Man in the TRUE Arena

Monday, January 31, 2011

In 1910, Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the U.S. said the following:

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” -excerpted from CITIZENSHIP IN A REPUBLIC “The Man In The Arena” ,Speech at the Sorbonne ,Paris, France ,April 23, 1910

The ‘arenas’ in life are often public, visible and glamorous places- places where the victors receive laurel wreaths with the cheers and admiration of the masses. There are other arenas, however, more hidden, more clandestine, and absolutely private. These are arenas where men and women enter with no foe other than themselves. These are the places where battles are waged with the contestant emerging as both winner and loser, knowing victory and defeat, gain and loss.

There are bold souls who will wage war against foreign armies with valiancy and heart, but few men will wage war with an enemy so domestic and ‘friendly’ as himself. A fiercer contest no man has ever known. A greater foe no man has faced. Even in warring against evil itself man has greater hope- darkness does not know him like he knows himself. For in every advance against self there are troops arrayed to counter the maneuver. For every retreat there are advances stealing soil that has been lost. Every move is mirrored. Every tactic countered. The generals in this war know every strategy of their foe, every minute affection, every weakness, and every opportunity for defeat.

In this battle men writhe within themselves. They receive and inflict internal blows. Men torture themselves, imprison themselves and make treaties with themselves, which they never intend to keep. So fierce a battle is amplified by it’s arena. Contained in the unseen arena of the heart the tumult is profound, unseen, but profound. The battle reports are seen in nuanced expressions, front line reports delivered in tear-stained groans and written in headlines of silence and pain. Like a cosmic battle contained inside the locket of the heart, the battle rages almost bursting from its holding place. And yet, the battle is often waged quietly. Like a guerrilla war fought against one’s self. Enemy lines crossed. Snares enabled. Land mines placed. Snipers positioned. There are moments of cease fire that whisper of peace, but they are designed only to draw the foe into the open.

The man in that arena knows nothing of valiant effort. He knows only pain- the pain of victory and defeat. If he wins, he loses. If he loses, he does not win. Like a madman taking his own life, he battles. He inflicts the death blow and then bandages the wounded foe that he may rise to fight again. The man who has been in that arena knows the pain and loss of valiant effort against a familiar foe.

When will victory come? When will the war be over? When will the battle cease? Bitterly, both enemy and friend are vivified from the same source. The heart gives life to both. As long as man himself has breath, man himself will be at war. One day breath will cease and the battle will end. Man will have breathed his last on the dusty floor of his own heart. His face will be marred by sweat and blood and THEN the battle will end.

There is a cold timidness in man which retreats from the GREAT battle, a passivity in man drawing him only to visible foes. There is cowardice in man which wages war against giants, but wrestles not with self. The true arena is the heart. The true battle is within. The true victory is gained in defeat. A man who wages war against self will know both victory and defeat. But the man who merely battles giants may miss the truth that in doing so, he has lost the real war.

Comments

Anonymous | February 01 2011 at 6:30 pm

Please give us more truth such as this. This needs to be preached to all the so-called modern day churches. Victory through Jesus Christ our Lord!

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