the sons of God

i have been listening to the news concerning the war and it got me to thinking. i got to thinking about is how horrid humans are. it seems that hate runs deeper then love, and violence runs deeper then peace. vengeance is the food that feeds the human soul and drives the human heart; with greed and self desires the spice that seasons the meal. my stomach turns at the thought of a human taking the life of another human and we call ourselves civilized. a great deal of what i have been hearing lately is dealing with "the cost of the war." many are talking about the political stuff and some one mentioned how much this war was costing in dollars. one of the panelists on one of those "news" shows mentioned he felt the price of gas could hit $5.00 a gallon soon and that other things would start to rise. they talked in terms of how this war is helping boost the economy in certain cities, and how it is helping certain companies hire more workers. it spoke in terms of the "true cost" of war and how it is helping the economy - needless to say i have become sick, and i vomit out the poisons placed in my system by such concerns. watching fox [ever so shortly] one day i actually heard the announcer say to stay tune to hear how the war was effecting "your" stocks and other parts of the economy. i believe we do not desire peace, we talk like we might but we don't - if we had peace, armies would get smaller, diplomats would be out of work and big business could not cash in on the wars. we do not want peace because it is bad for the economy, and bad for big business. the "cost of war" in dollars is nothing, because it is going into the pockets of companies out to make a buck on the true cost of war.

the true cost of war is in the death of innocent lives; the children, the elderly, the sick, the helpless, the disabled, the ones who never pick up a gun or strap a bomb on to kill others. the ones who are playing in the streets one minute and lying dead in the streets the next. the ones who are walking home from the store with bread and food who find them selves without a home to return to. the ones who sit on a couch nursing a baby when a bomb rips through the house killing all. the cost of war is found in the lives of those left to pick up the pieces of loved ones after a bomb takes out half an office building. the cost of war is found in the lost childhood of many who, on both sides, grow to hate and see vengeance as the only way of evening the score. the seeds of this war are being planted to become the wars of the future. war solves nothing, it never brings about peace and it is never fair at the end. the cost of war is always the winner over the loser and the loser desiring to "get even."

i will admit that there are times when i think we must fight, but then i realize i am falling into the trap of darkness. you see, war is darkness and peace is light - God can never be found in darkness, God does not live in darkness - God is only found in light and peace is light. war is destruction and God does not destroy, God creates. in creation God being about life, love, peace, and grace. the tension that is real in this for me can only be solved in the words of christ, and not in a loyalty to a political party or a country. for me, i find comfort in the arms of christ, and not wrapped in a flag or ideology. the sad part is, we will keep count of the soldiers who died, but we will never keep count of the children, the elderly and others who die in their path. the cost of war is great and it is too high a price to pay. as a christian minister, as a person who follows the teachings of jesus i believe we must stand against the cost of war and proclaim the price is too high. in matthew jesus says, "blessed are the peace makers for they will be called the sons of God." for me, i desire to be called "a son of God."



tags: emergent church, emerging church, john o'keefe, ginkworld, blog, peace