Today, we remember - lives, mostly of those far too young, taken by bullets and bombs on battlefields around the globe. And we should remember in graphic detail, so that the cost of war is never a light consideration as we allow our political leaders to undertake military missions in the name of 'the people.' In a CNN Presents program aired last night (5/29/05), the first President George Bush mused that his conduct of the Gulf War was affected by his memories of his own war experiences in the Pacific during WW2. He said he could never forget the high cost in suffering to the soldiers and sailors as he ordered our armed services to begin waging war.
Andy Rooney, commentator and curmudgeon, who saw WW2 up close as a war correspondent, observed so wisely on 60 Minutes last night- There is more bravery at war than in peace, and it seems wrong that we have so often saved this virtue to use for our least noble activity - war. The goal of war is to cause death to other people. He went on to say that we speak of our warriors giving their lives when, in reality, their lives are taken from them! So, he concluded, we must never forget - more for our own sake, than for the sake of the dead. We must remember, with honor, those who have died in wars - and we must let their lost lives and their sorrowing kin cause us to seek new ways of resolving human conflict!
One of the Devil's great deceptions is the way he deceives humanity to glorify war! The 'great heroes' in our history books are too often warriors whose greatness is written in blood, ruthless men who were willing to send millions of young soldiers to kill and destroy to advance their agenda of power and conquest. War is never glorious. It is a terrible business with awful goals. I cannot, in this short thought, speak to the issues of the morality of war, or whether war is sometimes a justified response to evil. Greater minds than mine have explored that subject in depth. But I can say, with great conviction, that the Christian should always be prejudiced to peace!
Jesus commended those who seek peace, calling them 'children of God.'
Peter urges us to 'seek peace and pursue it.'
Hebrews, recognizing the limits of peace-making in a world filled with evil, never the less, calls on us to 'make every effort to live in peace with all men.'
In one of his most compelling statement, Jesus says, 'Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. ... If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." (Matthew 5:39-44, NIV)
We do not dishonor those who have fallen in war by using their deaths as an appeal to peace-making. Those who seek peace whole-heartedly will be mocked as weak or cowardly, but truthfully - who is more brave than the one who stands facing another with a gun and prays for him? What is more courageous than offering forgiveness and absorbing the cost of loss for the sake of destroying hatred?
Today - remember and honor, and pray for peace. Ultimately, peace will come with a new King, who Kingdom is one of perfect justice, equity, and love. How I long for His kingdom, and so I pray, often and with tears - "May your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."
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