Charlie' death is a reminder that reading life must be first done through the spiritual lens - as this article beautifully elaborates. Only then can we take real and concrete steps towards the Truth.
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” 🙏
Gary, thank you for this moving reflection. Your insistence that the real battle is spiritual — and that hatred only makes us tools of the enemy — resonates deeply. The discipline of loving our enemies, even in moments of grief and outrage, is at the heart of Christian witness.
Where I would gently expand is on what happens after we refuse hatred. Spiritual warfare is not only about withdrawal from the world’s poison; it is also about building structures of belonging that embody Christ’s love in daily life. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just new wine for individual souls — it calls forth new wineskins: civic forms, networks, and mediating structures that can actually hold and sustain this love in public.
In Symbiotic Culture, I describe Love not only as an ethic but as an operating system — the protocol by which human beings connect across silos and wounds, much as TCP/IP and HTTP allow computers to bridge across networks. When Love becomes our civic protocol, it bridges factions that were once at war, heals societal trauma, and reweaves communities into shared trust. This is not sentiment; it is structure. It is the very architecture of belonging.
Practically, it begins small: circles of trust and prayer → become societies → weave into networks → nourish local economies → and eventually form what Václav Benda called a Parallel Polis — a way of living alongside the ruins of Separation, not in isolation but as a bridge to renewal. These mediating structures — families, congregations, neighborhood associations — embody Love as connective tissue between the individual and the wider body politic.
In this sense, spiritual warfare is both inner and civic. We guard our souls from hatred, yes — but we also join with neighbors across differences to create tangible embodiments of the Kingdom: shared economies of care, commons rooted in humility and generosity, civic fabrics capable of holding disagreement without collapse.
Enemy-love is the discipline. Symbiotic Culture is the structure. And Love-as-Protocol is the miracle that makes it possible: a bridge strong enough to connect fractured people and divided networks into a new creation.
Charlie' death is a reminder that reading life must be first done through the spiritual lens - as this article beautifully elaborates. Only then can we take real and concrete steps towards the Truth.
Truly, a masterpiece
Thank you Gary!
Wow Gary, this was absolutely incredible writing. Honestly one of the best I've seen.
You are truly gifted and led by the Spirit of God.
The Lord will use this piece and you Gary in a mighty way for His glory.
We thank the Lord Jesus for His grace and mercy.
God bless you my brother.
Thank you for writing and sharing this.
Wow thank you, Darrel! Just trying to fully submit to Him 🙇🏻♂️
Not trying. You are my friend.
Well done 👏🏿
Thanks for writing this in age of hate and anger. Will look into William Seymour and Saint John of Kronstadt.
Love you man.
Love this take. Everything is so charged at the moment and at moments like this, it’s time for reflection before action
Isaiah 41:10
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.” 🙏
Not only is this beautifully written, but your personal sacrifice to this mission is inspiring to me and I thank you for sharing it.
"Loving thy neighbor" will become increasingly harder in the coming decade.
So brace yourselves, big tests are ahead !
A manifesto for choosing to love the Lord and love one another. Thank you, Gary.
Gary, thank you for this moving reflection. Your insistence that the real battle is spiritual — and that hatred only makes us tools of the enemy — resonates deeply. The discipline of loving our enemies, even in moments of grief and outrage, is at the heart of Christian witness.
Where I would gently expand is on what happens after we refuse hatred. Spiritual warfare is not only about withdrawal from the world’s poison; it is also about building structures of belonging that embody Christ’s love in daily life. The Kingdom of Heaven is not just new wine for individual souls — it calls forth new wineskins: civic forms, networks, and mediating structures that can actually hold and sustain this love in public.
In Symbiotic Culture, I describe Love not only as an ethic but as an operating system — the protocol by which human beings connect across silos and wounds, much as TCP/IP and HTTP allow computers to bridge across networks. When Love becomes our civic protocol, it bridges factions that were once at war, heals societal trauma, and reweaves communities into shared trust. This is not sentiment; it is structure. It is the very architecture of belonging.
Practically, it begins small: circles of trust and prayer → become societies → weave into networks → nourish local economies → and eventually form what Václav Benda called a Parallel Polis — a way of living alongside the ruins of Separation, not in isolation but as a bridge to renewal. These mediating structures — families, congregations, neighborhood associations — embody Love as connective tissue between the individual and the wider body politic.
In this sense, spiritual warfare is both inner and civic. We guard our souls from hatred, yes — but we also join with neighbors across differences to create tangible embodiments of the Kingdom: shared economies of care, commons rooted in humility and generosity, civic fabrics capable of holding disagreement without collapse.
Enemy-love is the discipline. Symbiotic Culture is the structure. And Love-as-Protocol is the miracle that makes it possible: a bridge strong enough to connect fractured people and divided networks into a new creation.