{"id":1464,"date":"2011-09-15T14:36:03","date_gmt":"2011-09-15T12:36:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/warriorshepherd.com\/blog\/?p=1464"},"modified":"2012-03-01T17:23:01","modified_gmt":"2012-03-01T15:23:01","slug":"a-battle-to-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/warriorshepherd.com\/blog\/a-battle-to-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"A Battle to Fight"},"content":{"rendered":"

I wrote a post<\/a> last week about Chris Jeon, a UCLA student who decided it would be a good idea to go to Libya to fight in the revolution there, without any training or (seeming) forethought.<\/p>\n

I was surprised by the reaction I received; the majority of feedback I received thought this guy was more “hero” than “idiot.”<\/p>\n

But it makes sense. Chris needed a battle to fight. And to him, it was worth a one-way ticket and possibly his life. <\/p>\n

\"RenaissancePhoto credit:Watt Dabney<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

The Call To Duty<\/h2>\n

Why did Chris take this huge step? <\/p>\n

Why do hundreds of young adults go on adventurous service trips to third world nations each year*? <\/p>\n

Why has the video game series “Call To Duty” (where a player runs around shooting enemies in realistic wartime situations) been the best selling video game for the past two years? <\/p>\n

Why is AirSoft gaining thousands of participants, where boys run around shooting plastic BBs at each other with more tactical gear on than many real-life soldiers?<\/p>\n

It’s the Call… inside all of us.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Battle<\/h2>\n

I was recently reminded of a John Eldredge quote (Thanks Nate) from his book Wild at Heart<\/a>\"\" <\/p>\n

\n\u201cA man needs a battle to fight; he needs a place for the warrior in him to come alive and be honored, trained, seasoned. If we can reawaken that fierce quality in a man, hook it up to a higher purpose, release the warrior within, then the boy can grow up and become truly masculine.\u201d \u2013 John Eldredge\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We Can’t All Fly to Libya…<\/h2>\n

So what are men supposed to do? I don’t recommend that we drop what we’re doing and join the latest armed rebellions around the world. But we can do something, such as… <\/p>\n