14 December 2004

Again we look take a look at war and peace from "A Passion for the Possible" by William Sloan Coffin.



Inveighing against false prophets who tell people only what they want to hear, not what they need to know, Jeremiah describes them as having "treated the wound of my people carelessly,/saying, 'Peace, peace,/when there is no peace. And Jesus said: "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." He could only have meant the sword of truth, the only sword to heal the wound it inflicts.



"The only sword to heal the wound it inflicts" - what an image. I would say that if we used this sword before we actually went into battle against our so-called enemies, we would likely not use the weapons of warfare as much as we presently do. Nations love to live behind the lies or the less-than truth (which is no truth at all) version of reality so therefore, warfare is often the only way to keep that world the way it is. But we don't have to simply stay on the level of national warfare to see what the lack of truth does to us. In our personal lives truth can be that healing instrument that cuts us deeply but then...after the truth has laid open our lives to one another, there is that opportunity to see to a grand mending that could not take place as long as we lived within a world of less than the truth. The good news of the peace of the Reign of God demands our life commitment to truth. Ghandi would talk about 'truth power" and how even the smallest person could stand up against the greatest empire with this weapon that could not be destroyed. Oh...the person who calls for truth and is willing to be truthful may not make it out alive, but nothing will be the same again. Peace will Reign...people and nations and relationships will be given a glimpse of the peaceable Reign and the potential for all to be healed...in ways we may not yet acknowledge or see.



Connection: It is much easier to gripe, tear into others, accuse, back bite, and carry a sword meant to kill off all opposition in our lives, but then...nothing changes and the ravages of war within our lives never changes. Today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our lives can become a part of the prayerful truth-telling that dismantles evil's ways of winning the world. Christmas is a reminder of that way and that it really does begin with real lives like ours.



Bring to life in us, O God, your way of peace. Though we are often content to stay in the valley of death and wallow in its way and be controlled by its darkness, you promise light and life. Lift up our eyes to coming of your way of peace. Amen.