“Brothers in Christ cannot take up arms against one another, for they know that in doing so they take up arms against Christ himself. In all secular endeavors, peace and security are confounded. There is no peace by way of security. For peace must be ventured. Who of us can say what it might mean for the world if a people would meet the agressor—not with weapon in hand, but—praying, defenseless, and precisely for that reason armed with the only true defense and weapon? Not the individual Christian, not the individual church, but only the one great ecumenical council of the holy church of Christ all over the world can with authority proclaim to the peoples of the world the commandment of peace, and take the weapons from their youth's hands. This must be done now. The trumpets of war can be blown tomorrow. Do we wish to get involved in guilt greater than ever before?”—Authentic Faith p. 134-135
<idle musing>
Those words are as true today as they were in 1934. What would happen if the church universal were to decide to embrace the peace of Christ as a lifestyle? Or, for that matter, what about the church here in the U.S.? Put away “defending our way of life” slogans and begin to work for true peace, which can only happen where justice is practiced (take a look at the Hebrew root $LM). Instead of spending trillions of dollars on war, why not spend it on peace and justice?
I know, pie in the sky thinking. Or is it? Isn't that what Jesus calls us to in the Sermon on the Mount? Aren't we supposed to be salt and light? How much light is there in the barrel of a gun (other than the flash of gunpowder)? It's a weapon of death, not a weapon of light!
</idle musing>
No comments:
Post a Comment