Again focusing on the dark side of the events following the birth of Jesus, we recall the slaughter of the boys 2 years old and younger by the henchmen of the ruthless King Herod. He took action out of fear against an imaginary rival....a child who would be born in Bethlehem and be king one day. None of those slaughtered was ever destined to be a king, and the One who escaped to Egypt was a King, but not of an earthly realm. Herod had nothing to fear, but his ignorance of the truth caused the death of these Holy Innocents.
So many battles and useless slaughters, genocides and wars have occurred because of the same kind of ignorance of the people on the "other side." The story is told of the "Christmas Truce" during World War I, when soldiers laid down their weapons, sang Christmas Carols, prayer, attended Mass and played soccer together...Innocence had its moment.
This morning I served breakfast at Cor Unum, a local soup kitchen with two young college men who attended rival high schools, and were "the enemy" at one time. Meeting them, working with them, revealed a whole different side of them....we were no longer "enemies" or rivals, but teammates. How much bloodshed could be avoided if we came to know the goodness and innocence of our rivals, our "enemies"? How do we make this happen? Perhaps turning in weapons in innocence and trust for serving trays of food to feed the hungry might bring nations together and stop all this useless destruction. Something to think and pray about.
Bro. Rene
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment