BATTLE OF EVERMORE

O JASON OSAI writes that the race for salvation is personal

This title is borrowed from the 1971 Led Zeppelin song “Battle of Evermore”, which is  heavily influenced by mythology and literature. The song is a blend of alternative rock, indie folk and chamber pop styles, conveyed by jingle jangle fingerpicked guitars, somber pianos, lavish strings, and sparse percussion. The duet of Robert Plant and Sandy Denny presents the impressionist storytelling and mythopoeia vocals in delivering what has been adjudged a super classic of the rock genre, virtually on the same scale with Stairway to Heaven, another Zeppelin gift to humanity. Battle of Evermore is suffused with references to light and darkness hence its thematic suitability and choice as a title.

            There is an eternal scuffle that takes place between higher and lower forces of nature and the main arena of this struggle is in the mind of every human being under the sun. In every individual, there is the tri-unity of the senses, the soul and the spirit. The senses are touch, taste, sight, sound and smell; the soul is the essence of man’s existence here on earth while the spirit is a spark of God in man. In its journey on earth, the soul continually utilizes the mind in choosing between the soft whispers of the spirit and the compelling boisterous demands of the senses. The soul is, therefore, constantly caught between these two forces; and this is what is dubbed the Battle of Evermore. This endless conflict takes place in all human beings irrespective of color or creed and station or location. Ascendancy in the single super consciousness of the ethereal is a direct product of the cumulative of the degree to which the soul defeats the compulsions of the senses and harkens to the soft whispers of the spirit during every sojourn in corporeality.

            God is light without variableness and every individual is a luminous spirit being, living in an  ephemeral material body. In one of his collaborative efforts, Santana sang thus: “all you sinners, put your lights on/All you children, leave your lights on”. This indicates that every individual has a light hence the children are admonished to leave their lights on and the adults whose lights may have been dimmed or extinguished as a result of indiscretion are asked to rekindle their light and let it shine through a process of deliberate and dedicated effort at enlightenment.

            The luminosity of the light in every individual is a function of the love the individual radiates towards his fellow human beings and the environment. Just as a dim light has limited reach and bright light travels far and wide, so the luminosity of the light of each individual determines how far the spirituality of the individual reaches out and he can tap into the abundant energies of the cosmos. The capacity to radiate, reach out and harness the abundant energies in the cosmos is metaphorically captured in “ask, seek, knock” (Mathew, 7:7). 

            By the force of positive thoughts and clean actions, the individual naturally receives abundantly from the endless warehouse of the Divine and performs wondrous works like Jesus and the numerous messianic figures that predate him. It is mysterious, yet very simple; it is magical, yet easily achievable; its universality, like Jesus’ ministry, is that it is at the disposal of every individual irrespective of color, creed, location and station. “There is neither Jew nor Gentile. there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ” (Gal. 3:28-29).

            God is neither Christian, Jew, Moslem, Hindu, nor Buddhist. These are mind control vessels created by man to guide humanity towards understanding the mysterious entity called God. We also note that Christianity and Islam are creations of Rome for the sole purpose of mollifying the restive Palestinian population in the interest of Roman imperialism. Therefore, the idea that the truth of God can be bound in any human system, by any creed, by any  book is so unreasonable and out of place, it is ludicrous and ridiculous.

          Once, a little girl on the streets of India was asked thus: “Are you a Hindu, Christian or Moslem?” She answered: “I am hungry”. The lesson in that anecdote is that we should forget these manmade systems and let humanity be our religion. In the 1794 classic, “The Age of Reason”, Thomas Paine (1736-1809) averred that he does not believe in the creeds of Judaism, Christianity, Greek or Turkish Churches, Protestant nor any other church.  Churches are human inventions established to terrify and enslave mankind and monopolize power and profit. Paine’s most famous quote is “the world is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion”.

           The luminosity of our light is intensified  by the openness and cleanliness of our thoughts given which we reconnect and achieve oneness with the Divine and tap into the abundant energies to perform wondrous works in the interest of humanity. Jesus said “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father” (John, 14:2). The statement “because I go to the Father” means that he taps into the energy of the Father. Here, “Father” is metaphor for the source of abundant universal energy. All of this is in our state of consciousness. The Battle of Evermore persists until the mortal body dies at which point the soul exits the body for self evaluation and subsequent option for a new assignment in the eternal journey towards atonement. 

            The race for salvation is personal and the temple is not manmade; it is in our hearts. We reap what we sow (Gal. 6:7).

           Prof Osai writes from Rivers State University of Science and Tech, Port Harcourt