Put on the Full Armor of God (but not too tightly)

A Poem...

If it does not kill me,
It only makes me stronger. 
So say sages as diverse as
Saint Paul
Or Nietzsche
Or Conan
Or Kelly
Or Kanye

If I just cover myself in the ideological armor 
of Intellect and analysis
If I can wrap myself in the chain mail
Of ironic distance and cynical wit
If I harden my body and strengthen my spirit
Under the iron and on my knees
Can I withstand the War on my soul?

The assaults of time and chance;
The vicissitudes of opportunity and opinion;
The sneers of those who hate me, and the loss of those who love me;
The slings and arrows of outrageous stupidity and stupendous selfishness;
The persistence of ignorance and prejudice despite the best efforts of wisdom and compassion;
The staggering injustice that many starve so a few can be obese;
The Totalitarian Hedonism that demands I smile and consume and forget all this, or else;
The fact that everything I have ever cared for will crumble to dust, or be transformed beyond recognition;
The very real possibility that this entire Cosmic Struggle is just a comedy of errors at best, or a flatulation in the quantum foam at worst. 

Or perhaps this is what happens
When you wear your armor too tightly 
And forget that life is not only a Battle
It is a Song we sing with
It is a Beat we dance to
It is a Wave we surf on

And when you stare too long
Into the yawning Abyss of meaninglessness 
The Abyss yawns back
Shrugs a little
And goes back to ignoring you.