Lenten
Sacrifice?
As
simplistic as it may first appear, we learn from an early age
that two wrongs don’t make a right. This simple
yet profound axiom very quickly gets lost and forgotten when dealing
with major events like those facing our planet today. We know
how horrific the regime of Saddam Hussein is and how shocking
and useless war is. We know that one arena of violence will not
be solved by perpetuating other acts of violence; we know that
the seeds of the next war are sown in the last one and yet here
we are once again facing world leaders senselessly surging forth
into war, aiming to secure peace and security by sheer force by
military power.
The contrast
and contradictions of the situation are stark. We have before
us the Coalition of the Willing preparing their war strategies
and mobilising troops while religious leaders all over the world
are publicly, strongly and courageously opposing such action.
At the same time thousands upon thousands of people are hitting
the streets calling for peace. The challenges become significant
when one tries to make meaning and find one’s place in all
of this; when one decides who to stand with and what to stand
for.
A constant
theme running through so much of the writing opposing war in Iraq
addresses the inevitable catastrophic impact on the civilian population
and on the environment itself. This is a key factor in opposing
war and one highlighted by the Pope and many other church leaders.
This factor is critical as any attack on a civilian population
violates basic human needs and rights and invalidates any war
being just. This, and the belief that in our day and age there
exists the means to resolve problems without lethal force, are
both significant insights in the current discussion of the catholic
just war tradition.
The plethora
of information before us bombards us with all the facts and figures
that give a clear picture of the current situation in Iraq and
the potential for a human and ecological catastrophe if war is
once again waged on these people and their land. In looking at
the enormity of the situation feelings of powerlessness and helplessness
can paralyse, but the challenge is to keep hope and embrace peace-making
in a serious way; to seriously work to create a culture of peace
and non-violence. The processes needed for this, call for a deep
conversion of heart – a transformation of the roots of violence
within self in order to be in right relationship with all. It
requires a movement away from competition and winners and losers
to establishing strong relationships that honour difference and
call forth both a personal and social transformation – relationships
that truly believe and show that two wrongs don’t make
a right. This requires as much focused strategising, energy
and resourcefulness as that of going to war.
As Lent 2003
approaches, amidst the background of imminent war, we have a choice
and challenge to honestly engage in the transformation of our
hearts and our world. It requires enormous honesty, courage, faith
and the support of others on the journey. It requires conversion
and the journey requires sacrifice. Thomas Merton gives encouragement
to that journey in these words: the norm of sacrifice is not
the amount of pain it inflicts, but its power to break down walls
of division, to heal wounds, to restore order and unity.1
Is this the challenge of Lent 2003?
1
Cordaro, Tom. To Wake the Nation, Nonviolent Direct Action
for Personal and Social Transformation – Thomas Merton on
Nonviolence, p. 7.
