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Mike Writes for November
“When you go home, tell them of us
and say:
For your tomorrow we gave our today.”
The Kohima Epitaph
Once more we come to that time of year when we will remember with sadness
all those who have been killed in war. As each year passes the number with
first hand experience of the two world wars dwindles and all we are left with
are their names on countless memorials up and down our land. Sadly again,
that is not the end of our remembering for as our forces are still engaged
in military action, especially in Afghanistan, the names of the young men
still being killed for their country is constantly being updated.
The 1st World War, the ‘Great War’, was at one time said to be
the war to end all wars, such was the scale of the killing, yet in a little
over twenty years the world was at war again. Since 1945 there have been countless
wars and conflicts and there never does seem to have been a time when the
world as a whole has been at peace. It does seem to be a flaw in God’s
creation that man does not seem able to learn from the mistakes of others
and so keeps repeating their mistakes. May be we just have not evolved to
that higher state when we realise the futility of war and can respect and
live with each other’s differences.
The prophet Isaiah wrote over two and a half thousand years ago of an age
when justice and righteousness will abound and there will be no more conflict,
only harmony throughout the whole of creation. Was that a vision of what is
to come, or just wishful thinking? Certainly today we are no nearer to seeing
a world at peace, in fact when we look around things seem to be getting worse
rather than better.
We all want peace. We all want an end to violence and killing, and yet it
does not happen. If everyone wants it to happen, why doesn’t it? Are
we not being completely truthful or is there a problem with achieving peace?
I suspect that deep down we are not nearly as peaceful a people as we would
like to think. Every week you can see on the news or read in the newspapers
of some killing or vicious assault, often fuelled by alcohol or drugs. How
many people are afraid to go out on their own at night, or even to answer
their own doorbell? If we cannot live at peace and harmony with those who
live around us what chance is there with strangers?
Like it or not we live in a world filled with evil and that evil is the result
of man’s freedom of choice. Too often we make the selfish choice and
ignore the needs of our neighbours. Too often we ignore the words of our God.
We love self more than we love our neighbour and we certainly do not love
God with our whole being. The problems of our world come quite simply from
our failure to acknowledge our God and give him the love and respect, which
he deserves. Until we put God at the centre of our lives nothing will change
and we will continue to have wars and the names of our dead will continue
to grow year by year.
Is there another way we should be following? Jesus taught a way of life based
on love and forgiveness and did not even raise a hand to defend himself when
his enemies attacked him. How far should we follow his example? Do you stand
aside when a member of your family or a friend is attacked? There are no easy
answers and even it you feel that following Jesus example of non-violence
is for you, do you have a right to force your views on another person?
I am aware that I have posed a lot of questions in this article but I feel
that the only way in which we will move forward and away from the continuing
circle of violence is if we face up to them. We need to be more willing to
engage with people who hold different views from ourselves. To accept that
we may not have the whole truth and to consider that there is another point
of view. We may feel very strongly that to follow Christ is the only way to
the Kingdom of God but we should be prepared, for instance, to listen to what
the Moslem faith teaches and to see if that can teach us something. Hopefully
they may be willing to listen to us and see whether our understanding of God
through Christ can teach them something. Is this a possibility, or is this
like Isaiah’s vision of a world in perfect harmony, just wishful thinking
or for a time far in the future?
Until then we will continue to remember with sadness those who have been killed
trying to bring us peace, and our responsibility for their dying.
Mike
