In Shakespeare’s “King Henry V,” this scene unfolds at the Battle of Algincourt on October 25, 1415. This day is known as St. Crispin’s Day, a feast day honoring the Crispin twins who were martyred for their faith in 286 AD.
As the British are amassing their troops for their final battle assault against the French, the rallying speech of Henry V concludes with,
“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.”
This phrase “band of brothers” was captured in the critically acclaimed 2001 HBO miniseries by Tom Hanks and Stephen Spielberg, which documented the heroic feats of a group of allied paratroopers in World War II. It highlighted the incredible bond that men would forge through terrifying challenges. As was quoted,
“They also found in combat the closest brotherhood they ever knew. They found selflessness. They found they could love the other guy in their foxhole more than themselves. They found that in war, men who loved life would give their lives for them. … All we knew was we were in this together.”
His Way is a foxhole battlefield for men struggling to be transformed by God’s power into His intention for them. From the opening struggles of incredible pain and suffering of detox through the much more agonizing and long-term suffering of confronting one’s character defects, openly admitting them to their brothers through tears and fears, the battle is intense.
Men at His Way face the fears of job hunting and career building. They confront doubts through reconciling significant relationships and being “care-fronted” by staff and brothers regarding behaviors or attitudes that are damaging to themselves and others. And as they draw to a close of this incredible “trauma drama” journey, they face the enormous fear of graduating and having to leave the sheltered environment of His Way to face life as life is, unchanged from the way it was when they left it just nine months earlier.
The men experience the constant challenge of Proverbs 27:17,
“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.”
And that sharpening is not without its sparks.
However, through this struggle, we all come to realize the proverb is true,
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” (Proverbs 17:17)
Through the adversity of confrontation and change as we face God’s truth about our lives, we discover an eternal bond has been built into a fraternal order of love.
In scripture, David and Jonathan (King Saul’s son) experience this same bond.
“As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.” – (I Samuel 18:1)
Later when Jonathan and his father, Saul, are killed in battle, David launches into a lament,
“How the mighty have fallen
In the midst of the battle!
Jonathan lies slain on your high places.
I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan;
Very pleasant have you been to me;
Your love to me was extraordinary,
Surpassing the love of women.” – (II Samuel 1:25,26)
This is a profoundly deep expression of the bond that men forge through struggle.
A passage almost exclusively reserved for wedding ceremonies that certainly applies here is Ecclesiastes 4:9-12,
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand – a threefold cord is not quickly broken.”
The bond of brotherhood is strong, but the bond of brothers welded together in love by God is inseparable.
Praise God for the inseparable bond of brotherhood that knits our His Way brothers together into “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”
Our purpose at His Way is to reclaim, rebuild and restore. If you’d like to be a part of this mission, contact us today to learn how you can get involved.