Lenten Reflections: Escalation

"Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy.  What do you think?”  “He is worthy of death,” they answered. Then they spit in his face and struck him with their fists. Others slapped him."

                                                            Matthew 26:65-67

Escalation. Pride's evil and deceptive ways widen. With each choice that Pride makes, the tensions in our relationships escalate. With each move of Pride, the battle is fueled and the ante is raised. More troops are sent in. We launch more offensives. Relationships don't die; they are murdered. Sin stands guilty as a war criminal. GUILTY. 

Anger gives birth to accusation. 

Accusation gives birth to action.

Action gives birth to violence. 

Violence gives birth to death.

Another relationship causality in the war of selfishness, with Pride leading the way. 

We count the costs of the war. We see the destruction. And yet we choose each weapon with great care, hoping for victory. 

Pride - 1  Relationships - 0 

Lent reveals to us that things are often backwards in the Kingdom of God. Pride has no place at the table. War in our relationships is unthinkable. Escalation becomes pacifism. And death becomes life. By living our lives through Christ, we find less need to slaughter our relationships, and more desire to heal them. We disarm ourselves, dismantle our military and end violence of any kind. Through Christ, we cherish each relationship as something of great value, more valuable than the temporary possessions we accumulate for ourselves. We count the cost of war, and realize that it's not worth it. 

Anger gives birth to forgiveness. 

Forgiveness gives birth to unity.

Unity gives birth to community.

Community gives birth to life. 

Lord, we realize that one of the most tragic losses in the war of Pride is relationships. So often we sacrifice those closest to us in order to protect the self. Help us to lay down our weapons and seek peace. Help us to cherish each relationship we have as more valuable than anything we possess, even life itself. Amen.              

Lenten Reflections: Fighting

"The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit...." - Genesis 3:12

Fighting began early for humans. Even within the beauty and perfection of Eden, the blame-game began and rages on to this day. "The woman," Adam said, accusingly, "whom YOU gave me." She did it. An because YOU gave her to me, it's YOUR fault, God!

We love to be right and we love to prove others wrong. "I'm right and you're wrong." becomes the declaration and rallying cry of a self-centered culture. Sometimes this position is defended with raised voices, sometimes a fist, a gun and sometimes a bomb. And the wheels on the bus go round and round.....Violence is a downward cycle that only leads to more violence. Blaming others causes disunity and a subtle seed of anger to take root.         

"Am I my brother's keeper?"

"This was all your fault!"

"Those damn liberals!....Conservative!"

"Our finances are a mess, and it's because you can't stop spending!"

"If you showed me the attention that I need, I never would have cheated!"

"I drink because of you."

"If the there weren't so many illegals....."

"It's because of the Jews!" 

"It's because of the Muslims!" 

"..you would betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” - Luke 22:48


Pride demands us to be better than the other person. Pride never takes the blame. Pride never admits wrong. Pride is always right. Pride looks in the mirror and shouts back, "You are right!" Pride wants to pick a fight, because initiating peace means you're weak. You loose. And in a culture of individualism, that's exactly how it appears.  

"I'm going to kick his ass!"


"If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with EVERYONE." - Romans 12:18 

"But he betrayed me!"


"But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you" - Matthew 5:44

"That's ridiculous! They're savages! Sub-human!"

"the message of the cross is foolishness...." - 1 Corinthians 1:18

And a fool for Christ once prayer....

Lord, make us instruments of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let us sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that we may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen

St. Francis of Assisi 

Over There

It's easy for us to desensitize ourselves to death when it's "over there".  The memories of 9/11 are difficult for Americans because we saw it happen here. The people that suffered and died were familiar. They were like us. They were us.

But when we allows ourselves to move out of the insulated conditioning that most of us live with, we see the world differently. When we see life through the perspective of the Kingdom of God, we realize that "they", "those people", the ones "over there", are familiar as well. They are like us. They are us.

This is an email that I received this last year from a dear friend of mine, and fellow Franciscan brother. Feel the pain that he is feeling because he has chosen to see the world through this perspective. As I said in my previous blog, when we allow ourselves to mourn the loss of life anywhere in this world, the Kingdom of God is realized just a little more than it was before.

Hello All:  Asking for you to remember me in prayer today.  I believed I had made it through the 9/11 memorials without personal incident.  I avoided all references to the occasion.  But this morning as I read facebook and emails from yesterday I had a huge upwelling of anger and frustration.  I struggle with my friends and countrymen's obsession with our own losses, ignoring the massive loss of innocent life our acts of retribution have caused.  My mind flashed back to entering Baghdad in the first few days of "liberation" and seeing the city covered in small black mourning banners.    Individual families had made these banners to announce the death of a child, daughter, mother or some loved one. Estimates are 140,000 innocent civilians died in Iraq directly from warfare, the secondary death numbers are estimated at up to a million.  I have a banner I picked up from a ditch that I keep in a box in the back of my closet in memory of my complicity in the death of all the innocents.  I will carry that memory with me forever.  I try to see the experience as an uncomfortable blessing and guidance from God.  I thank you for your patience in allowing me to express my feelings this day.  Please pray for my anger to subside and that the love of Christ fills me today so that I can be a reflection of Gods love to all I encounter. 

Thank you. God Bless.