CHRISTIANITY IS A RELIGION OF PEACE

     

A crisis forces you to become clear about your thinking. It is a course correction. 

 

As of Monday (nineteen days into the invasion of the Ukraine) we have been pushed to examine where our religious faith takes us. Does our religious teaching support this invasion/attempted take-over or does it name it as evil? What does our Christian religion say about war? 

 

With our European background we do not have a strong position to condemn warfare. When you look through the two thousand years of Christianity in Europe you add up countless numbers of wars, you may come to the conclusion that Christianity is a fellow warrior in warmaking . Often these wars were fought in the name of God! If we are honest, we have much to repent in our war making through the centuries.

 

How can you speak of peace when your history is soaked with blood?

 

The last two world wars and all the atrocities that were committed through these wars make it clear that we must never have war again. As one commentator observed: if you thought the millions that were killed, starved or displaced by disease was bad in the past world wars, try to imagine how many people will lose their lives if there is a third world war!

 

Christianity has always had a difficult time justifying war. Way back in the fifth century we had the great Augustine articulate the ‘just war’ theory. His theory gave the reasons you could justify entering a war. But after the nuclear bombs of the Second World War and the incredible power of today’s weapons to kill and destroy it is very difficult to justify ever making war. The consequences of war rejects any justification for war-making.

 

The first thing we must do is repent of all the lives lost that our wars have caused through bombing, tolerating conditions for starvation, and destruction of farms (food production) and factories, schools and hospitals (peoples’ livelihoods). Our ancestors have handed us a black and destructive legacy. Our repentance is soaked in incredible human suffering.

 

Our Christian faith moves us to work and build a more just world where the benefits of civilization are shared by all. Fighting so often begins because one group oppresses and exploits another group. The people on the bottom rise up in anger when they are kept down. Every conflict/war is rooted in oppression and exploitation. Remember the words of Pope John Paul II, “If you want peace, work for justice.”

 

This is where I receive energy. When there is evil around me or in the world, I am called upon to plant goodness, justice and respect. The small daily actions of respecting every human being that I come into contact with today as an equal is an effort to plant justice. 

 

And then in my daily prayer I find great encouragement from the Holy Spirit to plant peace and healing to our broken world. During the invasion of the Ukraine I place my morning prayer beside all the people fleeing the violence and all the people helping the refugees. 

 

My religious faith gives me strong courage in the time of insane suffering. I am supported by the wonderful insight about what I can do to change this situation into goodness by the insight: “Better to light one candle than to ever curse the darkness.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LIVING IN GRAVE DANGER

                             

 

The invasion of the Ukraine has set the entire world on edge. We are living in a time of danger. We are not sure what the next hour will bring and how close we could be to war.

 

But the bombing of the nuclear station (last Friday) at Zaporizhzhi in the Ukraine tells us how dangerous this invasion actually is. Fortunately, the shells only destroyed a service building and did not hit the nuclear reactor itself. Humanity could have been hit with a much greater nuclear fall-out than the Chernobyl nuclear breakdown in 1986.

 

Humans have become so powerful. We have developed the power of the atom to provide us with energy. A large part of the country of the Ukraine receives its electricity from this nuclear reactor.

 

But the power we have achieved can also be used to destroy. War is no longer determined by the power of a soldier’s arm.  In the early days an army could attack only as far as a solider could hurl a spear or fire an arrow at the enemy. Ever since the First World War I we now fight industrial wars. We have sharper, stronger and deadlier weapons than mankind has ever experienced. The average citizen has no concept of the destructive power that is actually available to our militaries.

 

Now, just days away from an unbelievable nuclear disaster all humans must take deeper responsibility for humanity and its survival. 

 

In our daily prayer and our church prayer we must pound the doors of heaven asking for common sense and determination to end this invasion and rebuild peace and security. Make your prayer insistent. Ask the Holy Spirit to move the hearts and wills of leaders to bring an end to this carnage. 

 

Recognize the great good that so many people and government agencies are doing to help the two million refugees who have fled the Ukraine into neighboring countries like Poland. What good is being done in the face of so much evil! In the reality of so much evil, there are so many unrecognized people helping the refugees. Just think of finding a bed for the night, food, sanitation, health care and some entertainment to stave off the boredom of trying to survive in a different country.

 

Look toward our world leaders as they beef up international cooperation and defense strategies to prevent a world war. As we move into the future how do you prevent the invasion of one powerful country into a smaller neighbor? The Western countries have been much too complacent in working for security and harmony between nations.

 

We must think through what the consequences could mean if one of the nuclear power stations was destroyed by the bombs of war. The consequences could spill over for another ten to thirty thousand years. 

 

With greater power over the forces of nature must come a greater responsibility on the part of all humans – especially those who are invading another country.  This is a time to demand of Russia greater responsibility towards the well-being of humanity.

 

I am so grateful that my Christian faith spurs us on to care for all humans. This week our care focuses on the people of the Ukraine. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for moving us to care for our sister and brother who is being invaded.

 

 

 

 

PRAYING AT THE EDGE OF WAR

                  

 

We are living in a time of strong tension in our world. Mr. Putin has invaded the country of Ukraine. Are we at the edge of a Third World War?

 

Pope Francis has asked the Christian world to make the day of Ash Wednesday a day of prayer and fasting for peace in the Ukraine. This is very serious when the pope askes the entire Church to pray for peace in the Ukraine.

 

In our prayer life we must be aware that our prayer always embraces the entire world. Prayer must never be a closed circle with God on the top and myself at the other end. Rather, our prayer must be made with wide open arms that is ready to embrace the world in all its turmoil’s and confusion. We must pray in solidarity with the poor and suffering of this world. We pray as sisters and brothers to all the poor people of the world. Our prayer is always an embrace of all our fellow human beings, not only the ones whom we like.

 

I try to pray the morning and evening prayer standing beside the poor of the Ukraine. When I think of the poor, I think of the many people in the Ukraine who cannot leave and take refuge in Poland or another safe country. There are countless people who do not have the resources of the support to seek refuge in another country.

 

There will always be people in our churches who are  uncomfortable with praying with wide open arms and a wide open heart. They are often fearful and insular. Authentic prayer is always the opposite of this position. If I pray in solidarity with the poor and the suffering of the Ukraine I am being embraced by the great love of God for all peoples. The heart of God extends to everyone. To pray in the Spirit of God is to be extended in love and concern for the well-being of my fellow human being. 

 

Praying in solidarity with the poor of the world is always expansive. When we open our hearts to the heart of God we will always feel the walls of our heart pushed out and expanded. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer we are sharing in the great compassion and connection that the Trinity God has with each human being. These are not empty words. These are words that embrace our daily lives. We must pray these words with the consciousness that the Holy Spirit will move us to greater love and service to the poor; the poor with their many faces.

 

When people listen attentively to the sufferings and difficulties of others they will always discover that their lives are changed in some degree. When they might have been very judgmental about the drug addiction of a co-worker, but they listen to the struggles of this poor man to be rescued from his drug-addiction, they discover that instead of harsh judgments there arises a desire to help, beginning with sincere prayer for recovery from drug-addiction.

 

People have observed that their fellow Christians who are serious in the practice of their prayer life are also persons who have a strong sense of justice and compassion for the poor of this world. 

 

Prayer expands our hearts. If you join your prayer for the sufferings of the poor in the Ukraine this week do not surprised if the Holy Spirit expands your heart. 

LENT: IT IS OUT INTO THE DESERT!

             

 

Lent begins March 2. We have to ask why does this season have such a strong hold on our religious imagination and our spiritual practices? 

 

In the midst of a very hard-working world (we work a lot harder than we think) we are being offered an opportunity to move out into the wilderness to be attentive to God.

 

The life of everyone needs  seasons set aside for special purposes. When you lose a loved one you will need a time to grieve and share your sorrow over your loss. But the grieving season also is meant to be a means to recover yourself and your place in the world. We are meant to cry, wail and moan our loss; but not forever! 

 

We are not inventing the wheel when we are given the forty days of Lent. There is great wisdom here from countless ancestors of our past who recognized the need to block  some time to focus on their God. We go back to our ancestors in the Bible to recognize that people went out into the physical desert (and the desert of time) to be attentive to the movements of God. They were too busy and distracted in their city life to pay sufficient attention to God.

 

We know that Jesus moved into the wilderness to be attentive to God. He blocked off space to encounter the plan and the will of God for his life. 

 

One of the first things that we need to do during this Lent (2022) is prayer. Maybe we have grown slack in our attentiveness to the Spirit of God. We want to structure into our day time to be very attentive to the Spirit of God.

 

This prayer need not take the form of many words. Rather it needs to be more a time to just sitting and  being with the Spirit of God, living and present within us. It is a time of intensese listening. There is a beautiful example of the older gentleman who would always drop by the parish church on his way home from work (in the days when it was safe to have our church buildings open all day) and spend a few moments in quiet prayer.

 

Someone asked him, knowing that this man knows how to pray: How do you pray? The quiet workman simply said, “God’s here. I’m here. That’s good!” So simple and so powerful. 

 

Do not embark on a prayer-project that you cannot fulfill. Even if it is only a few moments every day, give your focus to the movement of God’s Spirit in your life. Also, bring your concerns for your family, your parish church, your country and the world to the Lord. Share your pain and frustration with God in your prayer. 

 

Many people will use the little book of daily meditations that is located at the back of the church building and pray over the daily Lenten Scriptural readings. It is not important how much area they cover. It is attentiveness to God is the energy here.

 

As we launch into Lent this year move into the wilderness (with no distractions) to simply be present to the Spirit of God. We are not here to ‘do’ anything. We are here in our daily prayer to simply ‘be’ with our God.

 

RESPONSIBILITY:IT IS AS IMPORTABT AS BREATHING

 

What has happened to any mention of responsibility in our public discourse?

 

Every human being has personal rights just by the fact that they are born on this earth. We all have the right to food, shelter, clothing, safety, education and medical care.  But there can never be a right without a corresponding responsibility. 

 

You have a right to have safe roads and I have the responsibility to drive safely to protect your children. When I studied ethics as an academic subject we were given a little ditty that summarized it is all very well. “I have the right to swing my arm wherever and whenever I want. I have the responsibility to never swing my arm where your nose begins!” No more need  be said. 

 

All this talk today about “my rights” is unmasked selfishness and is saying to my fellow human being, ‘I don’t care about your welfare.’ Rights and responsibilities are to human life as the two sides of your hand are to your body. You can never have one without the other. 

 

As a human being I need you to survive. We can only make it through the day because we are interconnected and respond to the needs of one another. 

 

I want to celebrate the power of responsibility that each of us can have in our lives and in our society and country.

 

I want to pay my taxes so that your granddaughters can go to school and be well trained women in this world. I want to make my contribution to the thriving of your granddaughters.

 

I want to follow all the rules of the road to ensure that you can drive safely from one end of the country to the other. I want to be responsible to stop at every stop sign and red light to make the crossing of your elderly father safe. I want to stop my vehicle in such a responsible manner that your elderly father is safe every step of the way.  I want to pull over when the ambulance comes rushing by my vehicle because it may be your child who is being rushed to the hospital. Contributing to your well-being is at the same time protecting my own health. 

 

I want to be grateful to our ancestors who worked hard to create a society that is safe to live in. Thank you for the taxes you paid, the support and guidance that you gave to our police departments. I can live in my house and feel secure that no one will break in and hold my family hostage. I am every so grateful that my children can play in the backyard and feel safe. The atmosphere of safety did not just happen. Your ancestors and my ancestors worked hard and responsibly to give us a system of safety and protection. Safety is worth so much to our society.

 

I am so grateful that I live in a society where I can go into any public space (malls, hospitals, restaurants) and not feel threatened that “there might be someone in there carrying a gun and they could start shooting!” Which one of our ancestors worked hard to have enforceable gun control? What a sense of responsibility!

 

And for you the reader: thank you for your sense of responsibility to work to promote the well-being of your own children and all the other children that go to school with them. Thank you for your responsible safe-driving, your paying taxes to help educate my grandchildren and providing needed medical services for our family as they age. Your practice of responsibility must be recognized We are all healthy because you have been a responsible citizen. Responsibility makes you a great human being. 

 

 

 

 

ASK THE TOUGH QUESTIONS.

                        

 

 

Last week there was an interesting item about Jeff Bezos, the third richest man in the world (or is he the richest?), who has built a superyacht in the port of Rotterdam in Holland. The ship has been identified as the largest among the superyachts of the world. It is the largest yacht in its category in the world. The ship is so large and so tall that it cannot sail out of the port until a very historic bridge (Kenningshave Bridge) is taken apart. The local government is willing to take apart this historic bridge at Bezos’ expense. 

 

We shake our head at this oversight. A grade ten student with his calculator could have figured this out before construction was even begun. 

 

The question that must be asked: what gives this one human being the right to use so much of the world’s resources to build a pleasure craft that is first and foremost an extension of his ego? Where does any human being have the right to use so much of the steel, wood and fabrics of this earth? 

 

How is humanity better off because this extremely wealthy man has built this superyacht? And how often will it ever be used? These very rich people work very, very hard to maintain their wealth and corporations. Will he actually use this boat?

 

This same question must be asked of the top fifth of the world’s population. Are you using and claiming more than your fair share of the resources of the world?

 

Is it just a matter that those who have the money can do with it whatever they want? Or are there deeper issues here?

 

Many people will fear to even raise this question because they would want to be in the position of the very rich and the powerful. You do not question another is you want to be as rich as they are.

 

The goods of the earth are not for any one person or nation alone. The bounty of the earth is given for the good of all. It is never right that a very small group of people own almost all the resources and the majority of people live in dirt poverty. 

 

What if Jeff Bezos uses his wealth as an opportunity to make the world a better place? How does his wealth benefit and help the struggling families in Africa and Bangladesh who try to get some of their children to go to school?

 

What would happen if Jeff Bezos had used all that money to support primary schools in Africa, India and South America? What would happen to human beings and their families if there was an opportunity for their little daughters to go to school?

 

What would happen if the money that was invested in propping up one man’s ego was used to build and service clinics and health care services throughout the Third World?  

 

My Christian faith challenges me to ask the tough questions. What is money for? What are the resources of the world to be used? 

 

Has Jeff Bezos missed an incredible opportunity to better the human race, or has he invested selfishly in his own ego?

 

 

 

 

 

WHO DO YOU TRUST TODAY?

                 

We live in a very big world. We are drowning in information. There are big fights over false information about vaccines, government, health restrictions, personal freedom; the list could go on.

 

Now, whose voice do you listen to? Whose voice do you trust?

 

Trust has become a number one concern in this society. 

 

From the moment of our first breath into this world, life is built on trust. We learnt immediately that we could trust our mother to feed us, keep us warm, clean and dry. We learnt that the world was good, secure and helped us to thrive. 

 

When you grew up in a small community your parents knew to what degree they could trust people. If you were raised on a farm your father knew that he could loan his equipment to this farmer because he took such good care of the machine. He would not lend it to this other farmer who was reckless and returned the equipment in less that workable state. He never explained the social dynamics with the other farmers, but you picked up which ones you felt comfortable with and which ones you needed to be cautious.

 

When you live in a large urban environment you are connected with few people. We try with all sorts of government qualifications to have proof that this person is competent and in good standing. We use bureaucratic instruments to establish trustworthiness.  Is this mechanic reliable to keep my vehicle in good shape or will he take advantage of me?

 

We need to ask one another, who can you trust? If someone from the fire department comes to your door and asks you to clean up at the back of your property, do you trust that request?

Unfortunately for our very large society, people place the media at the bottom of the list as trustworthy agents of information. This is a very serious issue for a democracy. 

 

Now you have to ask when you hear a report on the national (big business) media: is that true? Has that been exaggerated? What slant am I receiving? 

 

In my personal interactions I am cautiously saying to some people, ‘Maybe that is not true?”

 

This hesitation to trust in the words of another has implications to the way we live our faith. People may say they believe, but there is hesitation in their voice.

 

Our faith comes from the direct revelation of God. God breaks into our world. It can happen in events like the burning bush in the story of Moses, in the quiet revelation to the young girl named Mary. Or in the quiet moments of your own prayer when the presence of God is keenly felt. Revelation was never meant to be a once-for-all event that happened in the ancient past. God continues to break into our lives, even when it is most inconvenient. 

 

Now, each person has to ask: in a world where there is much doubt and distrust of others, can I believe that the Word of God is true and should be followed? Can I give my commitment to God as preached and taught in the faith community ? 

 

In the past we had little difficulty with this one but today we must ask: Should I trust the Word of revelation? Should I trust the message of Jesus? 

 

It may be more difficult times but it will call forth a stronger faith in the Word of revelation.