The White Cross, by Marc Chagall -- a Jewish vision of the need for forgiveness, and Jesus' response
Father, forgive them they know not what they do—versus,
father, destroy them I’m excruciatingly fed up with what they do. Forgiveness even unto
executioners—implementers of what most all then judged, a shameful death on the
cross.
At the moment Christ’s work on earth is most threatened by
worldly powers, the crisis point, as He’s arrested in the Garden, “Put away the
sword.” Enough of this talk of fighting
for God’s Kingdom. Can God my Father not
defend creation, send legions of angels?
"Masters of War"-- painting by John Tartaglione
In the discourse on swords*, we find a version of the
dichotomy: works or faith. Faith alone
saves, yet good works are necessary, but never the works of killing for
supposed good ends. The ends never
justify the means. Moreover, the means are
the ends, in embryo. Faith and good
works are intimately entwined. “Praise
the Lord, and pass the ammunition,” {united in a popular WWII song} are Gospel
opposites. “Put away the sword.”
y their works you will know them. There is never good fruit from a bad tree, no
matter how cleverly the serpent suggests it.
And the tree of the business of war is a tree dripping with blood. Weapons and war are the worst of works
possible. A society dedicated to them is
also making a business of abortion. True
faith in Jesus destroys all recourse to these justified violences. May we remember this in this season of
burning stones politics. I have this
poem from Javier Sicilia and his just completed Caravan for Peace.
“I will try, like
them
To be my own silence:
And this is difficult. The whole
World is secretly on fire. The stones
Burn, even the stones
They burn me. How can a man be still or
Listen to all things burning? How can he dare
To sit with them
When all their silence
Is on fire?”
To be my own silence:
And this is difficult. The whole
World is secretly on fire. The stones
Burn, even the stones
They burn me. How can a man be still or
Listen to all things burning? How can he dare
To sit with them
When all their silence
Is on fire?”
~ Thomas Merton ~
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that
I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose
life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. Deut 30:19
Click on red and blue texts above for links to sources.
*http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2022:49-53&version=NLV
*http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mt%2026:52-53&version=ESV
Illumination and botanicals by Kathy Brahney
No comments:
Post a Comment