A Fighters Heart

(Somewhat on faith, somewhat a general thought...)


Cormac McCarthy wrote a book called Blood Meridian in which the character
of the judge makes an argument that war is the most essential of
human activities. He starts by saying that men are born for games, and
that everybody, even children, know that "play is nobler than work." If
that is true, says the judge, then what changes the quality of the game
but the stakes? And what could be a more valuable stake than your
life? So war, the game you play with your life, is the greatest of human
endeavors.

In that same argument the judge says that "war is God" because
it is the test of wills between two parties. Moral law is subjective, and
man must submit before the "higher court," which will provide a conclusive
decision. In a fight, the truth will out.

When I read this , it really bothered me , and I spent a few minutes
reading and rereading the argument. And then I saw the fatal flaw
in the judge's logic, and read on with an easy mind.

I do not believe that men were meant for games, that that is their
highest purpose. Work is nobler than play. I believe that men were
meant for work, that their highest calling is to build, not destroy or
even protect. Learning to fight, trying to embody the virtues of the
hunter and warrior-these things are useful and important, even
essential. But don't be content with being a warrior, be a builder as well.
Make something. The true calling of man, real manhood, is about creation,
not destruction, and everyone secretly knows it.

- Sam Sheridan
"A Fighters Heart"
Atlantic Monthly Press
2007

In this great book about one man's quest to travel the world and understand the inner make-up of a modern warrior through his adventures in Muay Thai, MMA, Boxing, and Dogfighting...I was shocked to read this, his last sentence.  It was so powerful that it made me cry.

 I love martial arts and the sport of the fight.  I served in the Marines and trained to do what was necessary in combat.  I have felt the glory of downing an opponent in a street fight more than once.  None of that compares to the feeling I got when my children were born.  God did not make man to be a destroyer.  He made us to be tiny images of himself, givers of life to new creations.  We fell in the garden and our nature has been marred by a desire to tear down the things around us ever since.

I am not opposed to the art of fighting or to people practicing boxing, MMA, etc...I think that we men must find a healthy outlet to express the genetic nature that we have, right or wrong.  I just hope that all warriors out there can remember to be warrior-poets...men who fight well, but who remember that fighting takes a second place to building and creating.