War Is Good for The Soul

Catholic spiritual master and warrior St. Josemaria Escriva author of the spiritual classic, The Way

"..and what is peace? Peace is something closely related to war.  Peace is a consequence of victory.  Peace demands of me a continual struggle. Without a struggle I will never have peace." - St. Josemaria Escriva from The Way, (308)

The glories and atrocities of warfare have been written about since the dawn of civilization. But, I am not speaking about this type of warfare in this post.   I am instead speaking about the most important warfare that we will ever undertake - the war within ourselves - the war for meaning and purpose. 

This inner warfare is a necessary part of the human existence.  Without it, we will never experience the true depths of life.  If harnessed correctly, war can humble us, make us acutely aware of the fragility of life,  giving us ability to empathize with the struggles of others and the perspective necessary for wisdom.

One of my heroes is Abraham Lincoln.  Lincoln suffered many setbacks and horrible tragedies throughout his entire life. He suffered from profound often times debilitating depression, and nearly committed suicide on several occasions. However, through these painful, often torturous experiences Lincoln was able to develop a deeper, all encompassing understanding of the plight of others.  This led to his unique ability to unify a country racked by a devastating civil war.   Stephen Mansfield author of Lincoln's Battle with God  writes about this eloquently:

"He (Lincoln) emerged to see life differently from other men, to understand and feel as though he were looking in from the outside of human existence. For that is what depression is-a way of seeing and feeling life as through from another tormented world." 

We as humans were not created for comfort and ease, to become spiritually and existentially obese. If we, as a culture do not acknowledge the necessity of personal warfare; we risk becoming lukewarm, lazy, mediocre, small minded, blinded, woefully unprepared to meet the challenges of future and even greater evils. (think of Communism, Nazism, terrorism) 

Paradoxically, through engaging in this daily, productive, personal warfare, we can in turn make the world a more peaceful place -  since true peace begins inwardly first,then outwardly.