I have just finished reading Edmund Morris’s two volume biography of Theordore Roosevelt. Roosevelt’s favorite poem was Henry Longfellow’s The Saga of King Olaf of which Morris placed an epigraph at the beginning of each chapter. One epigraph was:
Force rules the world still, Has ruled it, shall rule it; Meekness is weakness, Strength is triumphant!
Further on the poem continues this theme: “As King Olaf, onward sweeping, Preached the Gospel with his sword.”
Without a doubt, force does rule our world today. Billions are spend on weapons of war each year. Even those countries who have no designs on the territory of others are obligated to spend billions on weapons to defend themselves. We are so far from implementing the Beatitudes from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount one of which is: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” (Matthew 5:5 ESV).
Later in the poem, the voice of John the apostle speaks.
“Stronger than steel, Is the sword of the Spirit; Swifter than arrows, The light of the truth is, Greater than anger, Is love, and subdueth!
If Jesus and John’s words are true, why does force still rule the world? Is it that we have decided to utilize inferior weapons? Force does enable us to achieve desired results quicker but if people are persuaded against their will, the results will not last.
