Peace
I have postponed what I had planned for today until tomorrow in order to bring you the following special announcement.
Some Stories of PeaceOnce upon a time there was a country called Big Country. It was a fairly nice country with fairly nice people. But one day some not so nice people blew up one of its buildings and killed lots of its people. The President of Big Country was outraged. He vowed that the nation would be avenged. He promised the evil people would be punished. So he took Big Country into two wars and some bad people did die. But so did some innocent mother's fathers, and children. The little brothers and sisters and children of the innocent who died said. Someday I will punish Big Country for what it did to our family.
Peace is never served by revenge.
Big Country had some good Presidents and some Presidents that weren't so good. But its Last President was seen by many as very bad. They felt he was guilty of war crimes and causing people to be tortured. When Good Man was elected President they demanded that Last President be tried and punished for his crimes. So he was. He was tried. He was found guilty. He was executed. Two weeks later his followers assassinated President Good Man.]
Peace is never served by Punishment
When Good Man became President he announced " We will make war no more". The nation was tired of war and was happy. Good man brought all the troops home. Not just the one's in the two wars in which they were directly involved but all the troops. We can not be the world's policeman anymore he said. He sent all the troops home . Big Country was at peace. But the world with no threat of a policeman broke out in all kinds of new little wars. Age old grudges were remembered and revenge was gotten. Little wars became big wars. Not our problem said President Good Man. Then the bombers flew overhead.
Peace is never served by stupidity
Peace is Served by Forgiveness
Peace is served by Love
Peace is served by letting the past rest
Peace is Served by Forgiveness
Peace is served by Love
Peace is served by letting the past rest
For more thoughts on peace click HERE.
Take a moment and pray for peace.
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posted by Dr.John at 3:00 AM
17 Comments:
One "factual error" in the story: even when the Big Country acted as the world's policeman, there were all kinds of little wars. Or perhaps "in spite" of the Big Country's police army, there were all kinds of little wars.
Examples: In Africa there are continuous wars, genocide. Think of Uganda, where the LRA have kidnapped hundreds of thousands of children and they are now hiding out in the neighboring countries. And in the Congo, there are insurgencies. The LRA leader and the rebel leader in the Congo think of themselves as anointed Christian leaders.
I'm having a hard time deciphering if Proclaiming Softly is PRO or ANTI on the police help.... but one thing is certain... This was a great STORY for Peace Day... and the song is beautiful as well as the slide show. And it was all EVEN worth not having an update from Pigeon Falls today. But I thought surely that Gloria Gaylan would be distributing Peace Angels down by the lake... I love those little ones she makes out of paper clips.
Ohhhhh and I'm sO glad you're starting to feel better -- and I am laughin' myself silly over the Depends Falls!!! Goooooo Betty!!! Creative GENIUS!
ROFL! Maybe that should be Deep Ends Falls.... :)
Liked your post very much !!
Peace and Love to you !
will humankind ever learn?
I like to think I promote a peaceful way of life.
Your post was wonderful.
Marlene
Great job Dr.John!
Well thought out essay with wonderful ending lines for the paragraphs.
Love your globe.
Mine is up - I chose the same song as you for my peace post today.
Excellent.
Excellent parables.
Excellent quote.
Excellent song.
It will be the Second Coming that will finally bring around "World Peace". But to Quote Quilly "Excellent"
Given your implied analogy, I'd point out a few things and raise a few questions.
The Good Man has not vowed to end all war. He has vowed to remove troops from Iraq and focus on Afghanistan. The Big Country is not the only country in the world and I'm guessing that The Good Man will try to involve the larger world in helping Iraq to become/remain stabalized.
You killed the Good Man off in the second pararagraph, so I'm not sure if he rose from the dead in the third paragraph to say things he doesn't actually say or not. I'm not sure why trying/impeaching the Last President involves executing him either.
Accountability and Revenge are not the same thing. I would agree that Revenge serves no good. Accountability and taking responsibility for our actions DOES serve peace. When my sister was murdered, I was glad that her killer was tried and convicted. This was not revenge. It was about keeping him off the streets so that he could not kill again and it was about holding him responsible for his actions.
I would agree that peace is not served by stupidity. It's not served by self-interest either. While the Big Country could have been using it's troops to prevent or slow genocides it has instead involved them in an invasion (not a war) at the cost of many, many lives and international unrest. Armies are not the only road to peace. Military action should, in fact, be the last resort when all else fails, not the first option. Bomb first and talk later seems to me to be the ultimate stupidity... And again, you misrepresent what the Good Man has actually proposed.
I would agree that Peace is Served by Forgiveness but Forgiveness and Forgetfulness are not the same thing. If letting the past rest means ignoring the unnecessary deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, or saying... oops, sorry... I'm not sure that I agree. One can demand accountability without being hate filled or hateful. As the Good Man often says, one can disagree without being disagreeable. Love sometimes requires calling those we love on their mistakes and sins. Alcoholic families are big on ignoring the so-called "elephants in their living rooms," and the outcome of that is usually a next generation of alcoholics and deeply damaged psyches. Pretending things away doesn't actually make them go away and it doesn't clean up the shit they leave behind.
And now I have been very preachy and long-winded, but I felt a need to do so. My apologies to anyone I may have offended. Just remember that Peace is served by forgiveness.
Fabulous post Dr. John! Peace to you and yours :)
Great Post Dr. John. Dona Nobis Pacem
Peace be with you. Love the song it has always been my favorite at church since I was a little girl.
Lord grant us peace in our time. Just when you begin to have a little hope it is taken away by another outbreak. Peace be with you and yours Dr John.
Could all this happen? Well, the answer: It has happened already, it is still happening and it will always happen.
this is such a great post Dr John!!! thank you for bringing it to us!!!
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