Shiny Guns and Spiritual Swordplay

I've got a new thought, but to understand the significance of it, I must first explain an older thought, by way of an allegory.

There was a civilization, not much different from our own. Except that everyone wore guns on their belts. These guns were their knowlege; these guns were their "brains". And into these guns were placed bullets. So as you grew, you attained more and more bullets to put into your guns. There was an unspoken policy in the community that the guns were never to be fired. The focus was to remain on the bullets of knowledge, not on the guns themselves.

Then one day someone had a revelation of sorts; a word just popped into his head. Truth. He began to think of his bullets, not as knowledge, but as truth. But as he explored these thoughts he found they conflicted with the knowledge of others. And while this confused him at first, eventually his confusion turned into frustration, which led to anger and action. While at a knowledge sharing event in the city, he unholstered his guns, took aim, and fired. His knowledge was truth, and all those who disagreed must see the light or be destroyed. The people of the community acted in the same way we would act, unholstering their guns and taking defensive positions, which led to a belief in their own knowledge as truth. Soon people walked the streets, guns in hand, ready to attack or be attacked at any moment. The schools that once spent their time sharing bullets of knowledge, began building weapons of Truth. The bullets remained the same, but the guns got much bigger. Soon armies were formed, made up of those who agreed on a certain truth, and the whole civilization was thrown into a civil war; not over borders, but over the definition of truth.

A small group saw something was wrong. They knew that any person raising their guns was not the right thing to do. So they ran. And out in the hills they found a cave. They descended into the depths of the cave, and after stumbling about in the darkness for some time, they came upon one of the Truths. They fashioned it into a weapon, since this was how they saw knowledge, and built a monastary in the cave to protect it.

After many years another group descended into the cave, and there, found the monastary. Around a fire, the monks told the story of where they came from and the Truth they had found, and now gaurded. They led the travelers back into the monastary, and showed them the Truth. It was a gun, with only one bullet. When asked what the gun represented, the Monks responded in unison. "The Greatest of These is Love". They could not explain further. What "these" were, they had no idea. But what their home had forgotten was this Truth. That Love will not raise its guns, no matter the cost.

At these words, the leader of the order threw off his cloak. His body showed the signs of the war. Scars all over his body; but that is not what shocked the travelers. It was his guns. They had never been used; never pulled from their holsters. Shiny. He told them how the greatest power is not found in your knowledge, but in your Love. To stand against bullets of false truth, and hatred. This is where True strength is found. And his word to them was, as they continued to explore the caves of Truth, to have Love be their weapon, and not their guns. For guns have no other purpose, but to destroy; where Love, has the power to do anything.

This is a story that has been in my head for some time. I've just never actually written it down. A new picture came into my head, by way of my ponderings on this story. Swords versus Guns. I have had many interesting talks and debates that played out like a sword fight. There is something elegant in swordplay; there is a control. Then I started thinking about Guns. There are very few similarities between a gun fight and a sword fight. But the biggest difference, for me, is you can't "practice" a gun fight. It's BANG!! And one of you is down. I started seeing my discussions as swordplay. Asserting my views without "going for the kill". A good offensive step there; an excellant block there. The two with the swords are both honing their skills. Of course, there must be an understanding between them, to keep the "foil tips" on. And that can be difficult, when the "mental" adreneline gets going.

But that's where I'm at. I still have Guns. And they have lots of bullets in there. And I must not use them no matter how much I'd like to some times. But I am allowed to fence. It is safe for us to fence. It is good for us to fence. We strengthen the things we believe; we find weakness in things we believe; we learn and grow through the act of spiritual swordplay.