Something To Think About

I've been reading some Wendell Berry recently, and last night this paragraph on "Peaceableness Toward Enemies" left an impression on me:

"In times of war, our leaders always speak of their prayers. They wish us to know that they say prayers because they wish us to believe that they are deeply worried and that they take their responsibilities seriously. Perhaps they believe or hope that prayer will help. But within the circumstances of war, prayer becomes a word as befuddled in meaning as liberate or order or victory or peace. These prayers are usually understood to be Christian prayers. But Christian prayers are made to or in the name of Jesus, who loved, prayed for, and forgave his enemies and who instructed his followers to do likewise. A Christian supplicant, therefore, who has resolved to kill those whom he is enjoined to love, to bless, to do good to, to pray for, and to forgive as he hopes to be forgiven, is not conceivably in a situation in which he can be at peace with himself. Anyone who has tried to apply this doctrine to a merely personal enmity will be aware of the enormous anguish that it could cause a national leader in wartime. No wonder that national leaders have ignored it for nearly two thousand years."
-Wendell Berry, "Sex, Economy, Freedom & Community"

Amidst the fury of the upcoming election, this is a refreshing reminder of what those of us who claim the lordship of Jesus need to be about. May our prayers be sincere, and may we be continually transformed into the likeness of Christ.

-Sylvia