Losing the War

There is no good way to lose a war. My generation’s war was Vietnam. This generation’s war is Afghanistan. Both were long, unpopular wars that were impossible to win. The photos of the airlifts from the airports of Kabul and Saigon are eerily similar. Both wars were mistakes from beginning to end. Both were fought by brave American soldiers who fulfilled their duty to their country. They are not to blame for the defeat.

Americans do not like to lose. When it occurs we need a scapegoat to blame, and the easy target is the occupant of the Oval Office. “The buck stops here,” as Truman’s sign on the Resolute Desk read. He oversaw victory in one war and stalemate in another. President Biden has received criticism from right and left for his handling of the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The truth is there is more than enough blame to go around for this and previous administrations, starting with the one who got us into Afghanistan.

It is easy to blame presidents, especially those of the opposing party. Partisan shots are cheap shots in my opinion. It takes no critical thinking to repeat what party propagandists say. For that reason I have always endeavored to be even-handed - critiquing leaders of both parties, my own as much as the other. To withhold criticism from one’s own party leaders is to invite demagogues to rise to power. That is what has led to our present predicament.

The Afghanistan War is over, but there is another war happening. It is the war within the human soul. This inner war is the cause of all our nation’s wars. The apostle James is reported to have written, “Where do wars come from? Why do people fight? It all comes from within, doesn't it?” In a recent blog post I quoted an interpreter of the Bhagavad Gita: “When a battle is raging within, enemies appear on the outside.”

There is a war in the human soul. The autocratic self seeks to rule in life by defeating all earthly and spiritual enemies. It hopes to defeat death and live forever. The truth is that the war is already lost, just as certainly as defeat in Afghanistan was a forgone conclusion. The human self will always lose; it will die. It is born of flesh and will die with the flesh.

The good news is that there is eternal life, but it is not for the self to possess. Life is won only when we surrender to the One who is our true Life. As Jesus taught, “Whoever seeks to save his soul will lose it, but whoever loses his soul for my sake will find it.” When the Spirit wins, the self loses. When the self loses, eternal life is seen as the reality of our lives all along.

The way to win is to lose. The way to live is to die. The first shall be last and the last first. The greatest is the servant of all. That is the way of the spiritual life. As Saint Francis is reported to have prayed, “For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. And it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” Amen.