“Ponder Well” (1 Corinthians 15:24-28; Revelation 16:11-20; Matthew 24:1-14) [Sun Tzu chapter 8-7]

So “Ponder well” or “Meditate”;
“Consider well”, “Investigate”;
“Don’t lightly take” the subject here,
Until it comes to you quite clear.

One bloke laid down his thoughts on this –
“In long-run, troops will get no bliss
From failure on the battlefield,
Or war prolonged, which these five yield”.

It’s still not clear – translators view
These five as “Sins”, “Faults”, “Failings” too;
“Mistakes” one makes, or “Traits built in”;
Who knows? Who cares? They cannot win.

Unless, of course, the other team
Is also cursed with harm, which means
A question of which flaw is worse,
If one could choose one’s favorite curse?

They all agree calamity,
Disaster’s there for all to see;
Destruction’s great; commander dies;
And army’s crushed where leader lies.

So which is worse? “Timidity”?
“Quick temper”? Or “Fragility”?
“Concern for men”? Or “Carelessness”?
Who’d lose to other team’s success?

Such is the world of battlefield;
Incompetence will always yield
Results not wished for; but I hunch
The winner’s King – at home, for lunch.

For Army’s just a group of folks
Conscripted, conned, to be the blokes
Who train, then bash each other’s brains
For Kings, who through this stay the same.

There are no winners in a war,
That’s not what “Spring campaigns” are for –
Blood-letting is political;
Effects are quite ephemeral.

Lord, satan’s having last laugh here;
To You, he’s not – that much is clear –
“So take the long view, daughters, sons;
In end I win – My war’s not done.

Thanks Lord for this.

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