WAR: WHAT A HUMAN FAILURE!

 

After the collapse of the Soviet Empire in the early  nineties a naïve conviction  was circulated that humanity had entered a new era where we would no longer have war. How naïve!

 

In our recent history we have surpassed the sixth hundred days since Russia invaded the Ukraine. The past month has seen unbelievable bloodshed  in Israel and the Gaza strip. 

 

War has exploded on the human scene!

 

Many people have a faint memory of the label from their history books, “the hundred year’s war.” That period of fighting between the French and the English kept flaring up and dying down over a period of one hundred years. Well, no matter what the outcome of the struggles in Israel and Gaza today, there will be a flare up in another twenty years. We are living in the time of our own hundred years war. 

 

War is the ultimate in human failure. We send out our young men to kill each other. We hurl countless bombs to destroy countless homes, factories, bridges and roadways. The news report of the damage done just to the physical buildings  is beyond belief. 

 

Who will answer for all the carnage that has been done to civilians? to working people? To the people at an outdoor concert who have been killed?

 

What about all the children who have been killed in the bombings? Who answers for their lives? 

 

Humans may have fought , injured and killed each other since we were living in caves. Even if we have this constant history of warfare, no one should ever be excused by saying, ‘it has always been that way!’

 

We may have grown up with the bully on the playground. Now, we have countries and corporations that are bullies to the less powerful. We have one group of people trying to take over another’s country.  The bully just comes in a much larger size these days!

 

No matter how someone tries to explain it or frame it, war is always human failure. 

 

The power and energy of my Christian faith is that we are meant to be a people of peace and justice. One of the powerful images that arises from our Sacred Book is “and they will beat their swords into plough shares and their spears into pruning hooks.”  There will be  a time when we will put down our weapons and transpose them into tools to grow food. We will care for our fellow human being rather than wield destruction on them!

 

When we pray “and free us from all distress” this Sunday I will be painfully asking our God for strength to believe we humans can make peace and end all war. This distress is the painful  feelings that attacks the walls of my heart. I ,along with countless others in this world, feel the pain and disappointment that these wars have caused.

 

Standing amidst the human failure of war, I want to pray and work for peace, justice and harmony among all humanity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

RECOVERING LAMENT IN OUR SPIRITUALITY

 

 

Most of us were raised with a much too polite approach to God. We were also raised with some questionable feelings about being angry. We feel guilt when we explode with anger inside ourselves, but if we could step back a moment, we might find that on this particular issue we should be very angry. 

 

When we examine the long story of walking with the living God we recognize that there were many explosions of anger towards God. The prophets were never docile house cats. One of the clearest is the lament of the prophet Jeremiah 20,7-32. Poor Jeremiah is so angry, hurt, confused and frustrated that he just lashes out his anger toward God. 

 

These were real people who struggled with the mission God gave them. They cried out in pain, confusion and anger.

 

Bring your anger towards God that Putin and his government invaded the country of the Ukraine and wants to take over their land. Bring your anger towards very bullet and bomb that has been dropped in Israel and the Gaza strip in the last seven weeks. Hold your anger to God and your fellow human being over every child that has been killed in these skirmishes. How could human beings deliberately destroy each other, the houses of ordinary people and mine the enemy’s farm land? 

 

Lament toward God what human beings have done to the earth. We allowed our large corporations to dump toxic wastes into the soil and the water system. We cut down the forests of the Amazon and leave land unproductive where once there were strong trees serving as the lungs of the planet. Human beings are heating up the atmosphere of the earth and are very slow to move toward sustainable living. 

 

And then there is the tragedy of the fentynal / opiod crisis in our country. Every day there are at least six adults dying of an overdose. These, mostly men, are dying in the prime of life; a most senseless death. Most of these victims are caught in drug addiction. No one is forcing them to take drugs. But every death and overdose is a tragedy. What a loss to see any human being die such a senseless death in the prime of life.

 

Do not be surprised that your voice might become loud and very firm when you express your suffering to God about what is happening in the world and within your own community. Your prayer might be very emotional, but it will be truthful!

 

We call this the prayer of lament. Life is not going well, evil seems to have the upper hand and we are good and angry. Today, we lay our anger and pain before God.  Our prayer may be naked and raw. But is honest!

 

This is a healthy spirituality. Our sufferings also become our prayer.

 

 

STRUGGLE AND HEALTHY FAITH

 

 

From our first breath when we emerged from our mother’s womb, life can be described as a struggle. There is a moment when the mother and mid-wife listen for that first cry. From then on there are so many struggles to live and thrive.

 

There are so many things we need to learn as we move toward adulthood. We learn not to hit our little brother, how to cross the street and how to chew with our mouth closed. And then we are challenged through the teen years to make new friends, to be a competent and reliable worker and to find meaning and purpose in the ups and downs of living.

 

In old age there is a tremendous struggle  when we begin to lose more and more of our significant relationships. The older we become the more we lose. How do you find meaning and purpose in the last fifteen years of life? 

 

If we do not meet these challenges we will fall back and in some cases we will fade into obscurity. Most often a premature death.

 

Here is where so many people who were born into the church has a warped sense of faith. They think that God is some fairy princess who will just wave the magic wand and all will work out for us. How immature and how distorted!

 

Begin your understanding of the life of faith with Moses. God breaks into the life of this farmer (without economic and political power) and sends him to pharaoh (with all the power and the money)  to demand that he set the Hebrew slaves free. Remember the Hebrew slaves were of serious economic value to the economy of Egypt. No ruler would ever be so naïve as to let these slaves (very valuable property) go!

 

What struggle there must have been in the heart of Moses. He, just a little insignificant guy, is being sent to challenge the all-powerful pharaoh!

 

Our faith arises out of   deep struggles. God leads. We are challenged to trust that God accompanies us every step of the way.

 

Consider Jesus who struggled to be faithful to the Father in the last hours before he brutal murder on the cross. He asked God to take this ‘cup’ (of suffering) away from him. Through prayer he learned to accept the brutal ending that was to befall him. 

 

Jesus struggled! And right to the last breath!

 

We struggle right now over the wars raging in the Ukraine, Israel/Gaza and the Sudan. War is always caused by human agents. Plead with God to move the hearts and politics of the agents of war. 

 

Your nephew is into the drugs. You are anxiously afraid that he will hit a bad batch and suffer an overdose. You pray for his safety each day.

 

God has called you to walk and trust him. God will give you strength to work through some of the most difficult moments in human life. 

 

Now, bring to God and to people with whom you can share your faith journey the many struggles you have encountered. 

 

How many days do you feel just like Moses? 

 

Rely on is the love and power of God! Never give up!

 

 

 

 

WE DO NOT JUST DISAPPEAR

 

 

Every human being is confronted with the question: why am I here?

 

In a society where more and more people identify as ‘no religion” it is very helpful to reflect on what our religious truth brings us. The humorous point is made that when an atheist dies “he is all dressed up but now where to go!”

 

The first bold and strong truth that our Christian religion gives us is that every human being is here for a purpose. There is no such thing as a useless human being. We are all part of a much larger divine plan. You count!

 

We reject the observation: “You live and then you die.” What they are saying , “tough, you have only got so many days and that’s it!”

 

We are created with purpose and with destiny. We are not a one-time creature but we are made up of the people who love us and we love them. Part of every human being is their relationships and the joy and purpose every relationship brings. You are part of the life of many others. 

 

And when you die, these relationships do not disappear. The living continue to love and remember the departed. The departed continue to love us (we know this in our memory). Life and relationships all have purpose. They continue even after death. How many of us have said: “Oh, how I wish my mother would be here to see the kids sing?” How many spouses long for their mate, even after many years have passed since they died? 

 

The Christian truth has made it clear from the beginning that reality consists of the living (on earth) and the departed (in heaven). We leave this physical earth in death but we are destined for a glorified life in heaven. We have a serviceable name for this. We call this the “communion of saints.” We are still connected to the departed and they to us. 

 

Physical death does not negate the meaning and purpose of our life. Our life is destined to blossom and be glorified in eternity. 

 

This is why it is so good to remember our departed and pray for them. We are connected. But we should also encourage people to ask the departed to pray for us. We ask the official saints to pray for us. We should ask our prayerful grandmother to pray for us as we are struggling to make the monthly manage payments or navigate through the grocery store prices. In eternity she is in a position to intercede to God to help us in our struggles.

 

The belief in the communion of saints is not some nice ‘add-on’ but simply the extension of our belief that life has meaning and purpose from the creative hand of God. 

 

This November, remember and cherish your departed loved ones, whether they be family, co-workers, the people you went ot high school with some decades ago or just some of the wonderful people that you have worked with over the years. We are connected; we belong together and every human life has meaning ( alive or departed). 

 

 

 

 

YOU ARE TO BE THE FACE OF CHRIST

 

In your personality, work hard to know your weak points. All your family and friends suffer from your quirks and your weaknesses. The last person to recognize them is yourself. This is why the ancient teaching, “Know yourself,” is so essential.

 

As a Church, know what are your weak points! Church: know yourself!

 

One of our serious flaws is that for too many born into the faith, is that  religion is all about getting things done. You have to have your babies baptized! You have to  get your children to make their first communion. It is like you have to check off the designated boxes!

 

The Christian faith is living, breathing and walking in the very spirit and person of Jesus.It is not checking off the correct religious boxes!  The risen Jesus must flourish in our lives. Not only do we know that we are called by Jesus to be his disciples, but we are energized, shaped and moved forward by the very person of Jesus. We can sense Jesus in our prayers and in our body as we move out of ourselves to care for the poor and the suffering of this world.

 

This is where the uncomplicated prayer of Terese of Avila (she was a very significant mystic of the sixteenth century who has had a huge impact on Christiaan spirituality) is so useful.  This is no sweet and pious believer. This has proven to be a giant in the spiritual life.

 

She begins: “Christ has no body on earth but yours, no hands, but yours.” This is living in the resurrection of Jesus. The mystery of Jesus must now happen in us. We have been joined to Jesus in the waters of baptism to become the living extension of Jesus.

 

What has happened in the life of Jesus must now happen in our lives. As Jesus gave food to the hungry, so we become his living hands when we bring food to be shared at the food bank or when we help prepare meals for (mostly) homeless men. The mystery of the risen Christ takes shape in our sharing and our caring. 

 

One of the homeless men shared with one of the volunteers. “The best thing you ever did for us was to talk with us and showed some interest in how we were doing. You did not ignore us and walk by as if we were entirely invisible.” There was Christ in human respect and kindness.

 

Terese continued: “You are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ looks out into the world.” 

 

How we look at anything or anyone indicates what kind of value it has. If a vehicle is of no value to you, you will not even notice it let alone try to remember what make it is. If you can see Christ in the face of homeless man, you will pay attention and value his life. 

 

We want to support and nourish that sense that Christ lives and works in and through us.  We want to experience that we are the eyes and feet of Christ: right here, right now!

 

OUR GOSPEL AND HATE

 

The spillover effect of the turmoil in Israel and Gaza surfaces in Canada. We hear reports of Jews and Arabs (Canadian citizens) fearing that they could become the targets of violence and hate. We know that added police presence has been added around their places of worship and gathering places. 

 

There are a few people who may allow hate and anger to simmer and come to a boil in their lives. Such people cause much harm.

 

Hate may be manifested in very few individuals but it causes all Canadians to ask some serious questions of their own thoughts and actions.

 

The gospels of Jesus do not shy away from evil and hate. Jesus lived in the real world with all its violence and exploitation. But he was always faithful to the mission God had given him and trustful of the Spirit’s help when dealing with hate and taking advantage of another human being.

 

The clearest teaching comes from Matthew 5, 43-44: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven for he makes his sun rise on the evil and the good.”

 

Christians do not have a good record on this one but be challenged how Jesus teaches us to break the violence in the world.

 

If there is evil against your tribal group be in touch with the reactions and responses with your own life. If we react by threatening or  hurting another Canadian because they belong to the ‘other’ tribe, we have become as evil as the first enemy who inflicted evil in the first place.

 

I have been so supported by my fellow Christians who work to be accepting of people who are different from themselves. They see and respect the humanness of people who have a different skin color, speak a different language, wear clothes form the old country and eat a very different diet. 

 

I have been very uplifted by the teachers in our schools who make no distinction between the children who are the new-comers and the fourth generation white people. They can be so helpful teaching these new students the English language and helping them to learn how to interact with all their fellow students.

 

I have been very uplifted by our parishioners who have worked hard bringing and settling refugees into Canada. Often, we do not know nor appreciate the difficulties and frustrations they have experienced with the immigration system. There are so many hoops to jump through. And then when these refuges arrive, they have proved to be very helpful in getting them settled, but most of all, they become good friends with these newcomers.

 

But when the Gospel of Jesus is lived out through the lives of my fellow believers I appreciate how challenging Jesus actually is and how  beautiful are the fruits of justice and love as lived out in the lives of my fellow believers.

 

OUR RELIGION IS A PEACE-BUILDER

 

The world feels to be in turmoil. We have two major wars going on this week. We lament that the invasion of the Ukraine has now entered its sixth hundredth day. The foreign ministers of the major Western countries are hop-scotching from government to government in the Middle East trying to bring stability and sanity to the war-torn situation. 

 

While all this is exploding my prayer turns towards the power to work and build peace that comes from my Christian religion. This is not an escape but a challenge to be embraced by the power that comes from living in the Gospel of Christ. 

 

We must never deny the power of evil or deny the terrible consequences of any war. We must walk through the graveyards of the soldiers of war and all the victims of war who suffered  as a result of disease, displacement and starvation. At every turn we must ask: what has war ever accomplished? How has war ever made humanity better? 

 

Every war, every battle (even the battles between the drug gangs on our Canadian streets) is a failure of humanity. We are at our worst selves when we make war!

 

How many countless people have been displaced and have their homes and their fields destroyed by war? Has anyone ever counted the number of refugees from all the wars of the last one hundred years? The suffering is indescribable!

 

The first victim, the first person to be shot down in a war, will be the truth!

 

We Christians have a very poor history when it comes to making war and causing great suffering to displaced refugees. We have much to repent by our participation and support for making war. 

 

Christians have always had a difficult time trying to justify the making of war.  Way back in the fifth century we had the thinking of Augustine that created the ‘just war’ theory. With the advent of atomic weapons that theory collapses. 

 

Jesus came to bring humanity to be builders of peace. 

 

This is where every human being needs to become aware of the power within their own lives and their own community to bring and build peace. 

 

First, we must be reclaimed by the love of God for every single human being. We must see everyone (no matter how different from ourselves) as the very image of God. We must value, treat every human being with the respect that arises from the simple fact that they exist. Here is where I rejoice to see so many of my fellow Christians deliberately trying to speak good of each person. They wrestle with any feelings of racism, superiority they might be tempted to hold in their own lives. They do the hard work of facing their own shadow side when it comes to valuing other people. 

 

And then they practice respect for each human being. They ask the tough questions, such as ‘does everyone have safe secure dwelling and clean water? ‘ Each country has its blind spots and does not pay attention to the people on the periphery who barely survive. They work for more justice and respect within our own country. And at the same time, they extend that respect and care to the neglected people in other countries.

 

This is not a time to throw up our hands. Our Christian religion gives us great strength. It gives us great power to go forth into the next day with hope.