conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the first three paragraphs for a book with the title 'The Way of the Warrior'.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The Way of the Warrior
  Classification: LCC BV4908.5.M3575 2019 | DDC 248.4—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/​2018038441
  We have journeyed together for over thirty-five years, and from the days of our youth we have traveled to unknown lands, walked into untold mysteries, and chosen to live in absurd risk and unexpected adventure.
  I should preface what I am about to say with the fact that I have a wildly vivid imagination that is informed by a lifetime of daydreaming. More often than not, I find myself in unexpected places, talking to people I'm fairly certain I have never met in real life but who feel very real to me. Sometimes I'm in the curious situation where my imagination takes the lead and I feel more like an innocent bystander.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me five more paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: How difficult would it have been to have simply said, "It was my fault," and take responsibility? "You gave me stewardship over creation, and I betrayed your trust." Wouldn't it have been far nobler for the man to stand between God and the woman and say, "It was all on me. This is not on her"? Yet instead of standing as her shield, he threw her under the bus.
  This was not simply the beginning of blame, nor the end of taking responsibility. It was the end of love. If Adam loved Eve more than he loved himself, he never would have made this choice or placed the blame on her. His instincts shifted from self-sacrifice to self-preservation.
  Imagine being God in this moment, watching a creature you'd made in your image and likeness choose to protect himself rather than the one you had created for his love. Eve was unprotected because she was unloved. Adam acted in fear because he had lost the courage that only love can compel.
  Then again, the woman had her opportunity for ownership as well. After she watched her husband cower and abdicate responsibility for his choice, she could've taken responsibility for handing him the fruit. She could have stood before God and said, "I listened to the wrong voice. I made the wrong choice. Do with me as you will. This is on me." But she didn't do that either.
  It is not incidental that one of the first consequences of the Fall is the abdication of personal responsibility for our actions. To blame others is an act of cowardice. We blame in an attempt to hide our shame. This is not the way of the warrior. The warrior understands that to blame is not simply an abdication of responsibility but a relinquishing of power. You cannot change what you do not take responsibility for. When you blame someone else, you become dependent on that individual to solve your problem and change your circumstance. After all, if it is that person's fault, then he or she is the only one who has the power to change your condition.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Give me the last three paragraphs.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Maybe the best thing that each of us could do is to read and reread the stories of the great leaders, prophets, and kings God chose to use. The people we call heroes in the Bible were just humans. They were both the best of us and the worst of us. Adam and Eve messed up everything. To call Cain a mess would be a compliment. Abraham was a mess. Rahab was a mess. Moses was a mess. David was a mess. Scripture is full of people just like us who faced the same fears, the same struggles, the same battles, yet nothing disqualified them from living their most heroic lives.
  The way of the warrior is not free from pain, it is not free from disappointment, and it is not free from failure. The warrior is known for courage, for honor, for integrity. Yet the warrior knows well the struggles that come with fear and self-doubt and even despair. The warrior faces their greatest adversary when they have to face themselves. The warrior knows there are no victories that are not first won within. Never forget who you are.
  To my son, Aaron; my daughter, Mariah; and her husband, Jake, who are always with me in this great fight we call life.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Delete the first sentence.
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: The people we call heroes in the Bible were just humans. They were both the best of us and the worst of us. Adam and Eve messed up everything. To call Cain a mess would be a compliment. Abraham was a mess. Rahab was a mess. Moses was a mess. David was a mess. Scripture is full of people just like us who faced the same fears, the same struggles, the same battles, yet nothing disqualified them from living their most heroic lives.
  The way of the warrior is not free from pain, it is not free from disappointment, and it is not free from failure. The warrior is known for courage, for honor, for integrity. Yet the warrior knows well the struggles that come with fear and self-doubt and even despair. The warrior faces their greatest adversary when they have to face themselves. The warrior knows there are no victories that are not first won within. Never forget who you are.
  To my son, Aaron; my daughter, Mariah; and her husband, Jake, who are always with me in this great fight we call life.