[ WP ] War breaks out between the legions of hell and heaven , humanity joins and surprisingly is winning against both

*The Race Goes Not to the Swift: nor the Battle to the Mighty: A Reflection on the Spiritual War of 2021* by Air Commodore William Davidson, Chaplain for the Royal Canadian Air Force 
 
 Our entry into the war was unexpected. Well, I suppose the war was unexpected as well. But our entry was doubly so. Nothing could have prepared us for the outcome, and it is something that the philosophers, theologians, and artists will struggle with for years to come. Thankfully, The War College just asked me for a brief essay on my thoughts about the war, what we did well and what we didn ’ t, not the meaning behind it all. 
 
 What we did not do well was intelligence. I can not blame conventional intel for their failure to anticipate this war, after all the NSA does not monitor spiritual attacks, no one would have anticipated the spiritual forces around us to spill over into the physical world. Sure there were those amongst us who tried to warn us, but even those of us who take them seriously never thought the forces of evil to move beyond the occasional demon possession. As a cleric and a military officer, I feel a great deal of responsibility here for not doing my part. I am the only one in the chain of command who is sensitive to the otherworldly. I should have paid attention. We should have paid attention. We should have spoken up. 
 
 We also should have not underestimated the forces of Heaven, and the lengths they would go to destroy Satan ’ s Armies. The Christian Old Testament gives us many example of what extremes the divine will go to drive back the forces of darkness. We were apparently wrong in assuming that, since it hasn ’ t happened in millennia, he was done with that. He was not. 
 
 In my opinion, it was really foolish of the world to set the ultimatum against both sides. Although I understand that, after years of isolated demon on angel incident ’ s escalating into elaborate sabotage of holy sites, flourishing into full on battles in the desert, that humanity would get sick of it. Especially after the Battle of the Grand Canyon that destroyed the landscape and took thousands of lives, I can sympathize with that being the last straw that the leaders of the nations would take. But I can ’ t help but think we were damned lucky. 
 
 The centuries of previous warfare thinned the ranks of both heaven and hell. Neither was particularly well suited for a conventional war. Satan ’ s armies were very adept at special operations and psy-ops. However, there was little to no experience against any formation larger than a battalion. Also, demons taking after their commander, only wished to serve themselves, making unit cohesion non-existent. The American Park Service could have eliminated them given the time and resources. 
 
 Heaven was more difficult. God is known for his legions of angels, and their commander, Michael, was whom Catholics consulted for eons for tactical intervention. He was good. He still is good. But physics – or metaphysics – worked in our advantage. Angels exist primarily on the spiritual plane, and when taking physical form, they were weaker, formidable, but not a match for contemporary weapons. In other words, they could dish it out, but couldn ’ t take it in. 
 
 Realistically we could not have beaten either side – them being eternal and us not so much – but we earned enough of their respect and wore down their patience enough to convince them to leave us alone and to take their energies elsewhere. This, of course, puts me and my career in an awkward position, but that is a study for another time. Looking back, all I can think of is the verse from Ecclesiastes: “ time and chance overtakes them all, ” though I doubt that the writer had heaven and hell in mind.
