Memorial Day
Here's my thoughts on Memorial Day and this week's readings.
There is a strange contradiction about war. How we hate the fighting and love those who fight. It’s not anything particular to any country, people, race or creed. The contradiction springs from a lot of simple places: appreciation of our protectors and hate of what would attack them and us, patriotism, love of those who are strong. But the true contradiction of war seems to be that while the fighting takes place because of hate, the fighters always fight out of love.
Whenever we have a reading that talks about God’s plan from the beginning of time, it can be hard not to wonder why His master plan wasn’t better put together – without things like war and a soldier’s sacrifice. Without sin and death. Perhaps the contradiction of war isn’t so far off from the answer we are given – that God so loved us He gave us free will, as a weapon to point at each other’s breasts, as an opportunity of rising to the occasion.
Obviously war, like sin, is not worth the price of our veterans’ blood, like the pain we cause is not worth the sin. But without that choice, without the chance to reach for hate, we would never have the chance to reach for love. Maybe it seems a design flaw, but so do many things in our world. Part of faith is trusting in the Divine Logic or, perhaps, in the Purpose of God that we can never fully comprehend. But without it – we are no more than the beasts of the fields, than the sunsets and the winds that blow about as the temperatures rise and fall throughout the seasons. And they are beautiful, all His works are worthy of praise, but it is the choice that gives us the opportunity to be more – be better – rise above the natures of things that do not have the choice to hate and do evil or to love and stand up to those who would do others harm.
The second reading and the gospel both tell us how we can be made better, more. How we can develop character and strength. And at first glance it may seem to be two different paths. St. Paul advises us that we find grace through affliction, which builds to our strength and character, while Jesus presents the Holy Spirit as a free gift that comes upon us and acts as a guide through all things. Even as hurricane season approaches, I wouldn’t expect to find a lot of great winds, especially bearing tongues of fire, rushing through our congregations as we read about last Sunday. But people in adversity are so very often people at their best. The Greatest Generation was not one of prosperity but one that overcame tremendous hardships. And the people we admire most are the ones who have struggled and overcome. The Spirit is still with us in our lives, and it is in times when we have greatest need of God’s support and love that He appears most clearly in us. Even when we do not have the wit to see it.
The Holy Spirit does come to us and guide us in all things, but it is easiest to see His influence and, often, to follow His ways, in times of overwhelming trouble and hatred. Then, like the soldiers who take up the call of their country, we too rise to the occasion and reach out to fight through terrible events out of love. And in that way we turn the worst thing that humans can do to each other – make war to murder and rape and pillage and oppress our fellow man for reasons that may or may not ever seem worth the toll they take in blood – into our proudest moment, when we are our most loving and best selves.
If that isn’t the Holy Spirit’s guidance I don’t know what is. That out of affliction, comes grace.
No comments:
Post a Comment