The Protectors

Excerpt from “The Good Fight”

On the vigorous defense of virtue:

“…Peaceful people need protection. They get it. Once they feel safe the protectors are no longer welcome. They are a reminder of danger. They are a reminder that they rose to meet the threat when others did not. In times of peace they have no place. They make people feel uncomfortable. They are bad karma, people say.”

…the tension is not just between people, but within people as well…

“The injunction to “render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and unto God the things that are God’s” regards church and state, or spiritual life and worldly life, as distinct domains. It acknowledges that people are part of both and that each makes valid claims in our lives. We need to reconcile their demands. We cannot exclude one or the other…

…”We may sentimentalize it, ignore it, or hope for the best, but we cannot wish it away. It is a great theme of the history of the world. It is present in all of our lives. It appears as a paradox to every generation, nation, culture, religion, king and family.

“It is the theme of the Odyssey and of Hamlet; of great stories of every era: The Mahabharata, The Gospels, War and Peace, The Lord of the Rings, The Seven Samurai, The Magnificent Seven.

“We are all responsible for others. There is no shortage of people who need us. It is an honor – it elevates the quality of our own life – when we take care of people who need us and, even if they never know, keep them from harm.”

Post by Jeff Brooks, quoted from “The Good Fight”

Copyright © 2018 Jeffrey M. Brooks and Mountain Karate LLC