A spiritual warrior takes care of his or her body and soul in order to be strong.  And a spiritual warrior knows what he or she stands for, refines it, and finds allies for the resistance.

A spiritual warrior develops “moral imagination” as the powerful resource it is to outwit the reptilian brain that often dominates in those greedy and hungry without end for power for power’s sake.

“All Nations Rise” song summoning indigenous peoples to spiritual warriorship. Composed and sung by Dr. Lyla June Johnston, musician, scholar, and community organizer of Diné (Navajo), Tsétsêhéstâhese (Cheyenne) and European lineages.

A spiritual warrior does not roll over and play dead; or throw up his/her hands in surrender; or adopt an “eat, drink and be merry because tomorrow we die” philosophy. 

A spiritual warrior heeds the wisdom of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who observed that action springs not from thought but from a readiness for responsibility…Silence in the face of evil is itself evil. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act. 

A spiritual warrior takes one’s responsibility seriously—but not lugubriously—and stays connected to the Via Positiva, drinking from its resources regularly. Such resources—gratitude, beauty, reverence, awe, wonder, a sense of the sacred–nurture one’s reason for being, carrying on and resisting.

As his world teeters on the brink of war, Bonhoeffer faces an impossible choice: hold fast to his moral convictions or risk everything to save millions of lives. Movie trailer by Angel Studios.

Thus a spiritual warrior takes on the camel persona (see my Antichrist book), pausing often at the water hole, the oasis, the Via Positiva, to fill one’s hump for the Via Negativa journey—the caravan trek through the desert of nothingness.

A spiritual warrior deepens his/her Yes (or mysticism). 

A spiritual warrior deepens his/her No (or prophetic side).

A spiritual warrior stays connected to the new creation story from science about cosmogenesis that offers a unified vision of the universe and humanity’s place in it.

Spiritual warriors find allies who together nourish themselves in solidarity on the joy and wonder and responsibility found therein, namely that we are part of a cosmic history of 13.8 billion years and two trillion galaxies and hundreds of billions of stars that has invited us here. For a purpose. 

Spiritual warriors know that purpose is common Joy and Justice which rain grace on our caravan (along with struggle and tribulation).

Creating common rituals, ceremonies, liturgies to give thanks and awaken that Joy and Imagination and Courage for Justice is integral to the spiritual warriors’ survival and nourishment along that journey.

Participants form a double spiral dance in a Cosmic Mass at the National Cathedral, Washington, D.C. Photo by Katy Gaughan.

The Cosmic Mass is a fine example of such nourishing rituals as I have witnessed and participated in for at least 28 years. We need many more Cosmic Masses at this time in history to build and nurture the spiritual warrior in us all.

The spiritual warrior recognizes the wisdom spoken by Thomas Berry: The human venture depends absolutely on this quality of awe and reverence and joy in the Earth and all that lives and grows upon the Earth….In the end the universe can only be explained in terms of celebration. It is all an exuberant expression of existence itself.

To be continued … visit Matthew Fox’s website here.