But at the end of the day it was an event where everyone was a loser. When force is used to settle issues there is one thing for sure: the issues are not settled. They continue to bubble under the surface only to erupt again somewhere else later.
People who run countries seldom have the time, or seemingly the inclination, to examine the causes of problems and work slowly and imaginatively for solutions. Political and commercial interests demand quick solutions so that the gas keeps flowing. The hatred generated by perceived oppression grows. The ‘noughties’ (2000-10) were a period of exceptional violence against ‘western’ cities and it led to a tightening of security virtually everywhere.
I just read on a T-shirt these words of Nelson Mandela: ‘No one is born hating another person because of the colour of their skin, or their background or their religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.’ We have made so many advances and are so technologically in touch with one another. But we have not yet learnt to listen sufficiently to each other’s pain. And so the seeds of hatred grow – and instead of weeding them out when they are small we allow them to grow and put a security fence around the garden.
Jesus gave us many ‘signs’ when he walked among us, but on the whole people were interested for a while but soon turned away. One was at the wedding in Cana. Everyone remembers the water turned into wine – but who reflects on what it really means? The Jewish jars, for all their capacity, could only hold the water of ordinary life with its joys and anxieties, its loves and hatreds. Jesus, on the other hand, was offering something greater that would fill the heart of men and women with brotherhood, sisterhood – in a word, union or communion. It was said of those early days that the Christians were renowned for their love for one another which cut across boundaries of nation or sex, language or colour. We have to go to the stormy language of the prophet to fill out the promise. ‘You are no longer to be called “abandoned” but you shall be called “my delight”. For the Lord delights in you as a bridegroom rejoices in his bride’ (Isaiah 62:1-5).
Post published in: Opinions & Analysis