I pray that you are well and are considering all that we may give thanks for as we head into Thanksgiving week. We are blessed, even when life is not quite going our way.

 

I've been reeling in my heart over the attacks in Paris last week; and how to respond as a Christian living in this sinful and broken world. All those lives lost in a moment of terror; fear, expanding beyond what we all face every day; families wounded; communities shattered.

 

As a representative of the Prince of Peace, I am looking for some way to respond to murder, terrorism and evil that is in line with "what Jesus would do." I am reminded of His call to forgive. I am remembering His teachings to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute or mistreat us and others. I am struggling with His call to let the violence end with us, just as He accepted the violence of the cross for our forgiveness and the life of the world.

As a human, who is not yet fully converted to the way of Christ (though I try every day), I am thinking about retribution and responding in kind. It reminds me of the great Christian ethicist of World War II and the Cold War era: Rheinhold Neibuhr. In arguing with the pacifists who did not want to use force against Nazi Germany's cruel rule, Neihbuhr wrote that a pacifist response was "asking me to be sinless in a sinful world" and that force was required because "sometimes the greatest act of love is tinged with sin." In other words, sometimes we must choose a path that may involve sin for the good of the greatest number of people.

 

I am conflicted between the Christian response to evil and the human response. I'm not sure where I stand as I write the message this week, but a friend of mine reminded me that we have a secret weapon that will win in the end - love. Whatever our response to this terrorism or any form of evil is - great or small, the only reaction that will win in the end is love. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." So, we must pray and find a way to let our secret weapon do it's strange and wonderful work. For in the end, only love will win out over evil.

 

What's true in the international realm is also true in the realms of our lives. When people hurt us or mistreat us, we need to bring love and light, rather than more hatred and darkness. We follow a Lord who calls us to live in a different way for our lives and for that of the world. It's never easy, but it is the way that triumphs in the end.

 

So, as we begin to count our blessings this Thanksgiving and pray for those whose lives have been changed so hurtfully, may we also pray for the insight and the courage to live and act in ways of love. It is our secret weapon.