “well trained practitioners; walking weapons.”