Designed for Conflict

Things don't always work out the way we planned.

All who pass along the way clap their hands at you; they hiss and wag their heads at daughter Jerusalem; "Is this the city that was called the perfection of beauty, the joy of all the earth?" - Lamentations 2:15

Sometimes I wonder why God would give the land of one people to another.  Did he choose a people over all others to bless them or to test them?

You would think that over thousands of years of conflict in the region, we would have figured out the answer to that.  Maybe we have and it is not a blessing at all.

In recent days, Palestinian and Jewish forces have escalated their violence against one another and the whole world continues to watch and wait.  Living in peace with one another just doesn't seem to be an option and as a result, we are failing the test of human compassion, acceptance and love.

How pathetic a people we are, chosen or otherwise.

Why would God make one place the holiest of places for three faiths if it wasn't a test to see if we could make it work?

I know.  It sounds too simple and I have been accused of looking at the world that way, as though there are no mysteries, only stark realities.

Jesus told a parable that I believe clarifies this situation.  He told of a man whose debts were forgiven, only to have him turn around and punish those who owed him money.  Isn't this what we do when we hold onto a gift from God and fail to share it?

God may have created this world, but we are the designers and we have designed our world for conflict.

We are not willing or eager to live in peace.  The evidence of that is everywhere.

So, what do we do?  When faced with violence, can we talk about peace?  Peace, like love, needs to be returned without being diminished.  It needs to greet itself and grow.

So, we are left with the lament.  And we will not rejoice until someone makes the first move toward true peace by loving and offering to share.

Let us pray for the strength to be different.

More to come...