Name of the game - Resilience.
So, my friends, these are my gleanings from the racecourse of life that I'm not competing in, but racing on a parallel course that goes through the sidelines, competing from the shadows, that you know nothing about. I'm my own competition, timing my laps, girding my sword of wisdom and pressing forward.
The enchanting darkness of privacy, where you can't see the other side.
It's a high risk - high reward path, but nevertheless I shudder the nervousness, 'cause my God, the Creator of Heaven and Earth is with me.
I'm in my stealthy outfit, black on black, nothing to lose, no one to prove anything to, only a pursuit to see the end of things.
Brutality is a mandatory episode that comes for me in the darkness, but again a hedge of divine protection saves the day and I press forward, hoping for the Red Sea to part, calling on to the Creator in every dead end, surrounded by perils unseen, covert and deathly.
I don't deal in lies; infact I go the very opposite direction wherein I swim with the brutality of esoteric truth. The narrow river channel to the ocean, not forgetting the lessons I learnt in the constricted path of the rivers.
Yet I press forward.
My confidence is in the Invisible God, the God of the Torah, who keeps me unscathed, who effortlessly brings to nothing the plans of many wicked.
The God of the valleys and the God of the hills.
He's limitless, unquantifiable, righteous, ever loving and truly a generous king, who upholds my steps and keeps me from stumbling in my most drowsy fatigued moments of going through these dark waters.
We, the human race, are great in prosperity, but lack character in adversity, capitalized upon and sold a dream, a puff of vapor we reap, with the superficial seeds we plant.
I learnt we must visualize this existence outside of time and space.
Circumstance and other variables can't really conquer you, death is the only fatal outcome, which is life in the Torah, if you die for being righteous.
Pleasing the Creator with all your Heart, Soul and Might inevitably develops character. Our choices in accordance with the Torah tether us to the path of righteousness, where all our choices are set-apart from the world around us.
In our dark times, which will be many, as King Solomon said, we must choose life, we must choose instruction that will keep us afloat and save us from many troubles.
I view time as a scale, circumstances fade in and fade out, but the character I display in the worst times and if I manage to survive with the least scars after being mauled on every side, truly determines if I've made it big or not.
Success is relative.
If standing against tyranny and oppression gives me greater satisfaction, I'd rather do that then.
I know my Creator will provide me with the best of the land's produce when I'm mature enough to handle the blessings He entrusts me with for stewardship.
I learnt in my dark times, as I have earlier witnessed in the Israeli martial art called Krav-Maga, when my backs against the wall and I'm thrown to the ground, being kicked relentlessly by people much powerful than me, to bury me alive...
What do I do?
I pause, I tighten my core, I close in and take all the shots and I pray like Samson I'd be reestablished one last time, to take down the entire castle of the 3000 Philistines with me.
If I prematurely try doing too much while I'm on the ground, I'd have ruptured organs and internal bleeding, which is fine if I managed to cause maximum damage to the opposition, but if not...
I center all my energy in surviving the dark moments, in peace and quiet, while they stomp at me with all they've got.
Patiently waiting for my turn.
The Come Back.
It's never really over till you're dead.
Each day is a new life to get back stronger, dig deeper and build taller.
I've been taught to not go down without putting up a fight. We must die trying.
The land of Israel had to war it out after a traumatic bout in the Holocaust, to acquire the homeland promised to us. We were surrounded on every side by enemies outnumbering us like sand on the seashore.
But little Israel prevailed, defying all laws of Physics.
The only strategy being, guerilla warfare and ultra offense, and above all Trust in the promise of the Most High, despite the circumstance enveloping us, knowing He keeps His promises, we can conquer.
"A single man of you would put a thousand to flight, for HASHEM your God Himself has been fighting for you, as He promised you."
Keep pressing forward against the swarming armies of opposition and don't let the fire within you be quenched.
Sparks fly, and so do the enemies, when they can't handle the heat and the God that backs the children of Israel.
The six day war was a legendary feat, made possible only by the Creator backing an outnumbered and exhausted army on the brink of annihilation. The victory was flawless and Israel was yet unconquered by the mighty enemies it lives among till this day.
We are called settlers by the delusional enemies we're surrounded by. I'd rather rephrase and say that we're anything but settlers. We never settle for any other land but the one we conquered in the Creator's strength. We never settle for physical rewards only, we consider it a partial deal, without the spiritual promise of returning to our Creator in the epicenter of the scriptures, the arrow tip of the human race.
The Land of Israel.
We're sojourners in the world, waiting for an eternal kingdom, where death is unbeknownst.
A small note containing the template that I would like to hand you from the shadows.
The Creator didn't get you so far for nothing. But the Creator got your very powerful enemy this far to destroy him, not forgetting the destruction of his army alongside. Just Like Pharaoh.
All Peace.
Praise Hashem.
Spark to Flame, it's all the same.