2 Samuel 17:24-18:8
David
and his army are being tracked down, not by descendents of his arch
rival Saul, but by his own son Absalom. Absalom is power hungry, ready
to take over all of Israel. In fact, he has won over most of Israel
through deception.
Out of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war, David can only see one - his son Absalom.
As David appoints the commanding officers to preside over each battalion, he gives each this message, loud enough for the soldiers to hear: "Be gentle on the young man Absalom."
In the heat of battle, David sees not an enemy, but his own son. He has no other choice but to fight, for he's avoided the conflict to the point of being backed up against a wall. He wants to join in the battle, but his army officers tell him that he's "worth ten thousand of them," and tell him he'd be of best service if he helped from the city.
My guess is that David would do anything to intersect Absalom in the forest where most of the fighting is taking place, get on his knees as he did with Saul, and make peace with his son - the power hungry commander of the Israeli army. But, that won't be happening. He has to let go, watch from the city, and wait for the inevitable.
Absalom is riding a mule through the forest, and gets caught in a low hanging tree branch. He's dangling "between heaven and earth," vulnerable to attack. Joab, David's presiding officer finds him there and sticks three knives into his heart, disregarding David's command of gentleness towards "the young man Absalom."
Withing this huge narrative of war, there is a side narrative of a father's love for his own. He doesn't see the rage, hatred, and power hunger of the one he loves, but the son he raised with his own hands. He doesn't see the deep resentment and thirst for revenge, but sees his own bloodline, his own flesh and blood - which raises a question - when we're at war, do we see ourselves in the folks we're at war
with?
If war is inevitable as this story suggests, is it not also possible that within the war narrative there is a much more intimate narrative?
Lets backtrack from physical battle and actual war between nations, since a lot of us aren't experiencing war. What about our normal, day-to-day confrontations with other people? That's probably more of a realistic application for the readers of this blog.
When we look into the eyes of our enemies, those people we have construed as our enemies at least, do we see bloodthirsty, hateful, power hungry predators? Do we see our own flesh and blood?
Or, lets look at it another way. We've all heard of the battle between good and evil, aka spiritual warfare. One might say that all around us there is a spiritual war waged all around us, and we must "put on the armor of God." We must dress ourselves in holy armor, ready to "fight for the truth at all costs." Whichever way we look at this concept of battle, whether it be actual man-to-man combat, the disagreement which turns into heated resentment, or spiritual warfare, there is a deeper narrative within: we are fighting against our own flesh and blood.
I've had countless confrontations in my life, and the natural result from confrontation is that I don't see human characteristics of the person I'm dealing with. All I see is a snapshot of hatred, opposition, and selfishness. I take what's inherently not human, and attribute the characteristics to the person I'm dealing with. That person becomes a symbol of all the things I can't stand, and I can be justified in my war. This only works for so long though, before I realize that the person I am fighting is myself. I'm fighting those parts in me that I hate, and I have constructed a statue in the form of another human being, and labeled it my enemy.
It's only when I realize that it's personal defects that
I'm fighting, and not flesh and blood, that I can look the person in
the eye and make the proper amends. It's only then that I realize the
the other person was never my enemy, but was a projected representation
of the things I hate most about myself. It's only then, that my
so-called enemies can come down off the pedestals that I've created for
them, and I can treat them as I would my own blood line - my own flesh
and blood.
Today's Action: Confrontation will happen today. The question is, will we realize that we're fighting against our own defects of character, not against other people?
Out of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers in the war, David can only see one - his son Absalom.
As David appoints the commanding officers to preside over each battalion, he gives each this message, loud enough for the soldiers to hear: "Be gentle on the young man Absalom."
In the heat of battle, David sees not an enemy, but his own son. He has no other choice but to fight, for he's avoided the conflict to the point of being backed up against a wall. He wants to join in the battle, but his army officers tell him that he's "worth ten thousand of them," and tell him he'd be of best service if he helped from the city.
My guess is that David would do anything to intersect Absalom in the forest where most of the fighting is taking place, get on his knees as he did with Saul, and make peace with his son - the power hungry commander of the Israeli army. But, that won't be happening. He has to let go, watch from the city, and wait for the inevitable.
Absalom is riding a mule through the forest, and gets caught in a low hanging tree branch. He's dangling "between heaven and earth," vulnerable to attack. Joab, David's presiding officer finds him there and sticks three knives into his heart, disregarding David's command of gentleness towards "the young man Absalom."
Withing this huge narrative of war, there is a side narrative of a father's love for his own. He doesn't see the rage, hatred, and power hunger of the one he loves, but the son he raised with his own hands. He doesn't see the deep resentment and thirst for revenge, but sees his own bloodline, his own flesh and blood - which raises a question - when we're at war, do we see ourselves in the folks we're at war
If war is inevitable as this story suggests, is it not also possible that within the war narrative there is a much more intimate narrative?
Lets backtrack from physical battle and actual war between nations, since a lot of us aren't experiencing war. What about our normal, day-to-day confrontations with other people? That's probably more of a realistic application for the readers of this blog.
When we look into the eyes of our enemies, those people we have construed as our enemies at least, do we see bloodthirsty, hateful, power hungry predators? Do we see our own flesh and blood?
Or, lets look at it another way. We've all heard of the battle between good and evil, aka spiritual warfare. One might say that all around us there is a spiritual war waged all around us, and we must "put on the armor of God." We must dress ourselves in holy armor, ready to "fight for the truth at all costs." Whichever way we look at this concept of battle, whether it be actual man-to-man combat, the disagreement which turns into heated resentment, or spiritual warfare, there is a deeper narrative within: we are fighting against our own flesh and blood.
I've had countless confrontations in my life, and the natural result from confrontation is that I don't see human characteristics of the person I'm dealing with. All I see is a snapshot of hatred, opposition, and selfishness. I take what's inherently not human, and attribute the characteristics to the person I'm dealing with. That person becomes a symbol of all the things I can't stand, and I can be justified in my war. This only works for so long though, before I realize that the person I am fighting is myself. I'm fighting those parts in me that I hate, and I have constructed a statue in the form of another human being, and labeled it my enemy.
Today's Action: Confrontation will happen today. The question is, will we realize that we're fighting against our own defects of character, not against other people?
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