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And he is always very careful about what he thinks.
Jesus said: “Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.” When the Warrior takes on a commitment, he keeps his word.
Those who make promises they do not keep lose their self-respect and feel ashamed of their actions. These people spend their lives in constant flight; they expend far more energy on coming up with a series of excuses to take back what they said than the Warrior of the Light does in honoring his commitments.
Sometimes he too takes on a foolish commitment which will in some way harm him. He does not repeat this mistake, but he nevertheless keeps his word and pays the price for his own impulsiveness.
When he wins a battle, the Warrior celebrates.
This victory has cost him anxious moments, nights racked with doubt, endless days of waiting. Since ancient times, celebrating a triumph has been part of the ritual of life itself. Celebration is a rite of passage.
His companions see the Warrior of the Light’s joy and think: “Why is he doing that? He might be disappointed in his next battle. He might draw down on himself the wrath of his enemy.”
But the Warrior knows why he is celebrating. He is savoring the best gift that victory can bring: confidence.
He celebrates yesterday’s victory in order to gain more strength for tomorrow’s battle.
One day, for no apparent reason, the Warrior realizes that he does not feel the same enthusiasm for the fight that he used to.
He continues to do what he has always done, but every gesture seems meaningless. At such a time, he has only one choice: to continue fighting the Good Fight. He says his prayers out of duty or fear or whatever, but he does not abandon the path.
He knows that the angel of the One who inspires him has simply wandered off somewhere. The Warrior keeps his attention focused on the battle and he perseveres, even when everything seems utterly pointless. The angel will soon return and the merest flutter of his wings will restore the Warrior’s joy to him.
A Warrior of the Light shares with others what he knows of the path.
Anyone who gives help also receives help and needs to teach what he has learned. That is why he sits by the fire and recounts his day on the battlefield.
A friend whispers: “Why talk so openly about your strategy? Don’t you realize that, by doing so, you run the risk of sharing your conquests with others?”
The Warrior merely smiles and says nothing. He knows that if, at the end of his journey, he arrives to find an empty paradise, his struggle will have been a waste of time.
The Warrior of the Light has learned that God uses solitude to teach us how to live with other people.
He uses rage to show us the infinite value of peace. He uses boredom to underline the importance of adventure and spontaneity.
God uses silence to teach us to use words responsibly. He uses tiredness so that we can understand the value of waking up. He uses illness to underline the blessing of good health.
God uses fire to teach us about water. He uses earth to explain the value of air. He uses death to show us the importance of life.
The Warrior of the Light gives before he is asked.
Seeing this, some of his companions say: “If someone wants something, they’ll ask for it.”
But the Warrior knows that there are many people who simply cannot bring themselves to ask for help. Alongside him live people with such fragile hearts that love becomes a sickness; they are starving for affection and yet are ashamed to show it.
The Warrior gathers these people around the fire, he tells stories, shares his food, drinks with them. The following day, everyone feels better.
Those who look on other people’s misery with indifference are the most miserable of all.
If the strings of an instrument are always taut, they go out of tune.
Warriors who spend all their time training lose their spontaneity in battle. Horses that are always jumping fences end up breaking a leg. Bows that are bent all day no longer shoot arrows with the same force.
That is why, even if he is not in the mood, the Warrior of the Light tries to enjoy the small everyday things of life.
The Warrior of the Light listens to Lao Tzu when he says that we should let go of the idea of days and hours in order to pay more attention to the moment.
Only in this way can the Warrior resolve certain problems before they occur; by focusing on the small things, he manages to avoid larger calamities.
