The War Zones

The Front Line

The theatre of war is everywhere and anywhere that we find ourselves. It is when we are walking down the street, driving in our cars, watching a movie, eating food, sitting in a class, hanging out with friends, and so on... But what about the front line? Every war has one. Traditionally the military line or the part of an army that is closest to the enemy is the front line. The same applies here. 

In a sense the front line is our whole being. This includes the body, the five bodily senses and the three faculties of the soul: the heart, mind and will. At times the battlefield is the body by way of physical urges, and at other times it’s in the mind and heart, but it is always in the will. Often the conflict is a tug of war between the mind or heart and a stubborn will. Plato eloquently talked about this tension by using an analogy of the archer and his bow. He said that it is like the hands of the archer which push and pull the bow at the same time. In this analogy, one hand is pushing with desire and the other hand is pulling with reason and restraint. This conflict between the two is the essence of unseen warfare. An active spiritual life through unseen warfare is the activity of learning how to find a harmonious balance.

This conflict starts in the mind with our thoughts. This is the ultimate front line. Here everything begins. St. Maximus the Confessor:

For the war which the demons wage against us by means of thoughts is more severe than the war they wage by means of material things.

 For this reason, the fighter in training must have as a primary objective, to observe and watch all thoughts. At the front line, if the fighter is standing in the watchtower, alert, operating as a gate keeper, the front line can be calm. Conversely, when one lets all thoughts in through the gate, the feelings start firing shots and quickly take the fighter captive.   

Now, for the beginner, the front line reaches its most extreme levels of conflict when we are intentionally still and silent. As the famous scientist, Blaise Pascal († AD 1662), put it so eloquently:

All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.

With activity and distractions, noise and constant images, the interior war is concealed by a false vail. When we enter a space alone, sit or stand quietly, and consciously try not to think or feel, the war quickly becomes magnified. Silence is that which proves our inner state.
It tells us very starkly about where we are with respect to God and those around us, that is if we are not terrified and run back to the distractions. 

When we stand our ground and fight with our thoughts and feelings, and utilize prayer as a shield, we can begin to see that all the thoughts that assail us are like bullets whizzing past our head and through our mind. We begin to feel like the emotions are like arrows that cut through the heart. 

In these moments we are under fire from all sides—from the right and left, from front and rear, and from below and above. Arrows from the right are when the enemies suggest soft sins; arrows from the left are when they try to lure us by direct sins; arrows from the front are when the enemies try to disturb us by thoughts and worries about the future; arrows from the rear are when they remind us of memories from the past; arrows from below are suggestions to completely abandon the fight. Lastly, arrows from above, which are totally unexpected, are sweet suggestions that we are great spiritual fighters and succeeding because of our own efforts.

In the volley of the attack, we are confronted with memories of the past, failed relationships, feelings of sadness, thoughts of things from the day, desires for various food and drink, thoughts of pleasure, thoughts about money and possessions, and various regrets and fears. Memories and images flicker in the mind of people, places, things, commercials, songs, videos, and experiences ranging from the silly, to the mundane, to the profane. Then after 5 minutes pass by, the fighter often invites boredom in to “save the day”. This is the fullest experience of being in the foxhole on the front line in unseen warfare.