We remember the opening scene of the 1970 film ‘Waterloo’ on account of the boots. They belong to Napoleon’s marshals. They make their way to the Emperor and persuade him he must go. Reluctantly, the conqueror who had done the impossible and installed himself in Moscow, complied. It was a great cinematic episode.
Napoleon had a flair for spotting talent. Ney, Soult and the rest were highly capable commanders. Even Grouchy, who signally failed to do what had to be done at Waterloo, deserved his place at the top table. Napoleon looked after his subordinates; they trusted him.
Something like the same was true of King David. One incident illuminates this. We read that David in a quiet moment was longing for a drink of water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. He must have voiced his longing. Three of his commanders heard this and made their way through the Philistine lines and brought the water to David. But he would not drink it. ‘The Lord forbid that I should do such a thing! Can I drink the blood of these men who went at the risk of their lives?’ (2 Samuel 23) No other commanders, we are told, surpassed these three.
Martial prowess had its place in the story of David’s fight against the Philistines. It had its place, too, in the days of King Alfred. At some point the exercise of power may require the use of force and that is true of a good cause as well as a bad. The Christian faith has found itself tempted by this, in its songs as well as its policies. Contemporary songs sometimes have military vapourings of a fantasy nature and we need to be aware of this.
But comradeship remains. On a games field, in a political campaign, in a company endeavour, exertion to achieve an objective brings its own reward. When we talk of companions in this connection, we are talking of those who eat bread together. You couldn’t have got a cigarette paper between them.
It is no easy task to disentangle a Gospel of peace and reconciliation from the history that gave it its birth. But history, even the history of religion, comes from what is often a brutal and bitter surrounding. We have to see our heroes in that light. The crusading trap is always with us. More to the point, we have to look for the surge in the depths rather than the wavelets on the surface.
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