A meme floating around the Internet for years claims that men think about the Roman Empire every day to avoid thinking about their feelings.
That may be true, though I more often find myself thinking about two other ancient groups of mighty men, and a third a little closer to our own era.
The first group that occupies my thoughts is David’s “mighty men,” whose deeds and exploits are recounted in two different books of the Bible. They are sometimes called “the Thirty” in First Chronicles, despite 37 individuals being named explicitly in Second Samuel.
Whatever their actual number, what is indisputable is their faithful role in protecting David and their nation. They put service to God ahead of their own comfort and safety. In one instance, Eleazar kept fighting while the rest of the army fled. He single-handedly killed enough Philistines to turn the battle, drawing back those warriors who had previously exited the battlefield.
And, of course, among their number was Uriah, husband of Bathsheba. The king had an affair with her. To cover it up, King David used Uriah’s honor, integrity, and loyalty against him. David placed Uriah into a hopeless battlefield situation where he was, in fact, killed.
The point is less about David, for my purposes today, than Uriah. David’s sin does not negate Uriah’s sense of service to a cause greater than himself. Uriah was faithful, even if his king was not.
Half a millennium later, we find another band of brave men at the Battle of Thermopylae. There, a small Greek force, some 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, held off an invading Persian army of hundreds of thousands. While the defenders were eventually overrun, their action bought time for Greece’s allies to regroup and prepare for key victories. It is one of the most studied actions in history, demonstrating, in an almost textbook manner, the power people can find within themselves when defending something they love.
That certainly was the case on October 2, 1835, but with a different outcome. On that day, the people of Gonzales went toe to toe with professional soldiers from the Mexican army who had come to retrieve the town’s cannon.
With a united voice, the people of Gonzales had said, tauntingly, COME AND TAKE IT.
The people won the ensuing battle, kept their cannon, and inspired the cause of independence in Texas.
Most of us are not called to stand against mighty forces. We won’t be asked to physically block invaders or defend our town’s walls. We can, though, learn a lot from the mindset of those who put their lives on the line for something greater than themselves.
Perhaps, if we each reflected more on the difficult decisions of our forebears, we would be less consumed by the trivialities of modern living. Rather than engage in petty squabbles, we should each be more concerned with the quality of the republic we leave for our posterity.
P.S. And, let’s be honest, ancient battles involving swords and cannons are far more interesting and meaningful than social media spats over hurt feelings among the Karens and Chads of the HOA.
