Lessons from the Past

There is a little book I pick up every now and then that contains quotes and sayings on different topics.
I was looking at various topics today and came across one that talks of the influence of the past on now and the future.  There were a few sayings that got my attention but there was an Italian proverb and an African one that stood out to me.
The Italian one said, “once the game is over, the king and pawn go back in the same box.”  I do like that one as it highlights to me that no matter a persons station in life we face the same end.
Kings generally have far reaching powers and can affect the little man.  I see that right now in that there are people intent on living their own lives with their own families and yet a war waged by kings necessitates giving up personal dreams for the dream of the powerful.
I do think that is why the African proverb hits me.  It says, “when elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
I do believe that unfortunately there is a time for peace and a time for war.  The time for war I feel is when an oppressor is on the move and must be stopped to prevent the engulfing of others who do not willingly share the ideals of bondage.
Yet such things always come at a cost.  Usually to the one who would not be in that war if circumstances allowed it.  Pawns in the hands of the king.  I think it is why another quote I see rings a bell.  “the soldiers fight, and the kings are heroes.”  On one level I think that is true.  Yet on another leve I do not think it is the whole story.
Soldiers to me are heroes.  Kings may be exalted but it is soldiers that make things happen.  The best strategy in the world needs hands and feet to complete.
So for me forces bigger than me may be at work, but the force at work in me determines I can be a winner even if I lose.