WWI produced a victor and a loser but the embers of the destruction did not take more than a generation before they had fanned into flame and even larger and more menacing war if the worlds. Mostly young men were sent to fight and still are. Those with heady hopes and rising dreams find themselves betrayed by the harsh realities of the battlefield. Death is never pretty. But the future that rises from the ashes is not pretty either. From winning on the battlefield came the ruins of once great cities and economies that were on life support. It did not take long before a world was caught up in a depression that put even more pressure on everything and everyone. After another world at war, a war so cold it was nearly frozen emerged. I grew up calling my desk a storm shelter and bomb shelter at the same time and I was a lucky one. A culture war began in the 1960s and joined the race riots to dominate a future of conflict. Korea and Vietnam did not accomplish much in positive terms but came at great cost to our nation as well as theirs. Wars undeclared in the Middle East and clandestine operations that did not remain hidden have left us wearied and wounded.
It appears that Trump has accomplished the unthinkable and actually strong armed Israel and the Palestinians to the peace table -- even the Arab nations have cooperated. Maybe there is peace in hand for the Ukraine. Who knows? Maybe Iran can be contained and its trajectory changed as well. We can hope. The strength of peace is in the resolve of the people -- in this case 65% of Israelis who wanted hostages home more than victory. Maybe moms will tire of burying their sons; may be dads will want to stop grieving over their lost futures -- sons and daughters who are no more. Maybe the people of nations governed by despots and egomaniacs will rise up to say enough. Maybe there will be more Trumps who are unlikely peacemakers but who surprise us. Who knows? We can hope.
It is not the weak that can effect peace but it takes more than military strength as well. It takes the strength of will and purpose and the voice to say enough. It is one thing to plaster Biblical phrases on a building in New York City but it is quite another to have a mechanism strong enough to work for peace. I have long been filled with disappointment at the thing called the United Nations. But maybe there will rise up those who can be stronger than cliches -- not a new UN but a real appetite to make the hard decisions that will make for a real peace -- one arising from the insistence that there must be a better way to fight again old battles or jockey for position to overcome old rivalries or bring resolution to every new conflict waiting to begin.
In any case, the poppies and fields of blood that birthed this day ought to remind us to say thank you to those whose sacrifice has born the cost of our convictions and to vow to them one more time -- never again.
3 comments:
One can understand how warfare among our species has been unceasing throughout history, punctuated by periods of peace, and it seems to be an almost normal way nations and groups behave. We have grown to accept it, even celebrate it. We build monuments, hold parades, award medals for bravery. The reality is the human race is not just fallen, but insecure. There are always the plundered, the victims, the collateral damage and bloodshed that follows the conquerors. The reasons for war? Usually, land, resources, power, pride. I do not speak as a pacifist, because I know there are occasions when war is the only way to resolve invasions and aggression. But I have not viewed war as an outsider or academic. Not since 1967-68. As a Marine Sgt during the Vietnam war, one saw the reality of mangled and maimed civilian and soldiers alike, the ruined cities and villages, the smell of decaying flesh after explosives have disappeared incinerated whole families which had the misfortune of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. I saw the misery and fear in the terrified faces of peasants huddling together in despair, weeping over their dead, not knowing a whit about global political struggles and the reasons why bombs decide winners and losers. On Veterans Day, we honor our heroes, and remember the slain young men who sacrificed their lives, and we should do so, but never look at war as an adventure, or entertainment. War is about the failure of mankind to have lasting peace on this side of glory. It is anything but adventurous, and to hear the cries of the dying is something of a reminder. Soli Deo Gloria
War is the direct result of human nature. See Cain vs. Able.
The people in governments produce results that are flawed, as human nature is.
A Christian working in government, will be frustrated by non-Christians. Remember Jimmy Carter. Most in government, who call themselves Christians, do not know what Christianity is all about.
The reason people say that, “war does not settle anything” is that after the war, the nature of people who rule, is the same as that of those who ruled during the war. An analysis of World War II, shows this to be true, although World War II did accomplish much. It made it possible for the western world to remain free; it made it possible for the State of Israel to be created. Because 80 years after World War II ended, some people are agitating for the same things that caused the war, does not mean that the war accomplished nothing. 80 years of relative peace and prosperity is not nothing.
”Here is no abiding city, here is no abiding stay,“ as T. S. Eliot. Wrote. To which the faithful reply, “Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly.”
Finally, in which army do soldiers salute with the left hand?
Peace and Joy!
George A. Marquart
Having the Palestinian or Arab Islamists sitting (or even standing) at the peace table with Israel is completely different from cooperating in actual peace with Israel. For if the latter were to occur, the Islamists would no longer be Islamists.
Just ask Anwar Sadat.
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