Peace in a Violent World

Originally Posted 10/3/07

We are a violent people.

From the first moments our ancestors emerged from the primordial sludge eons upon eons ago, they were involved in single-celled scuffles, struggling with all of their might for dominance and survival. Time and time again, throughout the multitiude of millennia and across our small, insignificant-seeming blue orb, our savage natures have resurfaced. From the Genensis legend of Cain and Abel to countless wars to today’s ever-present street crime, our Darwinian predilection toward self-propagation is ever-present in our thoughts and deeds. Our bend toward ferocity premeates even the smallest cells of our physical body as antibodies engage in battle with whatever pathogens attempt to invade the sacrosanct space they defend from harm. Every part of our being seems whoop out a brutish war cry.

But, regardless of this, we are called to be different.

We believe that God dwelt among us in the form of Jesus, the Prince of Peace, who came not with fists and swords and AK-47s, but with love. We believe in His example, in which he laid down His life without retaliation.

We are called to not just love our neighbors, but to also love our enemies, regardless of the consequences. It may seem naive to those bent on their own subsistence, looking to survive by any means necessary, but it is the way. It is the path to which He calls us and that, by accepting Him, we choose to walk.

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