What Can We Do?

I don’t recall ever feeling so oppressed by conditions in this country and our dealings with the world as I now feel.  Unless I am very mistaken, our government has decided to go to war in Syria in spite of the will of the people.  If we had any excuse to trust that the government serves anything except the will of multinational corporations, there might be reason to hope.  As it is, I am led to a feeling of helplessness and a kind of free-floating anger.  Who is there to blame?  Is there anything we can do?  Where are we going on this road of endless conflict?

The Old Testament answer from God was, “Where were you when I created the world?” 

The New Testament, however, suggests the new commandment:  “Love one another as I have loved you.”  Christ bids us to love in the face of hatred.  We are to love against all evidence of hopelessness.  We are to love and not rage.  What does that mean in a practical sense?

In my life it takes the form of prayer and generosity with time and resources.  It takes the form of recognition of my poverty – I have no power to change things.  They are beyond my control.  In light of that powerlessness, I find myself called to be peaceful in my heart and in my words and in my actions.  God seems to put in my path the people I am supposed to help and the people who can teach me.  Therefore, my response to chaos is to love, and to remain at peace.

There are those whose vocation it is to fight, and in my youth I fought injustice where and as I could.  In my old age, I must fight injustice with my words and with my prayers, and by loving action.  I weep with those who are suffering and dying in the world.   I pray for those to be called forth who can change the things that must be changed in the world. 

Let us pray for peace.  Let us love one another as Christ loves us, and make enclaves of love wherever we dwell.