The way of peace in the Middle East March 10, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Jesus, Military, Peace, Politics.Tags: Middle East
4 comments
I’m not an expert and am only informed at the popular media level, but I think the United States will never be “successful” in the Middle East as long as we continue to pursue military solutions to the problems there. With the military, we solve one problem and create others — more difficult and more intransigent.
As with just about everything else in life it seems Jesus has an answer. N.T. Wright captures this well. Wright helps us see that Jesus, in talking about the kingdom of God, was primarily talking about the here and now, not the hereafter.
“… [J]udgment would come, not as an arbitrary ‘punishment’ by God for Israel’s failure to obey some general moral standards but as the inevitable result … of Isreal’s choosing the way of violence, the way of resistance, rather than following in the way Jesus himself had grasped and articulated in his own life and message. If they would not follow the way of peace, they would reap the consequences,” Wright says. (The Challenge of Jesus, pp. 49-50, IVP Academic)
Many Israelites in Jesus’ day thought the way to overthrow Roman rule and restore their national pride was to fight the Romans’ at their own game. Jesus had another way. Just imagine, what if the Israel of Jesus’ day had followed Jesus’ example. History would be very different. As it was, they didn’t and their temple and their national hopes were destroyed within about 30 years.
Cross on the high altar February 24, 2007
Posted by Alien Drums in Christianity, Forgiveness, Peace.Tags: Reconciliation
2 comments
I took the photo at the top of this blog when my wife and I visited Coventry, England, in 2005. It’s from the cathedral in Coventry, which stands next to the cathedral ruined in World War II.
When I went online to find out more about the artwork, I could never find another such photo. So I sent an e-mail to the cathedral. Here’s the response about the wonderful place and the cause that it now stands for.
“Your photograph shows the cross on the high altar of the Cathedral. The silver-gilt altar cross is the work of Geoffrey Clarke, and enfolds an original ‘cross of nails’ (now silver plated). …
“The high altar cross was designed to blend sympathetically with the style of Sutherland’s tapestry behind and to reflect the texture of the iconic, wooden charred cross set on the altar in the Ruins. Although not likely to have been intentional, many see the form of a bird in the cross too – perhaps a dove symbolising the Holy Spirit or a phoenix, a common symbol of Coventry’s rebuilding and regeneration after WWII.
“The nails that form the central cross were drawn from the timbers of the medieval roof of the fire-bombed old Cathedral, and have become an international symbol of peace and reconciliation ministry (and the Cathedral’s corporate logo). Coventry was the only Cathedral destroyed in WWII. Its destruction was the result of bombing by the Luftwaffe as Hitler was intent on destroying Britain’s armed vehicle building capacity, much of which was hidden in and around Coventry in ’shadow factories’. From the morning after that catastrophic raid on 14 November 1940, the leading clergyman at the Cathedral, Provost Howard, started to make his now-famous pronouncements that the Cathedral would be rebuilt and that he and the Cathedral community would seek reconciliation and not revenge.
This cross of nails was carried to every Coventry parish in the 40 days before the Cathedral’s consecration in 1962 to encourage prayer for the new Cathedral.”
What a testament to forgiveness, peace and reconcilation. If you go to England, this catheral is worth a visit. The ruins still stand beside it.
