Cure Thy children’s warring madness

I always looked at war as incomprehensible. Back in confirmation days, the concept of Holy War was something that I couldn't wrap my head around. When I considered God telling his people to go kill people and take their land, I couldn't paste it together with the Fifth Commandment. I couldn't see honoring David for killing Goliath. I thought it would be OK to toss out a bunch of the Old Testament scripture and stories.

I laughed when I was recruited in high school for the service. Not a chance. I've never owned a gun. Never shot at a living thing, much less a person. I've shot arrows and BBs into targets. I just didn't get the thrill. I lock my doors to keep thieves out rather than own guns to challenge them.

World War II at least had a point. Japan bombs your naval base in Hawaii, you defend your land. Germany starts killing people because of their backgrounds and tries to take over Europe, you help your allies. How come we didn't all get together and tell the communists to stay out of Korea or Vietnam? Either come together and tell people to stop being bullies, or don't get into the war. A war you don't want to finish isn't a war. It's a sacrifice of your young people.

So the idea of the Israel/Palestinian conflict is just something that tears me up. The Jewish people have possessed much of this area for centuries. They didn't just show up yesterday. They have fought to retain what they consider is their sacred land. They want nothing more than to live here in peace. Yet they haven't had peace in their land for much of their history, and they aren't having it now.

I haven't lived in a time when our world was at peace. Was there a time like that? I think about people and wonder, if individuals can't settle our differences without anger and killing, how do we expect our nations to do likewise? We allow capital punishment. We treasure and insist upon personal weapons. We consider fighting a sport.

My vocabulary is filled with language of peace. Tolerate. Accept. Understand. Consensus. Love. Compassion. Mercy. Agree. My head and gut hurt when I have to deal with any conflict. Not metaphoric, but actual pain. I was not made for dissension. Yet I'm human and I live with my own warring madness. My family and others have seen that side of me. Not often, but more than I'm proud to admit. I own it and I claim it.

Other people see war differently. Fighting for our country's values and the protection of liberty around the globe is a different value. And they fight so that others may know the qualities they value. They risk their own life and take others' lives so that sometime, that country may know peace. It's a choice. Not my choice, but one that I can understand. And a part of me hurts for these people who have seen war and death. Can they ever know real peace again?

Our inability to live together in peace is the imperfection that lives within each of us. We will not be perfected in this world. We cannot even understand it -- this peace that passes all understanding. One day we will.