Melancholy blues

I have to admit, I was a little melancholy about last night's vote on health care reform. I am tired of the bickering and fighting, and quite frankly even now I'm concerned about the horrid...what's the word when a 10 year old starts acting like a 2 year old again? We're dredging up hatred and furor that hasn't been seen recently. I'm not naive enough to think it was gone, but I guess I was hopeful that it was progressing.

I guess I was wrong.

And I'm not even wishing that unbelievers could display love and compassion, although that would be nice. I am, however, ashamed at the actions of those who claim the name of Jesus in their lives.

So here I am, trying to therapeutically get some words out on the screen that will at least help me cope. I'm drawn as usual to the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, probably my favorite piece of Scripture.

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God." Mt 5.9 ESV

Certainly not blessed are the hatemakers. Or the warmongers.

And not even the peacelovers.

But peacemakers.

Let's do that.

Thanks.

I am not a military man.

My dad served in the Army. He is one of the most patriotic men I know, even though we don't always agree on politics.

I believe in peace and want to pursue it with all my heart. Jesus called us to be peacemakers in the world.

I live in a place where peace has been bought and paid for. A friend recently put a quote on his Facebook page that waging war to make peace is like having sex to save virginity. And while it's a pithy quote, I can't totally buy into it the way he apparently does. As I've written about before, I don't think that peacemaker necessarily means pacifist. Too often some fall into the trip of doing nothing to stop evil. While Jesus may not have made war, he definitely did not do nothing.

I struggle with war and violence and their outbreaks in our fallen world. I like living in a free country. But I don't want to fall into the opposite trap either, the trap that places God in a patriotic box and believes that war is justifiable to protect that which is a luxury. No, freedom is not a luxury, it is a privilege. But let's be honest, lots of wars have been fought over, well, stuff.

But in the midst of my own nonunderstanding of where Jesus wants me to be, I love and respect those who have sacrificed for the sake of freedom. They were and are a great generation. And today I watched this video and cried in gratitude.

So, thanks.