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This year we supported the peace rally organised by the Victorian Council of Churches, who brought along speakers from Young Ambassadors for Peace. One of the speakers - a young lady in her early twenties - told of Burma's civil war, which has been continuing since 1949. It struck me that this woman was born into conflict - an inescapable conflict, with potential and real high cost. Many lives have been lost in this war, one which the West has been largely oblivious to and/or impotent in relation to.
But it struck me that the quest for peace is obvious in such an environment. Is it equally so in Australia? We fight wars seeking to bring peace to others: Iraq, Vietnam... yet the peace we offer is something that leaves us deeply discomfited. Despite a healthy democracy and a rising standard of living, the levels of dispiritedness and despair continue to rise, reflected in rising suicided rates, increased gambling, and greater evidence of mental ill-health. There is an insidious war at work stealing peace from us, yet we aim to bring it to other places.
That Palm Sunday represents the commencement to Holy Week provides a pointer to the pathway necessary to find peace. The One is whose name peace is celebrated today began a journey which took him to the cross. A journey of sacrifice, of surrender... a journey of giving up his rights for the sake of others. The peace he brought came at a high price. But with a deep and lasting value. How are we to gain this peace? By walking the same path: not by claiming our own rights and authorities, but by service, surrender and sacrifice - seeking to live for others and invest ourselves in others.
Jesus' injunction "all who would be my disciples must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me" applies most evidently to the events of this week.
We are born into a war zone: one more insidious than we know. Dare we live for peace in its midst?
Posted by gary at March 20, 2005 04:57 PM
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