Tomorrow, November 11th, we will all be remembering the soldiers of today and days gone by. Being a pacifist, this is an ambivalent exercise for me. Though I have no faith in the sword, and believe that the demands of war are utterly incompatible with the demands of Christ, I do have an appreciation for the brave men and women who risk so much to do what they believe is right. Tomorrow the horrors of war will be gilded with silver and bronze, the roar of bombs and mortar-fire muffled by solitary bugle calls, and the cries of shattered victims drown in one minute silences, time zone by time zone round the world.
But, if glitz and glitter and calls and silences conceal the horror, they also hide real gold. Every fallen soldier and civilian is somebody’s child, sibling, friend. Courage, strength, self-sacrifice are precious wherever they are found. And surely we remember it was Jesus who first used the military metaphor in reference to the church. The gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 And Paul reminded us to put on the full armour of God. Ephesians 6:11-17
So whatever else might be said about the military endeavour, it is a shining illustration of devotion at the expense of comfort, safety, and even life itself. And if ordinary people are able to accept such sacrifice for king and country, surely we can do the same in the service of the Prince of Peace. ...whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:35
We are soldiers of the cross, lest we forget.
3 comments:
Nice reflection. I'm often surprised that ambivalence doesn't seem like a common reaction to Remembrance Day. But maybe it just takes someone to come out and say it for others to admit the same.
Nathan
Had to delete the last comment because it was all in Spanish and I had no idea what it said. Thought it might be an ad for Viagra or augmentation or whatever. I get those sometimes on the blog and in my email spam and I'd like to know who sent in my name.
Anyway, when you see that I've taken down a comment you can know it's something like that. I'll never take one down just because I disagree. In fact a little parry and thrust might be kinda fun.
Dan
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