Peace...

Comes with a price...

Comes at a cost...

Must needs be fought for at times, with violence...with forethought...with precise planning...

Soldiers sent into battle zones do not arrive without their ordnance, without backup in the form of Air Support...they arrive knowing that in order to maintain or enforce peace, violence is necessary...

Peace must be our first and last thoughts...and the journey to achieving this state of mind, state of being can be fraught with pitfalls, with battles fought and lost, fought and won...

There will be days peace seems unachievable, a pipe dream...

There will be moments of despair, of body hitting the ground then standing once again to dust off the battle grime and begin once more with fortitude, with grace, with courage of the ages and the love of those few buoying your steps as you walk through bullets, missiles zinging, buzzing, past your ears...

I am surrounded by love...I am engulfed in grace and mercy and compassion...

I am gifted with kindnesses, with words of affirmation and encouragement and this soldier stands once more...this soldier walks steadily into battle knowing that while hurt and pain may come from all round me, I am loved...I take each one with me to stand by my side...

I take those who have passed from this life onto a most gloriously joyful existence with me...

The battle my friends, does not end with distance...it does not end with separation and time...I am sorry to say, sorrier to be a witness to the decrepit, evil nature within the beast that seeks to constantly and consistently take from you...the supposed pyschological torture they perform in an attempt to strike you down mentally, emotionally, even physically, does not end until we stand and fight and say...NO MORE...

No more will you take from me...no more will you steal from me...

I will fight to my last breath...this is what is needed to enforce peace when in dealings with the mind of a toddler seeking destruction, seeking power...

You see dear hearts, that black hole inside their souls needs ceaseless, sustained feeding to hold the monumental shame at bay...the false ego will go to great lengths to protect itself...

The answer will never be to hide our heads in the sand...to ignore in the hopes it just goes away...to turn the other cheek...oh no...I firmly believe that God was not talking about turning the other cheek to evil deeds, horrifically torturous f*ckery...we're talking about a God of vengeance here my friends, a God who understands violence, understands the need to stand against those who would steal from the innocent, from the weak and infirm.

"He put on righteousness as his breastplate,

and the helmet of salvation on his head;

he put on the garments of VENGEANCE

and wrapped himself in zeal as in a coak.

According to what they have done,

so will He REPAY

wrath to his enemies

and retribution to this foes;

he will rpay the islands their due.

From the west, men will fear the name of the Lord,

and from the rising of the sun, they will

revere his glory.

For he will come like apent-up flood

that the breath of the Lord drives along." Isaiah 59:17-19

Let us go today and each day forward ready for battle but living in grace and mercy, giving out kindnesses and compassion...

May you be blessed with the heart of a lion and the soul of a poet...may your steps take you into battle and back out again for rest, for supply...may your steps lead you to a land of plenty and of peace gained through fortitude in the face of an feared enemy...

May God bless your days and your nights with strength, with courage, with wisdom...

May He wrap you up in the arms of love, in arms that surround in the direst of storms...

His children...His creation...worthy of more, worthy of love...