In principle I am attempting something very similar. We both seek an understanding, both for ourselves and others, of a particular facet of the spiritual world; he explored the nature of War, and I seek to explore the interface between religion and everyday conduct, particularly professional conduct, in the secular world. And I start from the assumption that to say these two are incompatible is to reduce religion to an irrelevance; and this assumption is itself based on the belief that advocacy for me was a vocation, not a job.
A religion that fails to accommodate the whole of life, in my opinion, is nowadays utterly unsatisfying; and the man in the street knows it. But equally a religion that only accommodates the secular world, by an elaborate over-indulgence in ritual, and fails to grasp the yearning of the human spirit for perfection, even in conflict, is a travesty and even less satisfying. Only occasionally do you achieve perfection in the Law Courts; and I expect only occasionally do you achieve it in War; but you have to aim for it. It must be the same in every other trade and profession too.
It is the same in human relations. Any expression of egotism, whether it stems from love of country, or of family, or for personal safety or self-esteem, is inimical to the perfection of indwelling; just as Liddell Hart said that no love of country, or regiment, or friends, must be allowed to deviate the writer from the truth, or his military history was worthless. Without the desire or willingness to strive for perfection in human relations, society is condemned to second-best; that means misunderstanding, incompatibility, discord and divorce – in perpetuity. You may not often achieve perfection, but you must strive for it. This essentially was Jesus’ message, I believe; although he recognised it had to be left to others to exploit and develop his ideas to embrace the whole of life, rather than just Judaic piety which was the religion of his brother James.
We all have to live by faith; the religious and the irreligious. Chance is inseparable from War; and as the elder von Moltke said no plan lasts longer than the first serious contact with the enemy. After that, you have to trust the initiative of your subordinates. So too is it inseparable from life in the secular world; and the cynic who tries to calculate everything, in the end loses his judgement in the everyday things of life, in which he prides himself on his astuteness. Napoleon, the greatest man of action since Julius Caesar, ended by making the greatest miscalculation of his career. He marched on Moscow. We all have to live by faith of one sort, or another.
Jesus was no exception. Whoever he was, it is inconceivable he should have known his true identity throughout his three years Ministry.