Dear one,
There was a generation who lived these headlines:
Austria Declares War
Britain On Verge Of War With Germany
Lusitania Sunk By Submarine: Probably 1,260 Dead
Wilson Breaks With Germany
War Is Declared By US
Germans Take Most Of Messines Ridge
Americans Drive Germans Back Over Marne
Germans Agree To Sign.
Of course, these were headlines tracking the so-called “Great War,” the war to end all wars—and yet, the next generations entered “World War II,” “The Cold War,” the “Korean Conflict, “The Viet Nam War,” “Desert Storm,” the “Iraq War” and …
Yesterday, as I once again read about the “fertile crescent” and the advent of human civilization—approximately 5,000 years ago—I was reminded that the ancient Sumerians, and then some later, the Akkadians to their north, with great ingenuity built marvelous cities. At their centers, these city-states afforded magnificent temples; at their circumferences, they offered stout walls, in order to provide protection against their civilized neighbors, and the uncivilized, mountain nomads to the west.
As I read and imagined these city-states, I envisioned nothing that I had not seen or conceived previously: from our American frontier forts to European castles with their moats to the walls of Jerusalem. All of this was familiar—and then with further thought, sadly I realized (again) that from our most ancient, recorded past to the present, our human history is replete with strife, conflict, and war: this person against that person; this family against that family; this tribe against that tribe; this city against that city … this nation against … and some of our greatest technological advances acquired through our warring.
Oh, I know, our recorded history is not all darkness; and yet, from our beginnings “warring madness” exists.
With these thoughts another stream has been washing upon the shores of my mind: the longing for change—for a change that characterizes our humanity as other than our history. In this regard, my heart and mind have been greatly lifted by the affirmation of the Apostle Paul:
“Behold, I speak mystery to you: We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed” (1Corinthians 15:51-52).
From within our history, genuine hope has arisen; from One who knew walled cities and their cruel instruments of civilized war, true change has been given.
May He work that change within and among us.
Stan