The Battle Between Good & Evil

We think of the battle between good and evil as something epic, something for the comic books or history books. A great hero fights a monster to the death. A great alliance fights a great evil and barely wins. We think Tolkien and WW II.

But I think the battle is fought, lost or won, in a much quieter place, a place where glory lives only in disguise, if it lives there at all.

The bad guys of history and literature are made, not born. They start out as warm and bright-eyed as the baby I'm rocking now. Bad guys are made when the weak are not defended, when no one runs to the aid of a helpless child who is being bullied or beaten. The difference between a hero and a villain is often a single friend.

So the work you're doing now? The long talks over cocoa more than the Latin, the stories told in the dark more than the grammar—these acts do more to win the Battle than an army ever will. Raising your children is an act of fortification, and when they have grown into Defenders of the Good, your work is multiplied. Every lonely person they befriend, every child they raise, every good deed they do is a victory, a flag raised, ground taken.

The epic battle between good and evil? It's fought at the dinner table, in the locker room, offices, homes, and quiet corners of the world where one person is willing to reach out with human hands to touch the hurting.