Denise and I do miss our Rocky Mountain home with the abundance of amazing wildlife literally wandering through the neighborhood. However, I really do appreciate being able to breathe with my sleep apnea under control at a much lower elevation (1,000 feet above sea level versus 8,000 feet with hikes at 10,000 to 12,000 feet).
The cardinal family who lives in the neighborhood (in the trees on the non-built up lot next to us) has kept us entertained and enthralled. Both of our Moms loved cardinals, so to see them reminds us of our Moms and it seems as though they are visiting us.
Thomas Merton speaks of the reading of scripture and how it renews him and he sees nature and the world around him differently.
By the reading of Scripture I am so renewed that all nature seems renewed around me and with me. The sky seems to be a pure, a cooler blue, the trees a deeper green, light is sharper on the outlines of the forest and the hills and the whole world is charged with the glory of God and I feel fire and music in the earth under my feet. — Thomas Merton (The Sign of Jonas, p. 215-216)
We are thankful that God speaks to us through the abundance of creation here in Georgia as God did in the mountains of Colorado.
“It is a simple matter of what you will do when the chips are down, my friend. When the walls are falling in, and the sky is dark, and the ground is rumbling. In that moment our actions will define us. And it makes no difference whether you are being watched by Allah, Jesus, Buddha, or whether you are or not. On cold days a man can see his breath, on a hot day he can’t. On both occasions, the man breathes.”—Zadie Smith
As I sat and looked at this soldier, my heart was moved as I wondered what was going through his mind. A soldier with downcast eyes and a slight slouch. Are his hands tight with anger or is he simply trying to hold it together as he contemplates the lives of his fallen brothers from his home state of New York?
One-hundred-fifty-six years after the Civil War ended and the survivors of Andersonville were liberated, I could still feel the presence of those who died and those who survived. The spirit of suffering and death was still strong a century and a half later. Yes, the bogs and the ugliness of the “compound” were covered in grass and beautiful wildflowers. A redwing blackbird was visiting with us as we stood at the spring that saved so many when it “providentially” began flowing after a big thunder and lightning storm.
The brutality of war, especially when families were divided and serving in both Union and Confederate forces, has been on my mind a lot. Whether it was families split over politics and beliefs, or strangers on opposing sides of the battle line, death was very real.
As I continue to reflect on the horrors of war and the way in which the “enemy” is dehumanized or made into some evil caricature that is “easier” to kill, my heart breaks. As I was reading Thomas Merton: Essential Writings this evening, I came across this passage that spoke to me about the challenge of nonviolence and the crucial need for it today.
Christian nonviolence is not built on a presupposed division, but on the basic unity of man. It is not out for the conversion of the wicked to the ideas of the good, but for the healing and reconciliation of man with himself, man the person and man the human family. The nonviolent resister is not fighting simply for “his” truth or for “his” pure conscience, or for the right that is on “his side.” On the contrary, both his strength and his weakness come from the fact that he is fighting for the truth, common to him and to the adversary, the right which is objective and universal. He is fighting for everybody. (p. 124)
For me the lessons of Andersonville, New Echota (the Capital of the Cherokee Nation before the land was stolen from them), and the Trail of Tears have revealed the depths of fear and hatred. They have also taught me the urgency and the importance of being a peacemaker in a time of increased hatred and violence. After all, shouldn’t that be our following as Christ followers? In the words of Jesus, blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9)
“Because the world is not at peace, any conduct—individual, group, or mass—that essentially maintains the status quo, or admits only slow change, is not real commitment to peace. To achieve peace we must be revolutionaries, nonviolent revolutionaries.”—Danilo Dolci
We spend the day driving and then visiting the Andersonville National Historic Site which is the site of Camp Sumter, a Confederation Prison Camp for captured Union soldiers during the Civil War. It is also the site of a National Cemetery and the National Prisoner of War Museum.
To say that the visit was gut wrenching and overwhelming would be an understatement. The rolling grassland pictures below look nothing like the muddy, boggy, disease ridden place where over 13,000 Union Prisoners of War out of 45,000 died between February of 1864 and April of 1865… a fourteen month span!
Thomas Merton, in New Seeds of Contemplation, said the following about war and peace: When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my own country may cease to want war, but above all that my country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable. (p. 121)
With the powerful impact of this day and place in mind, I lift up this Evening Prayer.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long and emotional day, Lord
To visit hallowed ground where so many suffered, died, and were buried
To consider the depths of despair felt by so many
To consider the horrors and the pain of warfare
To think of those who flippantly call for a second Civil war in this nation
Perhaps they need to consider the depravity of that thought
My heart is heavy, Lord
The work of nonviolence and peacemaking is difficult
This place has reinforced the importance of this work
Lord, help me to truly be an instrument of your peace
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“Active nonviolence is the ‘third way’ between passivity and counter-violence.”—Walter Wink
“Between fight and flight is a third path: The Way Between. The Way Between stands its ground, neither causing harm nor allowing harm to be done. . . . Everything can be done with the Way Between, from the smallest task to moving the largest mountains.”—Rivera Sun, The Way Between
| Verse of the day She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. – Proverbs 31:26 |
| Voice of the day To create is to relate. – Corita Kent, Footnotes and Headlines (1967) |
| Prayer of the day Creator God, in this divided world, help us to find new ways to relate to each other. |
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you for a good day of ministry
Thank you for a day of conversations and sharing
Thank you for a delightful evening with my sweetheart and our puppy
Thank you for the reminder to simply Be Still
Now as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
“As I walk with Beauty
As I walk, as I walk,
The universe is walking with me,
In beauty it walks before me,
In beauty it walks behind me,
In beauty it walks below me,
In beauty it walks above me,
Beauty is on every side.”
—Traditional Navajo Prayer
