Violence

It's hard to know what to do when faced with topics like war or world peace. I don't have the mind or access to information that would make any comment worth the ink it would take to print it. I catch glimpses from the media but those ideas belong to someone else. I can't take ownership, I can only mimic and repeat them when pressed to look intelligent before others. The question for me, in the midst of this global mess, is to find my truth, to speak to what I know, and to make choices that are consistent with my values. Jesus, to me, represents the best of all spiritual ideologies. I believe that whatever is true in other religious traditions can be found in Jesus. I have chosen to make a life study of his teachings. "Pray for your enemies" and "Forgive seventy times seven" is enough to chew on for a lifetime. Is that enough? Will that turn swords into plowshares? Where am I single-minded and where do I want peace and bare arms at the same time but in different stories? Where do I find viewing violence on the big screen a form of recreation while praying for peace in the Middle East on Sunday? Where am I enraged for not being heard and rattling off the Lord's Prayer within minutes of each other? So what do I KNOW? I KNOW that nothing in this world is outside God's loving embrace. I KNOW that God made love my/our basic instinct. I KNOW that when I am in harmony with myself and my neighbor I find joy; and when I am at odds with myself and my neighbor I am at a place of dis-ease. The kick for me is accountability. I need someone to take the journey with me, someone who treasures honesty, someone safe, someone who won't give up. I believe the choices I make for good or ill do affect the situation in Iraq, and Darfur, and Canada too. In thirty minutes or so this day will end. What choices for good remain this night?