This sermon was inspired by Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind.

Two warriors, a man and a woman, both honorable and brave, walked with a sage from his house a short distance into the woods. They came upon two young maple trees. The thinner tree was a bit thinner than the woman's wrist, while the thicker tree was a bit thicker than the man's wrist. The sage stopped them and gave to the woman a fine new sword. It was heavy, and it drooped until its point touched the ground.

The sage told the woman the story of the trees. He said that the thicker tree was planted by the same evil one who had tortured, violated, and murdered her parents and her sister. The evil one had planted the thicker of the two trees to mark the sage's house because the evil one knew that she would seek the sage's help. The evil one would know when they were gathered there, and he would return and do the same to them as he had done to her family.

As the sage spoke, the woman's face became stormy with dark emotions. Her darkness turned to anger, her anger turned to rage, and the sword seemed to grow lighter so that she could wield it easily. The sage ordered her to cut down the evil one's tree so that the evil one would not be able to find them. She gave the sword a mighty swing, and it cut through the tree like a hot knife through butter. Then she sank to her knees and covered her face with her hands as she wept for her parents and her sister.

The man had compassion for the woman, and he boldly confronted the sage. Having known the sage for many years, he knew that in fact the sage had planted the two trees in memory of his own wife and daughter who had also fallen to the evil one. The sage admitted that he was correct and told the man to take his turn with the new sword and cut down the thinner tree so that they could return to his house and eat lunch.

Now, in addition to grieving for her family, the woman was crushed by remorse for having killed the young maple tree that represented the sage's wife. Confused and annoyed, the man gave the sword a mighty swing, but it did not even touch the thinner young maple. He tried again and again, but he was unable even to scratch the bark.

Question: Who would you be more afraid of - a two-hundred-pound man who wants to steal your baby and knows he is doing wrong, or a one-hundred-pound woman who believes - wrongly, but believes with all her heart - that you stole her baby? Answer: The woman is more powerful. She wouldn't give up. She wouldn't listen to reason. She would be capable of anything.

Power and Its Cost

In the parable of two trees, the difference between the effectiveness of the sword when wielded by the woman and its effectiveness when wielded by the man illustrates the power of intent. The woman believed the tree was evil; the man knew the tree was innocent. Reality isn't relevant; perception is everything. If you think it is the enemy, you can destroy it, whether it is in fact the enemy or not. What you truly believe, not the truth of your thoughts, is the determining factor.

But power is not without cost. If you are uncertain, you could kill a friend or fail to kill an enemy. Even if you are certain, and killing is the only choice and must be classified as the right thing to do, it is a terrible thing. You live with it always, and once done, it cannot be undone. You pay a price within yourself; the act diminishes you for having done it. You suffer the pain of seeing in yourself all your own evil, all your own shortcomings, all the things you don't like to see in yourself or admit are there. And you see the good in the one you have killed. This cost is both physical and spiritual.

The woman could cut down the tree because she thought she was right, even though the tree was innocent. And she paid the price as she knelt on the ground weeping with her face in her hands and felt as if her heart would surely break.

Good and Evil; Right and Wrong

This cost, this physical and spiritual pain, this diminishing of the self, occurs because there is no such thing as pure good or pure evil. In the best of us, there are thoughts or deeds that are wicked, and in the worst of us there is at least some virtue. The evil one does not commit crimes against humanity and the earth or violate human rights in a random fashion. He always has a reason that to him is justification. Every murderer thinks the victim needed killing. Whoever wins will think he was in the right, whereas the loser will always believe himself wronged. Thus do adversaries share the same perception in the sense that they both believe they are right.

But in every other way, they are different. The evil one savors bleeding the life from people. He hungers for their pain. His perception of right is twisted into an all-consuming self-serving lust to torture all opposition into submission, and he considers any who do not rush to bow before him as opposition. His conscience is clear; he finds pleasure in the doing because his distorted perception of right gives him license.

Offense and Defense

Rage is the only armor you have against that physical and spiritual pain you suffer which is the price you pay when you use your power. It is an adaptive response in adversarial situations because it gives a measure of protection to the source of your power. To deny your rage is to go naked before the enemy. The stronger the enemy, the more power you use, and the greater the pain - but the stronger the rage, the stronger the shield, and the less you are vulnerable to his power. Rage makes you care less about the truth of what you have done. In some cases, it is strong enough that you do not feel the pain - but the cost is still there. (Are you willing to pay it, sheeple? He is.)

However, rage is only the armor; it is not the weapon. As shown in the parable of the two trees, your power comes from your perception, your intent. You use that power to deploy your weapons. Your weapons are your heart and your mind.

Winning

Strengthen your heart with love and compassion and your mind with inspiration and knowledge, and learn to synthesize these to empower your perception and intent. If from that synthesis you are truly convinced - even moreso than your enemy - that your cause is just, then your perception and intent will have more power. But you will not have all the power. You are going to get hurt and you are going to get dirty. So don't forget your suit of armor; wrap your rage around your power. And be sure to put your healers on red alert because it is an eternal war, and his rage is great, his weapons are powerful, and his healers are effective.

Do not underestimate the enemy. He is not stupid, and he understands your weapons. He has weapons, too; understand them even better than your own. He has no scruples or pride, so take full advantage of any weaknesses you can find. He has the power of his own perception and intent, and he has the conviction that he is right; therefore, your conviction must be stronger. He will make you think you are winning to lure you into complacency, and yet he is ever vigilant. He will use any trick to achieve his ends, so use his own weapons against him. Be ever mindful, as he is, that the objective is to win.