G.I. Joe …
A vast story line of women and men and their struggle to preserve the world, defend freedom, practice honor, and lift up the weary and the weak.
A remarkable pilgrimage through 50 years of story telling, where courage and hope shake hands, to form a dynamic partnership empowering the vision of good and decent world.
A world threatened by Cobra and similar forces bent upon domination and control, willing to destroy what they can’t have, and more than eager to take whatever they can, evil feeding upon the death of freedom, a curious madness of desire, that religions of various sorts might label “sin” - the darker elements of life present, perhaps, in all human beings, to some extent, and in some, reigning supreme.
The Bible says, in so many words, where there is sin, there is grace, and where there is sin all the more, grace all the more abounds.
This is the stuff of great story telling, and if religion can be characterized at all, I choose to call it Story.
Like any great story, from Melville’s Moby Dick, with Ahab’s fixation on a white whale, to the more popular writing of Edgar Rice Burroughs, with his Tarzan stories, and John Carter of Mars.
Joseph Conrad’s The Heart of Darkness, from which the film, Apocalypse Now was created … evil abounds, it’s all mixed up into the fabric of heat, despair, loneliness, and desire.
In my youth, the Western stories of Zane Grey - where the heroes are genuine men of valor, often misunderstood, putting their lives on the line for the women they come to love, their families, justice and peace, to stave off the evil schemes of rustlers, rubbers, grifters and con-men.
And one of my childhood favorites: The Hardy Boys - daring adventure, sons of the the world famous detective, Fenton Hardy … along with their friends - always coming upon crime of various sorts, and with courage and diligence, a commitment to doing what’s right, the Hardy Boys solve the crimes, the culprits apprehended, and duly punished.
The struggle between good and evil, with the lines often blurred, as the one force intermingles with the other, and vice versa, much like the ancient Ying Yang symbol … a reminder, perhaps uncomfortable, but important, and real: that a simple binary image of life, good vs. evil, fails the test of reality.
In truth, these elements are intertwined with one another, and embedded in each other - an image of social forces, and the human soul.
The images can be expanded in meaning to include all the polar opposites of life - hot and cold, youth and age, wisdom and foolishness, life and death, time and eternity, the courage of the Joe’s and the hatred of Cobra. Yet, within each, the Joe’s are always tempted by violence - the challenge, of course, is how to use violence without succumbing to it’s allure - the Joe’s are physically strong, with the finest equipment and training available to the forces of freedom. The world’s literature, including religious readings, are full of how the good succumbed to the temptations, the allure, the heady exaltation of a bloody victory, until the soul reaches a point when the shedding of blood becomes no longer a means to peace, but a means to satisfy the blood lust inherent, in one degree or the other, in every living creature.
That is, to conquer or be conquered, to kill or be killed. Even the Hebrew Scriptures, Ecclesiastes’ preacher, Kohelet, says:
a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up …
a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.
The Apostle Paul speaks of the same dynamic when he writes, in a moment of humble confession and honest self-appraisal:
Woe is me … who can deliver me from this body of death … the good I want to do, I don’t do … and the evil I don’t want to do, I do.
Ying Yang all over the place … in all the religions of the world, and in all great literature.
It makes for big stories, the very stories told by the gifted writers, led by Larry Hama (a Vietnam veteran) who over the last 40 years has written more than 400 Joe stories … and all the talented artists who’ve made G.I. Joe a living witness to humanity’s best and our worst - the need for greatness, greatness in character, loyalty, vision, and sacrifice.
I think of all the great stores of the last 100 years that have captured so much of our attention, our affection, our love, our study and meditation.
Harry Potter, for example - one story after the other, all centered in the great virtues of kindness, loyalty, love, devotion, caution, mindfulness, self-understanding, humility, sorrow and compassion.
The Star Wars world, much the same, with Luke and his father representing the Ying Yang tug of war - with anger being the portal to the Dark Side, an all-consuming evil bent on destroying all those who stand in its way toward total conquest.
And the classic masterpiece of Tolkien, The LORD of the Rings, with Gollum, the poor creature totally ensnared in the hate of “the one ring to rule them all,” and Bilbo and ultimately Frodo who are threatened by the same power, but ultimately prevail over it, because of virtue, goodness, kindness, and the power of working together for a common good.
From LORD of the Rings: Galadriel speaking to Frodo
But even now there is hope left. I will not give you counsel, saying do the, or do that. For not in doing or contriving, nor in choosing between this course and another, can I avail; but only in knowing what was and is and in part also what shall be. Stray but a little and it will fail, to the ruin of all. Yet hope remains while the Company is true.
“While the Company is true” … it couldn’t be better said of G.I. Joe and Company - remain true to one another, save one another, work with and for one another - while the “folks back home” like to think of their soldiers carrying the weight of freedom and defending their homes, in reality, in combat and the rigors of war, it’s not the “lofty” thoughts that compel a soldier, but the immediate thoughts of comrades … those with whom they’re fighting, the guy in the trench, the fox hole, right next to you … you know his name, and you know that he can depend on you, because you won’t fail, and you know that you can depend on him, because he won’t fail, either.
From Gettysburg to Ukraine, soldiers fight for one another, and that’s how they fight for us!
The power of the Company …
Behind the immediate work, toil and hardship, the larger purpose, the first purpose … it may not be on the mind at any given moment, but it’s the compelling power behind those who command, who see the maps, and weigh the larger strategic issues, one against the other, bearing the burden of potential loss, and the hope for victory.
Behind everything, the first purpose - to preserve the world of freedom, democracy, human dignity and the rights of all to seek life, to do their best, to make something of themselves, to find their place in the world, as life has given life to them.
Or, as I might say in a sermon, As God has given life to life, so preserve it, with all your might … and more specially, is this not love?
To love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and to love your neighbor as yourself. Everything, says Jesus, hangs on these two commandments.
Ultimate purpose - the universe, God, the final mystery and power of the stars - gives life … receive it with joy, protect it for all, enlarge upon it, and pass it on.
It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger they were. And sometimes you didn’t want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened.
But in the end, it’s only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why.
But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand.I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn’t. They kept going, because they were holding on to something.
That there is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.
There is good, there is evil … and there’s no value in denying the reality of evil.
As Serpentor says:
Know that I am the one you seek! I am the one born to rule, destined to conquer! Let those who fear me follow me. Let those who oppose me die! For I am Serpentor, and this I command!
Saving grace … that which keeps the Company true … loyalty to the great dreams of America …
That which keeps the violence in check … a necessary violence.
It’s dangerous to speak of “necessary violence” in defense of freedom, but do we have a choice.
I’m a pacifist of sorts, but not an absolutist …
I think of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the great German theologian who finally decided, that for the sake of loving his nation and seeking the greater good, he could no longer stand by and watch his nation plunge ever deeper into the maelstrom of hate. So he joined forces with some family members and friends in the military, all opposed to Hitler, to engage in a plot to assassinate Hitler, the bomb plot, which ultimately failed, and in its failure, the Nazis were able to identify the perpetrators, arrest them, and murder them.
Bonhoeffer knew that his participation in the bomb plot was a step toward evil, but a necessary violence to save the nation from further bloodshed and destruction.
The question of a “just war” comes into play, and I will say, clearly, that such a notion is fraught with danger, especially as nations, driven by self-interest, can easily dress up their little wars, or big wars, of conquest.
I have no doubt that WW1 and WW2 qualify as “good wars” to defeat the forces of imperialism (WW1) and fascism and militarism (WW2) … but the war in Vietnam, for example, was a misconstrual if ever there was one … perhaps the first invasion of Iraq was justified, and when Saddam was ousted, the war ended. The second invasion, because of alleged “weapons of mass destruction” was a mistake, at least in my judgment.
But the point is clear: history is a mixed bag.
In the stories of ancient Israel, we have King Saul, a decent sort of guy, but unqualified to lead … then along comes King David, a gifted, brilliant leader, but also a man of cruelty and craven character. After him, his son Solomon, noted for his wisdom, but in the end, imposing upon his people the harshest kind rule.
As Bonhoeffer himself said (my summary): Rarely can we choose between good and bad … most of our choices are between good and good, or bad and bad.”
It’s not a clear, clean, world in which we live … we need police, we need armies, we need the means to protect life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Can the very means of protection run amok?
Of course they can.
Police brutality … or a jaded foreign policy … it can all go south in a hurry. It shows up in the Joes, too … the killing of others, in defense of liberty and truth, takes a huge toll on the human spirit. Yet the Joes ward off the worst of it and maintain their balance.
In terms of the American government, a strong and healthy civilian leadership balances the inherent dangers faced by the military. It’s a solid working relationship vital to the wellbeing of our nation - a strong military and a wise civilian leadership … when it works well, it works to the advantage of liberty and justice, and provides both a context of restraint for the military, and, at the same time, reminds the civilian leadership to not “lag in zeal” when it comes to protecting democracy.
G.I. Joe is the quintessential message of necessary evil in this world of ours, a violence that can be kept in check by loyalty, patriotism (not nationalism, please), and a willingness to sacrifice life and limb for the purposes of democracy and freedom.
There is a fundamental reality here lifted up in all the Joe stories: strength for the sake of freedom, and never for its own sake.
This is the spirituality of the Joe story … and the heart of the Christian message … Jesus, if you will, life and limb given for the sake of creation, to preserve its goodness and peace … no holding back on this purpose - life given totally for the sake of others.
Spirituality?
Religion?
Of course - all woven together in the good stories of G.I. Joe, in the brilliant writing of gifted story tellers and in the artists who bring it all to life.
