“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.”
– Isaiah 2:3-4
The sudden silence was almost deafening! Each soldier in the trench-line strained to hear what was going on. There, a noise! What was it? Oh, a bird, singing! (A sound nearly forgotten by the soldiers.) And then, another sound, was it near or far? It began somewhat softly, then began to swell – cheers from the soldiers, up and down the trench lines, from both sides of no-man’s land! The sound of cheers rose until the soldiers felt that it was nearly as loud as the artillery they had been experiencing. One soldier looked at his watch; it was just past 11:00! Eleven o’clock, the eleventh day of the eleventh month, 11:00, 11/11/1918. The war to end all wars was over, and these soldiers were still alive, unbelievable as it was.
And yet, over 100 years later, we deal with war. We still experience distrust, hatred, racism; the War to End All War did not end war. We still bicker, we still complain about our neighbor, whether he lives next door or on another continent. We gripe about the politics of the other party, we even applaud the murderer, at least if he is on our side.
“He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.” If we could only learn to listen? If we could only communicate with the other side to try to find a solution acceptable to both sides. If we could only act as Christ taught us to act, with compassion and love.
This Veterans Day please thank a veteran. Thank him or her for their willingness to protect our freedoms. But above all, thank them for what they went through for the freedoms we all enjoy.
Here by the love of God.
Bob Beck is a lay leader at his church and resident of Creswell.
