Palm Sunday
Today I imagine Jesus looking over our world.
“Oh, human civilization, civilization – massive organization that stones the prophets and silences those sent to you with God’s truth and wisdom. How often I have wanted to gather you together as a hen gathers her chicks. But you would not come. If only you knew the things that made for peace …”
Or maybe it would be this:
“Oh, Christendom, Christendom … If only you knew….”
And what makes for peace? These words from Dr. King come to mind:
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral,
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
In our world of drones, secret prisons, terrorism, counter-terrorism, occupations, nuclear threats, and more … let us join Jesus today, looking over Jerusalem, looking over our world, weeping and praying for peace.