With the uproar about the Islamic Center being built in NYC, and with the remembrance of Peace Sunday and the horrors of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I offer a small prayer for peace...
The song is "Jerusalem," written by Steve Earle and sung here by Donna and Dan, with Jordan accompanying us on mandolin.
I woke up this mornin' and none of the news was good
And death machines were rumblin' 'cross the ground where Jesus stood
And the man on my TV told me that it had always been that way
And there was nothin' anyone could do or say
And I almost listened to him
Yeah, I almost lost my mind
Then I regained my senses again
And looked into my heart to find
That I believe that one fine day all the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem
Well maybe I'm only dreamin' and maybe I'm just a fool
But I don't remember learnin' how to hate in Sunday school
But somewhere along the way I strayed and I never looked back again
But I still find some comfort now and then
Then the storm comes rumblin' in
And I can't lay me down
And the drums are drummin' again
And I can't stand the sound
But I believe there'll come a day when the lion and the lamb
Will lie down in peace together in Jerusalem
And there'll be no barricades then
There'll be no wire or walls
And we can wash all this blood from our hands
And all this hatred from our souls
And I believe that on that day all the children of Abraham
Will lay down their swords forever in Jerusalem
17 comments:
Nicely done, Trabues! Jordan is getting to be one fine mandolin player. This is one of my favorite Steve Earle songs.
You really do live in a fantasy world, don't you?
Listen. The Jewish people want to live in peace. They don't want war anymore than we do. The Muslims want to destroy Israel, and, because we support God's chosen people here in America, they also want to destroy us. Israel just defends herself.
It isn't Israel and Americans who hate. It's the Muslims. Talk to them.
Very nice song, though, Idealistic as it is. Kind of reminds me of Lennon's "Imagine". You know, "Imagine all the people living for the world." (instead of for Christ)
No, actually, I live in the real world, populated by real people - including some very reasonable, rational, pleasant Muslims; some of whom I've met personally.
Would it do any good, Mark, to point out that it's not rational to say, "It's the Muslims who hate"? As if you could paint all or even most Muslims with one false brush?
You can't say that with any credibility any more than you can say, "it's the Jews who hate," or "It's the Christians who hate."
That would be defying real world evidence and implying, well, a fantasy world. People are people, Mark. There are some very narrow minded and hateful Christians out there, unfortunately. Some who are even violent and willing to kill innocent people if they believe the cause is just (Hiroshima, anyone?)
And there are some Muslims who are just as dogmatic and violent, unfortunately.
But, in the real world, this is not the case for the majority of Muslims.
So, no, I don't live in a fantasy world, but I DO live in a kingdom that is not of "this world" - the Kingdom of God is where I live, where we love our enemies, reach out to those who hate us, refuse to smear folk who belong to the wrong group.
Would you like to join us there? Come on in, the water's fine.
First of all, I'm going to stick my neck out and assume Mark doesn't really believe every single Muslim in the world wants to destroy Israel. I have little doubt that Mark would attest to the likelihood that some Muslims aren't even devout and rarely give two thoughts about matters of faith. So what? His statement isn't without truth and what's more, describes quite accurately the difference between Israel and the Muslim world IN GENERAL. How many are radical is one thing. How many agree with the radicals, to whatever degree, is quite another. You score no points here.
Secondly, their cause is never just. Truman's was. It's really not a case of what radical Muslims believe. It's a matter of what is true. And no, I don't care what radical Muslims believe to be true. Frankly, I don't care what peaceful Muslims believe to be true if that belief conflicts with Christian beliefs. They can believe what they want, but both can't be true at the same time. Thus, to bloviate in regards to what "some" believe is just is worthless if that belief is untrue.
Finally, it's really quite tiresome, as well as a few other words I won't use here, to continually hear about violent Christians, as if the fact that a violent Christian man is the same as a man who murders in the belief he is doing God's will. This is not common in the least among Christians but it is amongst the Muslims who surround Israel. The distinction is night and day and it's a false (read=lie) comparison.
Wow, put up a post about peace and they come out of the woodwork to attack you, Dan.
Hardly surprising anymore, but still sad.
It is rather sad, isn't it?
Here, Marshall, Mark, why don't you see if you can tear this wimpy peace prayer apart...
Our Father, which art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done,
in earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us.
"Thy kingdom, thy will be done ON EARTH??" What goofy, hippy utopianistic thinking! Man, this guy is out of touch, right fellas?
I wonder what they'd rather the words to Earle's "Jerusalem" said?
"I believe that one fine day, all the muslims in the world, will either be killed (if they're the extremists) or intimidated into compliance in Jerusalem..."
Something like that?
It's a prayer for peace, guys. We know it's an uphill battle, we know that there are violent Muslims, Christians, Jews and atheists out there. Nonetheless, I believe in living "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven."
Is that so awful?
as if the fact that a violent Christian man is the same as a man who murders in the belief he is doing God's will. This is not common in the least among Christians but it is amongst the Muslims who surround Israel.
The last I heard, there are a huge number of Christians who believe that targeting and killing hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children at Hiroshima and Nagasaki was a good thing to do. The last I heard, there are many Christians thanking God for those pilots who dropped those bombs.
If I'm not mistaken, you (Marshall and Mark) are supporters of that largest act of terrorism (no offense intended, that's just terrorism by definition - terrorizing the population by attacking and killing hundreds of thousands of civilians, children included, IS terrorism, not war).
So clearly, there ARE a large number of Christians who support such mass destruction, if they think the ends justify the means.
And so, I stand by my point: There ARE violent Muslims, and Christians and everyone else. Nonetheless, I'm praying for the day when we lay down our swords together.
I hope you could join me in that prayer.
Dan, while I applaud your scruples, your ongoing attempt to deal with folks like Mark and Marshall Art really seem to a source of frustration.
For Mark, of all people, to wonder whether another person lives in a fantasy world, is irony on the hoof, if you ask me.
Frustration? Maybe a little, but I'll have to let you know that I like these sorts of conversations and that sort of frustration (within reason).
It's like trying to sort through a puzzle - how do we communicate in a meaningful way when sometimes we seem so far apart?
I'm a sick, sick man, I know, but there you go...
I know a lot of people who are worried that they will fall victim to Jewish or Christian terrorism.
Actually, Edwin, Christian terrorism in places like Ireland, The Lord's Resistance Army in Rwanda, various militia groups and vigilantes here in the US (as well as all those abortion clinic bombers and abortion provider murderers) are a worry. Then, of course there's the state-sponsored terror campaign against Palestinians that Israel has been using for a quarter century and more (including, back when they occupied Lebanon in the early and mid 1980's, using Christian militia groups as proxies to carry out massacres). So, yeah, outside the confines of the tiny mind of yours there are hundreds of thousands of people who face terrorism from Jewish and Christian groups all over the world.
Not to mention the Christians who prowl here in this country armed with baseball bats and gas cans.
Obscure and minute. Like the recent spate of bombings in northern Ireland. Like the civil war in Rwanda that's claimed thousands of lives, produced child-soldiers in a land that had yet to know of them, and created a refugee problem that made the situation in neighboring Burundi worse. Considering the level of state violence the Israelis use against the Palestinians, and its constant presence, including the blockade of Gaza that is responsible for the impoverishment and heightened tensions there, I honestly wonder if you have any idea what happens in the real world.
Among your many problems, the ability to imaginatively consider that the world doesn't revolve around the USA and its petty concerns is pretty strong. Since Al Qaeda is busy targeting places in Islamic countries, killing Muslim civilians, I have to wonder, again, if you actually understand what is going on in the world, or do you just shiver in fear at the prospect that people different from you exist.
You tire me, Edwin. Your stupidity tires me. Your fear tires me. Your blatant bigotry bores me me. People who think as you do are responsible for the horrid mess we just can't seem to get out from under and it would be far better if you simply allowed grown ups to run things for a while.
"Alan, did you ever stop and think maybe its just you."
So Eddie thinks that I deserve to be beaten with a baseball bat.
Seriously, Dan, why do you put up with such people posting here?
Sorry about that, Alan. I've been away this weekend.
In general, I let ugly and horrible comments like that stand because they show how ugly and horrible the reasoning is, but since it IS directed towards you instead of me, I'll delete it.
Everyone: While I'm loathe to remove comments, no advocacy of violence will stand in these pages. Joking or not.
Drood had posted a comment that suggested that violence is acceptable. It's not, nor are comments suggesting that acceptable.
Drood had also said...
GKS, your obscure and politicly tainted examples are minute compared to the world wide terrorist attacks that carried out every day by islamic terrorists.
To which Geoffrey ably responded in his comment above.
It is so odd to me that we who follow a Master that lived in a far more violent age, in a country oppressed by brutal overlords, forget that we were told to pray for and love those who do evil to us.
Even if it was JUST the Muslims who do violence, Jesus' method of overcoming evil with good should be the preferred message of Christians.
If Christians would consider the words of St. Nicolai of Zica, we could see that our enemies cut (us) loose from the world and have stretched out (our) hands to the hem of Your garment.
We must always be dependent on Christ and not the comforts of this world.
My God lead us all to peace in His kingdom!
Post a Comment