Phalanx

It's 5:30 AM. I've been at work since 11 PM. I get off in an hour and a half.

Brace yourselves.

So I've been reading this book all night about the battle of Thermopylae. You know it better as that one thing they made 300 off of. Spartan culture is very interesting, especially as a history nerd. The thing that I find so fascinating about the Spartans is that they understood what we as Christians try to understand everyday; no fight is won physically. Everything is about the will to succeed.

The thing that I marvel at about the Spartans is not that they figured out the true nature of the fight, but rather that they figured out how to make it happen. They figured out how to develop and maintain the will to succeed, the will to overcome any challenge. It wasn't through rigorous training and insane methods to toughen up, although that all happened. It was through each other.

The key to Spartan battle rested in the shield. A helmet, a breastplate, these things guarded yourself, and they were expendable. But under NO circumstances were you to lose your big round shield, because with that shield you defended your brother. From day one Spartans were trained in one simple fact: Nothing will ever matter as much as the person standing next to you.

I think that one thing I do terribly wrong with my faith is I individualize it. I'm not saying it shouldn't be personal, between you and God. I am saying that it shouldn't be private, just about you getting to heaven. My faith needs to be more of a group effort. When I think back, the times that I've found courage, perserverence, all of the things that I seem to lack in my weaker moments was when I was standing up for someone else, trying to help them.

Jesus understood it, so did the Spartans. You'll never win any fight that you fight alone, you'll never win if you fight for yourself. But if you fight for the man next to you, then there isn't a force that can stop you.

Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival. - C.S. Lewis

(jake)