I was reading Romans today and realized how a small word of encouragement from Paul and others could go far. They lived in trying times and shone.

As events in Iraq are unfolding we don’t have to be feeling helpless. Irene Q has found a way to encourage. I see comments over at looking back….looking forward letting him know he is missed and wishing him a speedy recovery.

It is easy to tear down, using words and attitude to wound. It is more often down out of fear and iqnorance than arrogance.
It is important we resist that fear, and ego-centred talk, and make an effort to encourage others. It is something we can do when times get tough.

Jesus was clearly no advocate of armed force. But nor did he condemn those who used it - even against him. On the contrary, he prayed
for them, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

How timely Christ’s words are for us who claim to follow him! He spoke them as a sinless man.What about us, who contribute to war in so many ways, every day of our lives - with our greed and materialism, our backbiting and gossip, our unfaithfulness and family feuds, our arrogance, our general selfishness and our
disregard for others? How do we stand before God, we who stand on the sidelines and condemn those who have planned this war,
and those who are now fighting it?

The time is past when one can simply be “for” or “against” war.

Peace activists have been hijacking their voice with violence.

I have great respect for every person who has recently attended a vigil, protest march, or peace rally. I myself have participated in dozens over the last four decades. But I am also concerned about the tensions, the divisiveness, and even open violence that is sometimes a part of these gatherings.

And we can polarize ideology, lose our day to day equilibrium in the latest news and neglect humanity on both sides.

The war in Iraq calls each of us who oppose it to make a choice. We can criticize the White House and the Pentagon. We can antagonize those we disagree with. We can rub salt into the wounds of families who have lost loved ones (or who fear losing them). We can look on soldiers and sailors and airmen as evil-doers.

me=good: government=evil
soldiers=good: protesters=evil
me=good: Iraqi=evil
me=pro: you=anti
me=good: others=evil

Jan at Shalom linked up to a site called Tolerance.org. A joint effort of two US universities, it provides tests to measure your prejudice and bias. You might be surprised what has crept into your thinking and beliefs.

Or we can show them love, as we have never shown love before. We can listen to those who are angry with us. We can encourage those who are hurt or bitter. We can take time for the children around us. Many of them will go to bed tonight with the images of a war that is thousands of miles away, but still scares and confuses them. And we can support the troops on both sides of the battle by praying for their safe return, and for a speedy end to hostilities.

By “supporting the troops” I am not talking about waving flags, or calling them home and hoping they’ll get over their nightmares. (As someone who has counseled veterans of every major war in the last century, including both World Wars, the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and Gulf War I, I have learned that no soldier ever “gets over” a war.) I am talking about recognizing them for what they really are: the beloved parents, spouses, children, brothers, and sisters of families no different from yours and mine. Regardless of the choices they once made, which have since landed them in the Iraqi desert, they are now cogs in a huge machine. They are leaves in a massive whirlpool of violence that began turning with Cain and Abel, and has never stopped since.

Love is a decision, not a feeling. It acts.

Who will support these men and women once the last shot has been fired, and they start showing up in AA meetings and emergency rooms, psych wards and funeral homes? At the moment, there’s plenty of talk about heroism and sacrifice, God and country. But what’s going to happen once the war is over, and everyone has moved on to the next big thing on the screen? Who’s going to be there for “our boys in the Gulf” when they start turning their weapons on themselves?

Bruderoff Communities

Love doesn’t give up. Love isn’t boastful or proud. Love isn’t arrogant. You and I sit in comfort in front of our computers, and as I encouraged you to avoid the militarization of language the other day, I encourage you to ponder about what you can do.
Just for today.
It may be all someone you come across has.
It may be all you have.

Blogger Callout

Philippines

This war has me thinking a lot about death (even more than when I thought about it back in college). The Old Testament espoused an eye for an eye philosophy, yes, but things changed upon the arrival of Christ. I believe that no one has the right to take a life away, believing, instead, in the goodness of God to deal with evil in His own perfect timing, and in His own perfect will.

Ultimately, PRAYER is the answer to anything. Granted, there will be life-and-death situations will happen. When such things arise, prayer is best. When we desire deep within our hearts for something, we ask it of God, and if it is in His will, for our betterment, He will grant it. We can trust in His wisdom, and His leading, to take us where we want to go.

I guess what I’m trying to say is, no matter how rational or imperative this war may be in the eyes of the United States, I don’t think it’s God-blessed at all. As a matter of fact, Revelation describes this sort of thing (world wars, violence, sickness and pestilence) as a sign that the end of days is approaching. Michael Moore didn’t do a very good job of advocating peace at the Oscars, and I’m not sure if I’m doing a good either, but one thing is for certain: God has His reasons for letting this war take place, and even if we do not support it, we can continue to pray, and learn from this solid experience.

It’s one thing to live in trying times. Can’t we make this time the time to live? We can learn from every experience, and I think that’s the second-best thing we can do for the meantime, in these trying, trying times.

Mere Madness entry Monday, March 24th. Thanks Ganns.

Malaysia, Philippines, Haiti, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Wales, Puerto Rico and the USA have responded to my blogger callout. Anyone else?

SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome has spread in China, and is now being reported in Beijing.

Instapundit says: Though it will probably turn out to be nothing major, this bothers me — particularly as I suspect that, through a combination of deliberate cover-up and simple underreporting, there are a lot more cases than we know about.

I’ve been tracking SARS for a couple of weeks now. Type it into the search engine on the side bar if you’d like. Statistical epidemiologists say that diseases like SARS go in ‘S’ curves, and often throughout history have broken away from that pattern and become pandemics.