I nearly joined the army today…
… because even they seem to start getting it… As I was in the midst of my daily facebook updating, relating, procrastinating, I saw this ad and laughed out loud. Spiritual leaders… crucial to the success of the mission… WOW… Seriously… I know the military doesn’t usually get particularly good rep, and personally, I think the fact that we are still killing each other on this planet in spite of obviously being one human race, is pretty pathetic. But there is also a different side to this to be honored.
Spiritual warriors have always been part of the human archetype all across this planet. Maasai, Samurai, Hashishin, Templars, King Arthur’s round, Native American warriors, we can discover them across the world. My friend Pamela surprised me years ago when she told me about her work teaching myth to the US Army. But it made sense…
In a way, soldiers today, whether they join the military because of social and financial reasons, to get a college education, international experience, or just to get the fuck out of whereever, soldiers are the few who today are upholding the idea of the pagan hero death, a death – and consequently life – spent in the pursuit of a worthy cause.
We find similar tendencies in firemen, policemen and others, but nowhere is it as apparent as in the military that you are signing up to be willing to die for a belief or system of believes (even if you get drafted and used as cannon fodder or join a different spiritual war without uniforms).
In order to be a soldier, you have to face death, your own, and the death you might be inflicting. This forces you to really appreciate life, your own, and the life you might be taking. While some eighteen year old kids might not get that when they sign the dotted line at the draft office, at some point in the career of a soldier this understanding will set it.
Many of the former soldiers I have met have confirmed this. Can think of two in particular (both medics, curiously enough), who I have met lately. Both of them have a passion for life and an appreciation for it that is infectious. Thinking of the two of them inspired me enough that I decided not to join the army in spite of their great ad on facebook. Instead, I will do some death yoga, remind myself to die after every breath, and focus on being a spiritual warrior of a different kind.
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