Tuesday 22 July 2008

Today continues a look at the evil we see in the world...and ourselves - Thomas Merton.

...we make the situation (minimizing my own sins and compensating for doing so by exaggerating the faults in others) much worse by artificially intensifying our sense of evil, and by increasing our propensity to feel guilt even for things which are not in themselves wrong. In all these ways we build up such an obsession with evil, both in ourselves and in others, that we waste all our mental energy trying to account for this evil, to punish it, to exorcise it, or to get rid of it in any way we can. We drive ourselves mad with our preoccupation and in the end there is no outlet left but violence. We have to destroy something or someone. By that time we have created for ourselves a suitable enemy, a scapegoat in whom we have invested all the evil in the world. S/he is the cause of every wrong. S/he is the fomentor or all conflict. If s/he can only be destroyed, conflict will cease, evil will be done with, there will be no more war.

Before doing too much with this text, read this as though it is a process each of us runs through - quite regularly for any number of reasons and in many different situations and with any number of people. It is starting with ourselves that we begin to prevent war. Wars may rage around us for many reasons but we will be given the opportunity to be a presence of peace if we are able to rest in the promises of our God that are alive for all people. In that way, before we begin to find scapegoats who we think will be able to make our life "right" we will see in the mirror many of the issues that must be addressed in ourselves and in our side and in our positions. Resisting war is no easy path. Resisting the temptation to enter into war involves facing all that we fear in our own lives and making sure that we do not make this a reason to strike out - even for reasons we have come to consider quite good reasons for going to war with others. I will return to this passage tomorrow.

Connection: Once again, pause, breathe, face the evil that is almost too close to see and hear...and begin to see and hear it. Not easy....but very necessary.

God of Love, you bring peace to our hearts and our lives. Encourage us to settle into that promise of your Reign and make this peace real among us. Amen.