Battles

Disclaimer: All of these are from the book, "Warrior of the Light A Manual", by Paulo Coelho.

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You can recognize a Warrior of the Light by the look in his eye. Warriors of the Light are in the world, they form part of the world, and they were sent into the world without saddlebags or sandals. They are often cowardly. They do not always act correctly.

Warriors of the Light are wounded by the most foolish things, they worry about trivialities, they believe themselves incapable of growing. Warriors of the Light sometimes believe themselves unworthy of any blessing or miracle.

Warriors of the light often ask themselves what they are doing here. Often they find their lives meaningless.

That is why they are Warriors of the Light. Because they fail. Because they ask questions. Because they keep looking for a meaning. And, in the end, they will find it.

- * -

The Breviary of Medieval Knights says:

"The spiritual energy of the Path uses justice and patience to prepare your spirit.

"This is the Path of the Knight: A path that is at once easy and difficult, because it forces one to set aside trivial things and chance friendships. That is why, at first, many hesitate to follow it.

"This is the first teaching of the Knights: You will erase everything you had written in the book of your life up until now: restlessness, uncertainty, lies. And in the place of all this you will write the word courage. By beginning the journey with that word and continuing with faith in God, you will arrive wherever you need to arrive."

- * -

The Warrior rarely knows the result of a battle when the battle is over.

The activity of fighting will have generated an enormous amount of energy around him and there is always a moment of victory and defeat are equally possible. Time will tell who won and who lost, but he knows that, from that moment on, he can do nothing more. The fate of that battle lies in God's hands.

At such moments, the Warrior of the Light is not concerned with results. He examines his heart and asks: "Did I fight the Good Fight?" If the answer is "yes", he can rest. If the answer is "no", he takes up his sword and begins training all over again.