war

13 Yr. Old Prince has a Dream for Congo

Carrie Nye — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:36:48 -0800

Have you ever thought about what you might say if you drafted your own version of Martin Luther King Jr.’s, I Have a Dream speech? What dreams do you have? What hopes do you have for yourself and for your community?

Prince lives in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Four years ago, Prince, who is one of many street kids born in a war zone and living on the streets, asked my friend Esther if she could help him go to school. Now 13 years old, Prince and his classmates recently studied the life of Martin Luther King Jr. This past November, Prince stood in front of his class and recited MLKJ’s I Have a Dream speech. As he finished, his classmates applauded and Esther told him he did a great job and that he could take a seat again.

Prince stood there in front of the class. He hesitated for only a moment and then said, “But that was MLKJ’s dream for America. I have a dream for Congo.”

And then he confidently declared from the front of his class these words:

As Martin Luther King had a dream for USA, I also have a dream for DR Congo.

I have a dream that one day DR Congo will rise up and return to his destiny.

I believe deeply that things are going to be different in this rich country, whose population is poor and unhappy, in which children are in the streets, women and girls are raped, small children forced in the army instead of going to school; ladies become prostitute for nobody takes care of them, and many of them are HIV positive.

Even though Eastern Congo is thorned by violence and wars, famine destroys many families, many people died because they don’t get health care. Cries become the chorus of our songs; Listen, very soon the chorus is going to change to praises to God!

I have a dream that this country is going to be transformed to a paradise, where foreigners will not come to bring aid but to find rest and peace, because God has decided to bless this country; he is bringing hope back in Congo.

I have a dream that very soon Congo is going to be an oasis of Peace and development in Africa. God is going to restore the leadership in this country, Congolese will choose to work hard and develop their own country.

I have a dream today.

Prince NTWALI, 13

Young Prince hasn’t stopped with that profound and prophetic speech. He is currently writing a book he has titled, The Fearless Leader.

Over the past few years, I’ve written many posts on the tragedy and horror taking place in the DRC. The war has raged for 15 years and 6 million people have lost their lives as a result. Millions of others are displaced, orphaned, damaged and drowning in their own tears. Prince is living proof that God has different plans for Congo. Jesus is the ruler of all and his perfect peace will overcome the chaos, his light will pierce the darkness and evil will be stomped out.

2 Chronicles 16:9 says that the eyes of the Lord scan the earth to strengthen the hearts of those committed to him. I believe God sees Prince and God will use him to restore Congo.

So what’s your dream? What do you hope for?

Be assured God not only hears you, he also sees you and the foundation of the throne he sits upon is a foundation of justice. That justice will prevail.

DR Congo: Heaven has Come to Hell on Earth

Carrie Nye — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 19:30:07 -0800

It happened again. This time it was 33 women. While people around the world celebrated the beginning of a new year and the hope of change in 2011, 33 women in Eastern Congo went through hell on earth as armed men took their turns raping and brutalizing their bodies, some in front of their children. Chaos erupted and sent residents of the village attacked on a running spree.

In Eastern Congo, in the surrounding areas of the city Goma, which sits along Lake Kivu on the boarder of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, rape is used as a weapon of war. This war has been raging in this area for 15 years. The result? Over 5 million violent deaths, countless rapes, a nonexistent education system and a lack of trusted, secure government officials. This is the worst humanitarian crisis since WWII.

Fortunately, Jesus is alive and on the move in the midst of the devil’s playground in Congo. Fortunately God has eyes and sees what’s taking place. Fortunately, the Holy Spirit is blowing through the land and working hard to bring the Kingdom of Heaven down on top of the evil that exists.

I know this because last night I had the honor and privilege of spending some time listening to dear friends of mine, Camille* and Esther Ntoto share stories of reconciliation, surrender, forgiveness, love, unity, resilience and modern day miracles all taking place right now in this land. The Ntoto’s live in Goma and see the struggles of their own people day in and day out. The devil never takes a day off unfortunately. But neither does God and he has the last word.

I sat and listened to Esther and Camille go on and on about stories of the Kingdom come to Earth and people transformed by the Word of God and by the power of the risen Christ. I felt a host of emotions as I soaked it all in. I was saddened by the reality of life for so many in Eastern Congo it made me physically hurt. At the same time, I was in awe of hearing of the ways God’s glory is shining through the darkness. It’s a weird concept to be hurt, angry and confused knowing that other people are experiencing such pain, despair and hell at it’s worst while also knowing and believing God’s kingdom work being done regardless.

The idea that the kingdom of God has come to Earth, even now before the return of Christ, is incomprehensible to me. Sure I believe it because I see evidence of it in my life as well as in others such as with the Ntoto’s. But the significance of that is humbling, overwhelming and in the words of the rainbow guy, intense!

So tonight I’m still heartbroken and a little tore up about the pure ugliness happening to the beautiful Congolese people. And I’m also praising God for his compassion, his caring acts of mercy and restoration and for friends like Esther and Camille who live out the hope they have received in Jesus and who are witnesses to Christ in a broken place in much need of healing.

I’m stripping the academics from the kingdom of heaven and reveling in its reality tonight. I’m longing to have both feet in the kingdom opposed to one in and one out in this world in this moment. I’m believing that God has already called Congo his nation and the Congolese his people and he will continue to usher in his will, his goodness and his plans of greatness into that land.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your Kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power and the glory are yours.
Now and for ever. Amen

*To hear Camille share more about their ministry and work in Goma, check out this podcast that Camille did for ConversantLife a couple years back.

Could a Little Whistle End the World's Deadliest War?

Carrie Nye — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 13:53:25 -0700

In June of this year I highlighted NY Times jounalist Nicholas D. Kristof’s article Death by Gadget in this post. Kristof did a great job of speaking the truth about the war in Eastern Congo and the driving force behind it. Yes that force is the demand for Congo’s minerals which are used to manufacture most electronics, Apple products included.

Since that post I’ve also posted a bit about an organization I am hearing more and more from called Falling Whistles.

Falling Whistles began because an American young man visiting Eastern Congo, ran into a few boys who had just ran away from the army they had been forced to join and who were now in hiding. This young American man listened to their stories of their kidnapping and the brutality they were forced to endure themselves and inflict on others. And then he heard something he could hardly believe was true.

The children who were too small to carry the weight of a gun marched in the front lines of the army with whistles around their tiny necks. As potential threats approached, these young children blew their sounding whistles to alarm the rest of their army. In doing so, however, they identify themselves to the threatening group and it's these young, helpless whistle blowers who are killed while the army behind them has time to prepare for conflict. Crazy right? Why is this kind of brutality and absolute lack of compassion acceptable in our day? It’s sickening really.

Falling Whistles recently released a short 7 minute film on the issue. It’s a well made, captivating film. Check it out and let me know what you think.

What do you think the answers might be to ending this brutal, violent, evil war?

Is it refusing to buy the latest techy device until manufacturing companies can guarantee their products are conflict free?

Congo doesn’t manufacture guns. Ever think about that? Who is their gun supplier and is there a way to end the violence by digging into that?

As Christians, called to acts of justice and mercy, what can we do to help the oppressed victims who seem so far from our reach? I’d love to hear what you think about all this.

Cynicism, Like a Drug, Feels Good for a While

bo.white — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 09:48:16 -0700

-Ism's in my opinion are not good. A person should not believe in an -ism....

-Ferris

My son was born on the very day that George W. Bush decided it was prudent to invade Iraq. I remember being distraught at the lack of evidence revealing weapons of mass destruction and I remember feeling a bit, well, cynical that my son would know anything but a violent world. Who is going to teach him peace? That was one of my journal entry questions that night. At the end of the day, his mother and I would have to teach him peace, but one day he will need to learn that global peace is difficult and my prayer is that he won't become jaded or cynical in his quest to simply live out his faith in a fractured world. Let's be honest, cynicism can be a drug at times. It feels good for a while, but after all is said and done, it's a let down.

Paul Miller, in his book A Praying Life, cautions and cares for us in his writing on cynicism. Listen carefully:

When I say that cynicism is the spirit of the age, I mean it is an influence, a tone that permeates our culture, one of the master temptations of our age. By reflecting on cynicism and defeated weariness, we are meditating on the last petition of the Lord's Prayer: "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one," (Matthew 6:13, NIV). Cynicism is so pervasive that, at times,
it feels like a presence. (p. 77-78)

Indeed, the dark side of the force in our day could very well be a global cynicism that agrees that large corporations are corrupt, politicians are corrupt, the economy is unfair, and injustice is pervasive, tolerated, and ignored. Yet, maybe cynicism is what is behind the boom in social networking or the meltdown in so many relationships. Paul Miller again is instructive:

To be cynical is to be distant. While offering a false intimacy of being, 'in the know,' cynicism actually destroys intimacy. It leads to a creeping bitterness that can deaden and even destroy the spirit....Cynicism begins, oddly enough, with too much of the wrong kind of faith, with naive optimism or foolish confidence. At first glance, genuine faith and naive optimism appear identical since both foster confidence and hope. But the similarity is only surface deep. Genuine faith
comes from knowing my heavenly Father loves, enjoys, and cares for me. Naive optimism is groundless. It is childlike trust without the loving Father. (p. 80)

So, why so many cynical people? Perhaps, we are simply living in what could later be called 'the Cynical Age'. The Dark Ages preceded the Enlightenment, so maybe Cynicism could precede a pervasive Mysticism linked to Optimism or a renewed Intellectualism based on something other than an ism. Whatever the case, Cynicism doesn't seem to be going away tomorrow or the next day. In fact, on my more cynical days, I doubt we ever leave a cynical age as long as there is sin and selfishness barking at us from around every corner.

-bo

Could the iPhone be Fueling a War in Africa?

Carrie Nye — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 22:25:54 -0700

NY Times journalist, Nicholas D. Kristof, wrote an article published in today’s paper he titled Death by Gadget. It’s a timely article in light of the release of the latest iPhone. Would you believe that by purchasing the iPhone and most electronics, for that matter, you might be funding one of the deadliest wars in history?

Kristof has this to say about the conflict in Congo:

I’ve never reported on a war more barbaric than Congo’s, and it haunts me. In Congo, I’ve seen women who have been mutilated, children who have been forced to eat their parents’ flesh, girls who have been subjected to rapes that destroyed their insides. Warlords finance their predations in part through the sale of mineral ore containing tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold. For example, tantalum from Congo is used to make electrical capacitors that go into phones, computers and gaming devices.

To read the entire article click here .
Kristof, offers a brief insight into just how serious this conflict in Eastern Congo really is:

A word of background: Eastern Congo is the site of the most lethal conflict since World War II, and is widely described as the rape capital of the world. The war had claimed 5.4 million deaths as of April 2007, with the toll mounting by 45,000 a month, according to a study by the International Rescue Committee.

Watch this video to see Kristof in Congo.

The Congo is considered the worst place in the world to be born into. Girls are raised knowing they will be raped. Boys are raised to be violent and to trust no one. Forty-five thousand deaths in a 30 day time period is mind blowing. That is 1500 people a day.

But the Congo is on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean from those of us in the United States. Should their problems really be our concern? Can we really do anything to stop the chaos that Congolese men, women and children struggle to survive in everyday while we're here in America or in any other country for that matter?

What if we stopped buying electronics containing the conflict minerals, tantalum, tungsten, tin and gold? Could we save lives? Could we stop a war simply by not purchasing electronics? What if the people of the free world used their voice, their freedom to vote and their consumer power to end a war? Can it be done? Should it be done?

There are plenty of activists groups who are working tirelessly to bring the electronics companies dirty little secret into the light and allow the consumer to vote and make a statement via their purchases. One such group produced the video shown here.

I don’t want to knock the iPhone and I surely don’t judge people for their electronics purchases. In fact, I own a Blackberry and I am watching "one of the most dramatic seasons of the Bachelorette" on a giant flat screen TV right now. I am impressed by the technology of today and the creativity it took to produce it.

But I have to ask myself, are the advantages of our electronics worth a life in Congo? I know my answer to that question, but I want to hear what you think about all this. Is it the consumers responsibility to ensure what we are purchasing was not made at the expense of another? Or is it someone else’s problem like the companies in the electronic industry? Should we be concerned with lives of people we know nothing about?

I traveled to the Congo in 2003 and I can tell you that I encountered some Congolese who are not happy with Americans and white people in general. Their anger is deeply rooted in history and is understandable. Should this concern us? Is it our problem?

As you can see, I have a lot of questions and not a lot of answers. But I’d really like to hear what your thoughts are on this. Thanks to Leonardo DiCaprio’s, Blood Diamond, some exposure was made into the jewelry industry, but what will it take for people to see the damage that our cell phones and WII’s are causing?

Kristof ends his article with a profound statement that I’ll use to end this blog:

We may be able to undercut some of the world’s most brutal militias simply by making it clear to electronics manufacturers that we don’t want our beloved gadgets to enrich sadistic gunmen. No phone or tablet computer can be considered “cool” if it may be helping perpetuate one of the most brutal wars on the planet.

By the way, if you haven't seem Blood Diamond, you might want to add it to your Netflix Queue.

Violence and the Fall of Man

bo.white — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:56:41 -0700

What has always been striking to me is the fact that the first children (Cain and Abel) mentioned in the Bible resulted in the first recorded murder. Cain kills Abel in cold blood. It's clear, unmistakable, evil, and violent. What is also clear is that in recent decades, we have argued and debated not simply our rights to have firearms, but also the rights to go to war. Violence seems to be something naturally a part of fallen humanity and something that seems to be here to stay.

Despite the increased violence found in public schools, the 'right to bear arms' is defended to an almost fever pitch. And more than this, let's simply reflect a bit behind the headlines. Since September 2001, terrorism has been in the news almost daily, the threat of nuclear war seems to also be creeping back into the mainstream mindset with the recent summit meetings with Russia and sanctions against Iran. And yet, there has been a rise in violent video games and horror films the likes of which we haven't seen in quite some time. Either the world is indeed becoming more violent or violence is simply surfacing as an integral part of what it means to be worldly.

A recent story about violent crime on the streets of Chicago had some amazing and alarming stats. The direct quote is as follows:

So far this year, 113 people have been killed — matching the death toll of U.S. troops killed in Iraq and Afghanistan during the same period.

The Chicago Sun Times - Daley: National Guard only a 'Band-Aid' solution to crime

This article actually challenges me to wonder if pacifism and non-violence really is the Christian or most Biblical way to counter the violence wrought by our own collective hearts. To have more murders in a calendar year than two wars says something striking about our own sense of community. Many of us aren't really living life with a vision of something new or better or different, many of us are simply surviving life, hoping the next paycheck will come in and hoping we'll be alive to spend it on something more than our food, lodging, and transportation. Yet, the conservative crowd is clamoring not for gun control, but for gun rights. This doesn't seem right. Shouldn't we have a deeper, broader, and more comprehensive vision of life? Shouldn't we invite people to a better life and not just a life of survival?

Charles Darwin, perhaps as well as anyone, articulates our struggle as he lives with the tension of his own words. On the one hand, Darwin says,

A moral being is one who is capable of reflecting on his past actions and their motives - of approving of some and disapproving of others.

And on the other hand, Darwin predicts that,

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace the savage races throughout the world.

So, which is it? When will we learn from past mistakes to the point that we usher in a new era of civilization that isn't so 'savage'? Of course, the irony runs thick as Darwin seems to label some people 'savages' and those who will 'exterminate' them, I guess are civilized. But, you see the tension. How do we fight violence without giving in to violence?

I think, then, of the legacies of Mother Theresa, Mohatma Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., the Buddha, and of course, Jesus Christ. And despite the fact that not all of them would claim to be evangelical, they all decided not to enter in to the violence that so easily and so readily flows from human hearts. They decided to fight violence with non-violence; hatred with love; and war with peace. I wonder if we need to rethink what it means to fight our fallenness and simply wage war not on one another, but on that which so easily flows from a heart that is so often conflicted and confused. This healthy distrust of our own violent means may push us further into uncharted waters. And we may indeed be strong, courageous, and in praise of pacifism in a time when violence seems to hover all around us. Perhaps, pacifism isn't simply a non-violent means to advocate for peace, but it's also a bold stance against our own fallen nature.

-bo

Muslims are killing Christians in Nigeria. Will we respond like Christ or like humans?

Mark Russell — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:07:15 -0700

Over the weekend I tweeted and updated my facebook status with the simple statement: Muslims killing Christians in Nigeria followed by a simple question: Will we respond like Christ or like humans? It’s always interesting what captures people’s imaginations and provokes response.

After a year of conversations on facebook, I was still amazed at the response the simple status update received. Feel free to check it out here: http://bit.ly/auO0bH

Reflecting on responses, the following points are worth of mentioning:

1) There is no emotion like religious emotion.

Wars over the centuries have demonstrated that religions are frequently front and center in every war. Religious emotion is a product of two things as I see it. First, it is an indicator that people genuinely care. If they didn’t care, they wouldn’t get so upset.

Extrapolate this to relationships, we feel pain or get upset if someone offends our spouse, but our heart beat will barely increase if we see a stranger offend another stranger on the subway.

However, there is also a more sinister reason religious emotion is so hot, namely it is a reflection of insecurity. In almost any form of debate when someone’s argument is weak they will resort to speaking harshly, even shouting, or otherwise spewing forth emotion to distract from the weakness of their argument.

The same is true in religious contexts. When people are insecure in their beliefs or faith, they cover it with emotion. This is largely a subconscious act. Generally the insecure actor is unaware of his/her constant need to cover for his/her insecurity.

2) Who is we and who are they?

One astute facebook friend asked me at one point who was meant by “we” in my question. When I tweeted it, I was actually thinking of “we” as everyone not in Nigeria.

But I have noticed periodically that there is a certain sloppiness in defining “us” and in defining “them.” We are the Christians. They are the Muslims. We are Americans. They are Arabs.

Not only do these “us-them” categories continue to reinforce stereotypes and maintain barriers, but hey are also frequently inaccurate. A few years ago while teaching a class on Arabs at Asbury Seminary, a student brought up how they (Arabs) are killing us (Christians) in Nigeria. Actually, there are no Arabs (perhaps a few) in Nigeria. There are Muslims but this is not synonymous with Arabs, who are a people group, and of which quite a few are actually Christians!

This misunderstanding had caused the student and undoubtedly many others to extend the terror acts of a few Middle Easterners to the situation in Nigeria.

The reality is that these are exceptionally different situations and the situation in Nigeria is more akin to inter-tribal warfare than anything else.

Sadly enough in Nigeria, Christians have also murdered hundreds of Muslims. Even sadder, I have even heard Nigerian church leaders say that Christians should arm themselves like a militia. But is that really the answer?

3) Who kills us?

Every single people group I’ve ever visited in every single country I’ve visited (and I’ve been to over 70 countries) has another group that they stigmatize, don’t like and more often, hate.

What the groups do not tend to recognize is that they are more generally killed, persecuted, cheated, lied to, etc…by people within their own group. This is true for Christians as well. Who is the number one killer of Christians worldwide?....(drum roll)….Answer: Other Christians.

Last year, I wanted to travel with a Rwandan friend to Congo. Rwanda is a “Christian” country where roughly a million Christians were murdered by other Christians in 1994. Congo is also a Christian country, where four million Christians have been murdered by other Christians in the last decade. Unfortunately, my contacts in Congo told me to not come with my Rwandan friend, pointing out that Rwandans are generally hated and are frequently hunted down and murdered in Congo.

This is true in the US as well. Christian militia groups like the KKK hunted down other Christians and killed them. “Christian” Timothy McVeigh killed scores of Christians in Oklahoma City. Eric Rudolf, acting on his understanding of his Christian faith, planted a bomb in Olympic Park. The list goes on.

Granted followers of Christ will not look on these deviations as valid expressions of our faith. The same debate rages inside Islam.

The point is: Christians kill Christians more than anyone else does.

4) The New Way

When Jesus came and proclaimed himself to be the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6), he gave us all a radically new way of living life and responding to the hostile acts of others.

The teachings of Jesus are legendary: turn the other cheek, love your enemy, etc…

They are so commonplace in church circles that I’m afraid they’ve become like canned food, something that is always in the cupboard but something we infrequently use or even really know what it is.

Have we really considered what it means to turn the other cheek and to love our “enemy”? Generally speaking, I don’t think we have.

After 9-11, I remember watching a well-known Evangelical church leader say that we should respond with everything in our military arsenal. I was saddened that he didn’t say something like prayer.

Shortly thereafter I emailed over a thousand people and asked them to join me in praying for the redemption and forgiveness of Al-Qaeda operatives. I was surprised at some of the hostility displayed by otherwise loving Christians to the very idea of loving these enemies through prayer.

A year or so ago, I was in Pennsylvania and saw the location where a mad man locked up and tied up Amish children and shot the little girlsin the back of the head.

The Amish responded to the senseless and heinous act of violence by raising the site, lest it cause them bitterness, committed these children to the Lord and chose to love their “enemy” by forgiving the man (who committed suicide) and choosing to financially support his widow and children.

When I’ve told that story to other Christians, they frequently try to explain why this was not a necessary step on behalf of the Amish. Or they resort to referring to the Amish as a cult. Or some other line of commentary that prevents them from ever having to practice turning the other cheek like the Amish did.

Recently, I was at a conference and an anti-nuclear activist suggested that if there was a nuclear attack on US soil, that 95% of Christians would push for a retaliatory nuclear attack. I’m afraid he’s right.

Do we look at persecution as an opportunity to live the new way of Christ, turning the other cheek, loving our enemy or do we seek to justify a violence-based response.

Muslims are killing Christians in Nigeria. Will we respond like Christ or like humans?

Defining Humanitarianism – Snipers and Shepheds

Christian Buckley — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 12:28:57 -0800

For a while I have been thinking about the answer to this question. What does it really mean to live in such a way that I am truly promoting the welfare, or well-being, of humanity? What does it involve? What attributes of Christ can we learn from to enlarge our understanding of this idea? At its core, my question is this – Can we understand humanitarianism as “being” rather than “doing.” Is it really about who we are?

Along the way, I have been looking for examples of “being” that might be considered humanitarian. I found a great one in an article entitled “Sharpshooters – The Distant Executioner” in the February 2010 Vanity Fair (a moderately guilty pleasure of mine in the realm of reading).

In the article, the author describes a story that one sniper conveyed regarding a fire-fight outside of the town of Chora in Afghanistan:

At the end of the day [as] the small convoy set out for home…. they were ambushed where the road climbed through the narrows above the town. The attack started with twin explosions to the left and right, caused apparently by the misfiring of rockets exploding in place. Small-arms fire followed immediately from both sides. As usual, it came from fairly long range, at least 500 meters away, and was plentiful but inaccurate. The convoy pulled into a defensive herringbone formation and stopped. The top machine-gunners opened up in response—though at fighters who were largely invisible. The soldiers inside the Humvees bailed out. In his rush, Crane [the focus of the story] got hung up on the door and went sprawling into the dirt. He rose and, with enemy rounds slapping the ground, ran to join his partner in the partial shelter of his Humvee.

Then he saw the shepherd—an older man standing calmly in the road with a flock of sheep, despite the uproar of the battle, and the bullets snapping above him. In one hand he held a wooden staff. Crane watched as he stretched his arms out wide. The sheep responded by coming to him, clustering around, and lowering their heads. [The fight continued on for a time and when it ended] no Americans had been hit. A few Afghans in the convoy had been wounded, but none had been killed.

On the road the Afghan shepherd had been standing all the while with his arms outstretched above his sheep. Now he touched several of them with his staff. The sheep responded by raising their heads and quietly accompanying him as he walked out of sight around a bend.

Back at the base that evening the soldiers were full of talk about it. “Dude, did you see that dude?”

The essence of this story is about who the shepherd was. What he did for his sheep wasn’t so much an act of service or a sacrifice he planned to make, it was the result of his being, an involuntary response. His actions revealed his essence. I wonder what his first thought was? My guess – the sheep.

I can’t help but thinking about Christ – our good shepherd – and us as his sheep. I imagine myself standing under his calm outstretched arms with my head lowered as the bullets fly by. Christ, the humanitarian, physically looking out for my well-being, at the expense of His own. Much like the Afghani shepherd, Christ’s actions as our shepherd reveal His essence and we know that His first thought would be for His sheep…even to the point of laying down his life for them.

So maybe we can start there, when we experience suffering, need, risk, or danger with the people in our lives, what is our first thought? Them or me?

The War That Will Not End

Kristin Ritzau — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:50:17 -0800

I remember the sniper attacks. It was only a year after 9-11 and everyone was still a little on edge. I was in college and the war was just getting started. I bought my shirt with a flag on it and wore it proudly. I was and am proud to be an American, most of the time. Last week, I was getting ready to speak at a retreat and missed the news when a man killed his fellow soldiers and the nation was on edge again.

This evening John Allen Muhammad was put to death. He was a soldier too. His ex-wife claims he came home from Dessert Storm a changed man. His lawyer decried that statement and said he wasn’t… how could you not be though? Battles change people whether they are in the army or in a living room. They stir dark parts of your soul and voices emerge that we didn’t even know existed; voices that haunt and prey on our esteem and our will to live in a healthy way. The battle waged on the outside moves inward.

Our nation is exhausted and it is showing… a long war, a recession, an election that seemingly would never end, a county polarized by 2 parties and no concession to work together, only shout louder. Issues like immigration, healthcare, global warming, taxes, and who has the right to marry divide us at the dinner table and into the colors of red and blue. The only outlet is escaping into fantasy worlds of celebrities and vampires where everything does work out or appears to be grand.

We don’t realize the stress that people are under when we’re all in this rat race. A war to win, a degree to get, a sickness to beat, a promotion to achieve, a spouse to find, a marriage to fix, a kid to get into college, or even get pregant with the baby in the first place. The 40-hour work week turns into 60, family dinners are spent in the drive-thru, and an officer is being deployed for a 5^th time. This lifestyle is not sustainable whether you’re in an office, an assembly line, or in a tank.

As I sit here after facing a massive ear infection and fever a couple months ago, my lymph gland is swollen and I fear that I am getting the dreaded H1N1. Every couple weeks I have received a rundown of how many students at my university are exhibiting flu-like symptoms and have been quarantined. Emails have gone out from head administrators asking the employees to show grace to students and co-workers alike if they get sick. Does it really take a nationwide flu outbreak to make us show grace to one another and take some needed time off? Even after you’ve been out for a week, your body still feels like it has been hit by a train for a while. I’m on my second round of antibiotics from an infection 2 months old and those pills take it out of me… so how the heck is an army holding up after a war that has gone on much too long? Of course they are strained. We all are.

How many people have to die from stress or post traumatic stress before we see the giant red flags that are telling us this way of life is crazy? Our nation’s healthcare system is not the only thing that is sick. We need to rebuild villages and stop judging one another. We need to stop applauding people that work overtime and tell them to go on vacation or just go home. We need to recognize that there are soldiers and citizens who are tired, burnt out, and sick and desperately need rehab. Not rehab in the AA or physical sense, but in the rhythm of life sense. We need to desperately hit the pause button and see people for who they really are, not red or blue, but people… loved by God. We are all loved by God… even these two shooters that are blanketing front pages everywhere during this week we are honoring veterans.

In a way, we’re all veterans of the rat race and the last thing we do is honor ourselves. I sit with women every week who set the most unrealistic expectations on themselves and are holding on by a thread to the thought that no one can see them fail. You will fail; we all will, but it’s the communities around us that need to hold us up. When we jump on the other person to get ahead right after they have fallen, what are we doing? When we applaud a man being lethally injected who is obviously mentally ill, what are we doing? When we are working long hours to be secure in our futures, but end up tired, sick and burnt out, what are we doing? We all need help of some sort, and it’s sad when we’re too sick to see that.

There are battles that we need to face like poverty, obesity, cancer, injustice for children in the world, famine, human trafficking, education, and the list could go on and on. But when we’re too busy dividing ourselves and battling one another, how do we have energy to wage those wars? How do we have energy to face the battle going on internally? Too many people try to fight it on their own. They even pull out the “God card” and say that they are praying through it and they will be "fine". Prayer is amazing, don’t get me wrong, but what happened to listening to our neighbor instead of building fences and posting signs? Why do we let people get by with saying they are "fine"?

It’s been a long week… heck, it’s been a long year. As it winds down, I am praying for space to reflect on my own battles as well as how to become a peacemaker. I want to become a peacemaker not only in my soul, but also in my community. I can’t do this alone though and I don’t want to. God doesn’t want me to either. So as some of us might have Wednesday off, I hope that we can find space to reflect on how to end these wars and start conversations; how to stop screaming and start listening; how to stop jumping on top of one another and learn to turn around. Those are my hopes as a veteran of the rat race.

A Song for Those Grieving in Ft. Hood

Christy Tennant — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 06:32:43 -0800