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The Sword

Distracted and disarmed by sin and error, a man’s weaknesses become the door of disorder and demons. If he does not fight, his house falls alongside him. “[H]ow can one enter into a strong man’s house, and seize his goods, except he shall first bind the strong man? and then he will plunder his house” (Matt. 12:29).

The sword defends what must be defended and attacks what deserves attack. It is the strength unique to men applied to the fights unique to men. A good sword is sharp on the side of a man able to use it. The careless and slothful are poor soldiers. Their weapons are dull and leadership vain. The reckless soldier attacks the wrong things in the wrong ways – like Peter’s swipe at a guard’s ear – wasting time and strength and perhaps causing further war. The cowardly solider flees what he should face.

The true warrior is not merely violent, nor does he fight for fighting’s sake. He does not fight what he hates but for what he loves. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood; but against principalities and power, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places” (Ephesians 6:12).

The soldier – the one who wields the sword – must learn both the ways of the enemy and the ways of heroes.

The Spade

If a man will fight for what he loves, he must also love well what is lovable. Although a man must learn from the soldier, he must remember Adam’s first command: till and keep the garden. The spade is the tool that keeps the garden; it is the application of man’s strength to the cultivation of his domus, his domain. The end of a father’s fighting – symbolized in the sword – is peace in his place, so that his children and community can flourish and grow toward their true ends. His sword is necessary, but he eagerly awaits its transformation into a tool of cultivation, an implement that “tills and keeps” the garden. “They shall beat their swords into plowshares” (Isaiah 2:4).

Because the true end of all war – the wielding of the sword – is peace, a wise man must also learn to live peacefully and prudently in the domain of his vocation with the joy that comes from knowing you possess good things. “Blessed is the man that fears the Lord, that walks in His ways… for he shall eat the labors of his hands” (Psalm 128). A matured man, even and especially in times of chaos and disorder, regains peace in the spade, as Odysseus found his father toward the end of The Odyssey as peace and order were being restored:

“Odysseus found his father in solitude spading the earth around a young fruit tree.”

On the other end of a sword is an enemy, but on the other ends of a spade is life that must be cherished and worked wisely. A farmer’s work is very different from a soldier’s. He does not cut down but prunes. He does not trample but cultivates. He takes no spoils but sows the seeds. He, therefore, must study and understand his surroundings so that his actions help his soil to bear more fruit than it would have without him. This is a humble act that submits implicitly to God, because by seeing and respecting the created nature of a thing you respect the thing’s Creator.