Armor Up: The Helmet of Salvation and the Sword of the Spirit

Paul threw these two together into the same verse (OK, technically that was probably scribes and translators), so I feel just fine about doing one quick, short post to cover both.

The Helmet

The helmet protects the skull which in turn protects the brain.  If you have any doubts about how important brain health is, spend some time exploring this site.  Brain damage doesn't just affect the physical things you do.  It affects your personality, how you think, and how you interact with others.  Paul might not have know all the details of how the brain works, but they certainly knew back then how important it was to protect the head.  

In Traditional Chinese Medicine, two very important energy points are found on the head.  (These correspond roughly with the 6th and 7th Chakras).  Located at the forehead between the eyebrows, the upper dan tien is often associated with spirit.  The Bai Hui point at the crown of the head is sometimes called the Hundred Meetings or Hundred Convergences point because of all the meridians that start or end there.  From an energetic standpoint, both of these points make the head something well worth protecting.  

Although the people of Paul's time probably had some different ways of thinking about the head, we tend to associate it with the mind, with awareness, with consciousness, and with understanding.  

Salvation

Salvation is literally to save.  Most people believe it to mean deliverance from our sins and the consequences of those sins through the atonement of Jesus Christ.  

The helmet of salvation might just simply be our understanding of the atonement.  

And that means that I need to share my definition of atonement.  Again, I have many words that I get, but I don't get.  It was actually the study of tai chi and some Buddhist principles that helped me come up with this definition that makes sense to me.  (And it's fine if it doesn't make sense to you this way.)

Atonement is empathy across time and space (Jesus taking on all the pains and sins of the world while in the Garden of Gethsemane) creating a oneness, a wholeness, and a unity which enables us to transform any sin, weakness, pain, or sorrow into something better and stronger. The Atonement is empathy and transformation.

The Sword of the Spirit

There's all sorts of symbolism we could explore about swords.  For my purposes right now, the sword is simply an instrument or tool.  As weapons, swords are used both offensively, and defensively.  You won't last long in a sword fight unless you know how to block your opponents attack.  The parry may be even more important than the strike.  

Here's your interesting little tidbit from tai chi about weapons.  In the weapons forms of tai chi, the weapon (sword, saber, fan, staff, etc.) is seen as an extension of the qi of the user.  My qi flows through my fan.  

The Word of God

Revelation, whether delivered directly to an individual or through an individual to a group, is often what we think of when we talk about the word of God.  Scriptures are one source of the word of God.  

The word of God is not a weapon of offense.  It is part of the defense.  It is a tool that we can use to strengthens ourselves.  

Perhaps Paul (or scribes and translators) put the helmet and the sword together because they saw that the word of God helps us to understand the atonement.  As I embrace compassion, empathy, unity and transformation (which I've learned more about in tai chi and qigong than in church), I am carrying the sword of the spirit and wearing the helmet of salvation.