12.11.2007

tis the season

the husband and i talked about when we say Christ brought peace to the earth that really, he didn't BRING peace, but He WAS Peace and that it was only in following his path that peace would ever truly be a possibility. and taking that to the next level, is the reason we have so much violence, dissonance, hatred, because the "christians" are not really followers of Christ - not doing the peaceful work of Christ? obviously there are many layers to this question and the issues surrounding it, but i do believe that we are desparately missing something in our mainstream "christian" lives. the violence of the last few weeks has only heightened that awareness for me. from the recent nationally publicized shootings in alaska, colorado and nebraska to the violence that we heard of every day when living in Cleveland. it is so easy to be lulled into unawareness, to go about my everyday priviged life and ignore the pain around. going even further, i could succumb to resignation as i've seen happen to many in my parents generation. the argument i've heard on more than one occassion 'well the world is going to end soon anyway with Christ's return and the bible promised no peace until then, so why bother.' perhaps not word for word, but that is the general mindset. but why shouldn't we bother? i thought that was the whole point - to be deeply bothered by the hatred and suffering and brokenness and violence. to be moved in our guts, our entrails, to be physically pained by injustice. i won't sit down on the steps. i won't forget the prayer "your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven". i believe that is the true call - to be a part of bringing the Kingdom here. to change this hell that we're living in. to live in peace and promote that among the nations...all of them. period.

deep breath. step down from the soapbox. extending a hand. i bid you peace for your day, your week. we can all make the change.

1 comment:

miz fuhrell said...

good thoughts, m. equally hard is embracing pacifism in a 'christian' culture-slash-extended family rife with the mindset of militarism = patriotism = "true" christianity.

grrr