THAT GLORIOUS LAST BATTLE

ARE WE BORN TO BATTLE?
Here is a rousing  call to battle from a poet who was killed in WORLD WAR 1.
Philip Edward Thomas was born in London in 1878. A close friend of the poet Robert Frost, he wrote much of his poetry while serving as a soldier during World War I. He was killed in France on April 9, 1917.

The Trumpet Edward Thomas

Rise up, rise up, And, as the trumpet blowing Chases the dreams of men, As the dawn glowing The stars that left unlit The land and water, Rise up and scatter The dew that covers The print of last night’s lovers— Scatter it, scatter it! While you are listening To the clear horn, Forget, men, everything On this earth new-born, Except that it is lovelier Than any mysteries. Open your eyes to the air That has washed the eyes of the stars Through all the dewy night: Up with the light, To the old wars: Arise, arise. There is so much ambivalence in this poem, he  chronicles an awakened sense of the beauty and preciousness of the earth and the very air itself  "that washed the eyes of the stars."  The poet  accepts that awful contradiction of our lives.  That we can only fully appreciate life when we are on the brink of losing it. That, yes, from birth to death, all of life  is  a battle.  Yes, we are a battling species, but the battle for life  and for this world must be waged. Sometimes people are battling for every breath.  Yet we want those battles to be non-bloody and non violent.  I am thinking of  the  famous speeches of Martin Luther King that were celebrated recently. Again I was struck by the way that  apostle of non-violence often resorted to images of  war.  And  his own life ended in a brutal killing.  Again and again King reminds his followers that they are in a  long historical struggle and then he goes back to the hymn of the American Civil War  THE BATTLE HYMN OF THE REPUBLIC. "He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored. He has loosed the fateful lightning of his terrible swift sword. HIS TRUTH IS MARCHING ON" In other remarks by King, he reminds us that the arc of history is towards justice. So it may take a long time but the final battle will be won by Truth and Justice. MLK also saw a deeper truth in the story of the Good Samaritan and  the events that  take place on the road to Jericho: On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. "A Time to Break Silence," at Riverside Church THERE IS A PROFOUND POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS  TRUTH IN KING'S READING OF THE PARABLE OF  THE GOOD SAMARITAN.  WE LIVE NOW IN AN EDIFICE THAT PRODUCES BEGGARS  (and so much worse. Make your own list) AND WE NEED TO TAKE UP THE  RADICAL TASK OF RESTRUCTURING.