This newsletter is being written over what in the United States is Memorial Day weekend. One way to honor those who gave their lives for us is to commemorate what they fought for, especially since we, the living, are fighting for it as well. It may seem odd to have to ask “why we fight,” but during World War II the U.S. government felt it necessary to produce a series of documentary films under that title to instruct G.I.’s. The real fight is an ongoing historical struggle over centuries, of which wars, even world wars, are visible outbreaks. The ultimate location of that struggle is the human mind. The final stanza of William Blake’s famous hymn “And did those feet in ancient time,” often known as “Jerusalem,” says, “I will not cease from Mental Fight / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand / Till we have built Jerusalem.” What is it, then, that we are fighting for?
June 2, 2023
June 2, 2023
June 2, 2023
This newsletter is being written over what in the United States is Memorial Day weekend. One way to honor those who gave their lives for us is to commemorate what they fought for, especially since we, the living, are fighting for it as well. It may seem odd to have to ask “why we fight,” but during World War II the U.S. government felt it necessary to produce a series of documentary films under that title to instruct G.I.’s. The real fight is an ongoing historical struggle over centuries, of which wars, even world wars, are visible outbreaks. The ultimate location of that struggle is the human mind. The final stanza of William Blake’s famous hymn “And did those feet in ancient time,” often known as “Jerusalem,” says, “I will not cease from Mental Fight / Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand / Till we have built Jerusalem.” What is it, then, that we are fighting for?