The Life of the Warrior

Throughout their life 

battlefields change 

fronts move—

but the battle remains

They began in the struggle 

for their own soul

which they won 

through the sacrifice of another life 

There, the warrior learns 

the strategy of victory 

in this spiritual warfare

To win,

one must surrender

not to the enemy

but to the will 

of the Victor

And so the warrior lives 

with surrender as strength 

not a yielding of courage 

but the sharpening of it 

Learning that victory 

is not a single moment 

rather a lifetime of returning 

to the One who fought for them 

And when the final hour does come 

they will not fall in defeat 

they will simply lay down the weapons 

they no longer need 

They will step across the threshold 

into the hands 

that carried them 

all along 

For the warrior’s death 

is not the end of the battle—

It is the moment they discover 

the war was already won  

Yet, they will die

still in the struggle—

for the struggle itself 

was the joyous labor 

of their life 

The life 

of the warrior 

© Ron Simpson Jr.