December 2005
For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6
Just a few weeks ago the Council of Bishops of The United Methodist Church spoke to the church and to the world about our distress over the war in Iraq. We strongly urged the President of the U.S. and the U.S. Congress to work towards ending this war. While not a perfect statement, it was one in the prophetic spirit of our Christian understanding of war and peace. As Christians we are a people of peace, committed to working for peace through peaceful means. War is always a lamentable action. While peace making is not easy, and war is not always avoidable, as people of Christian faith we are always called upon to hold up the value of peace.
I have been surprised, but even more I have been saddened by the letters I have received from persons from our annual conference and even from other parts of our connectional church that have expressed a great deal of anger at the Council of Bishops statement on the war in Iraq. I understand some of the anger. Men and women, sons and daughters, fathers and mothers have been lost in this war. Countless are the persons who have been injured and scarred for life in body and spirit. Families in this country and families in Iraq as well as many others have been deeply affected by this conflict. Human loss is a terrible thing. My surprise has not been over the very human reactions to the loss of life and well being because of this war. My surprise has come in reading and hearing responses to the Council of Bishops call for peace that express very little understanding of what we believe as Christians about war. As Christians we are always called to be peace makers.
Being peace makers does not mean that we do not value the life or work or sacrifice of our men and women in military service. What it does mean is that we are committed to speaking up for and acting in favor of peace so that the day may come when no one has to face the dreadful realities of war. My sadness has come in realizing through the conversations created by the Council of Bishops' statement on the war in Iraq that even as Christians many of us do not believe that life without war is possible.
On the one hand it is true; we cannot create a world without war. Our human tendencies of greed, envy, over consumption, competitiveness, and violence will always undermine our efforts towards peaceful coexistence with each other and with nature. If our hope for peace depends on us, it will never be. The good news of the Advent Season, however, is that we hope for the one who can bring peace, for his very nature is peace.
As Christians our hope is found in the one who is the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ Child born among us that we may know the love of God and be freed from our sinful tendencies that lead to conflict and war. As we await the birth of the Christ who brings us God's own peace, let us open our hearts to the very real possibility that one day we may live in peace, not because of us, but because of the Prince of Peace.
In His Peace,
Minerva G. Carcaņo