Violence shall no more be in your land,
devastation or destruction within your borders.
You shall call your walls “Salvation,”
and your gates “Praise.” [Isaiah 60:18]

All-Star Browns defensive end Myles Garrett said recently that he wants to bring a Super Bowl trophy to the city of Cleveland. This battle-weary fan and cynic of nearly 60 years responds, “Yeah, when pigs fly.”

It is pretty easy to adopt that same cynicism about Isaiah’s words in a world where violence and destruction are on quite a winning streak. Yeah, Isaiah…when??

We who believe the promise of Christ that he will return one day and bring peace, restoring all that is broken, can confidently rest in that hope. Even if we don’t know exactly when.

And in the meantime? With political assassinations (Charlie Kirk, and don’t forget Minnesota congresswoman Melissa Hortman, who was gunned down in June) and the never-ending school shootings, one has to hope there are peaceful days ahead for our land even before that Day comes.

When I first read Michael Frost’s commentary on American society right after Kirk was killed, I got a bit defensive. But I’m not sure if the Australian Baptist minister and theologian isn’t just calling them as he sees them. “The sickness of resorting to gun violence infects people right across the political spectrum. There is something rotten at the core of that society.” Ouch!

As a Christ-follower, I can’t just wait for Isaiah’s picture of perfect peace to one day come to pass. In my own small way, I must be an agent of peace. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” Jesus said. I can’t villainize everyone who disagrees with me. “Love your enemies,” Jesus said. As for my words, they have to be few and helpful and gracious and true. In the Book of Proverbs I read, “Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body.”

If I learned anything in all my studies of rhetoric and communication, it is that “violent rhetoric begets violent actions.” Call me naïve, but my hope for our country in these days is that we can begin to tone down the rhetoric—that we can get back to seeing those who differ (politically or otherwise) not as mortal enemies but as ideological opponents, not as evil or “scum” but as people made in the image of God, worthy of respect no matter how erroneous I may find their views. Maybe we can prove Frost wrong!

Important words for these days
“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” [Jesus]

“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” [Abraham Lincoln]

“Social media is a cancer and I would urge people to log off, turn off and touch grass.” [Utah Governor Spencer Cox]

“In the end, God will use evil to do the opposite of what was intended.” [Tim Keller]

“Even if the forces of darkness prevail, those who believe in God know that evil and death do not have the final say.” [Pope John Paul II, the day after the 9/11 attacks]

“I am rather inclined to silence, and whether it be wise or not, it is at least more unusual nowadays to find a man who can hold his tongue than to find one who cannot.” [Abraham Lincoln]

Drones for a better purpose
Did you see this? With all the drones of war Russia is unleashing (on Poland, Romania, and of course Ukraine) it is nice to see drones unleashed for a peaceful purpose.

Last Sunday night, over 3,000 drones flew over the Vatican in Rome and produced in the night sky amazing images like Michelangelo’s “Pieta.” The drone show closed an event called “The World Meeting in Human Fraternity” that is aimed at promoting peace and brotherhood as a universal value.

Timeless words (and warning) from C.S. Lewis
My dear Wormwood,

Be sure that the patient remains completely fixated on politics. Arguments, political gossip, and obsessing on the faults of people they have never met serves as an excellent distraction from advancing in personal virtue, character, and the things the patient can control. Make sure to keep the patient in a constant state of angst, frustration, and general disdain towards the rest of the human race in order to avoid any kind of charity or inner peace from further developing. Ensure the patient continues to believe that the problem is “out there” in the “broken system” rather than recognizing there is a problem with himself.

Keep up the good work,
Uncle Screwtape

[C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters (1942)]

My prayer for these days
Our Father and our God, we come to you in prayer seeking your comfort and healing and peace. Please Lord, like a Shepherd, lead us. Like the Great Physician, heal us.

We pray for our nation. For supernatural healing in these days. Heavenly Father, we are tired of living among such enmity and division and hatred. It scares us, Lord. We fear it will get worse. And we don’t know how to fix it.

And yet we know, Father, that your Son, our Lord, came to tear down dividing walls of hostility. Lord, our society’s wall seems as thick and immovable as ever right now. We cannot dismantle this wall in our own strength.

And yet, your Son Christ died, pouring out his love to bring reconciliation and forgiveness and healing. May this healing power be evident in our nation in these days.

Lord, we pray that you would be the God of all comfort to those who need it most in these days. And please, through your Holy Spirit, help each of us to be peacemakers in our own ways and in our own places. May we be peacemakers by what we say and what we don’t say—by what we do and what we don’t do.

Help us to be a little bit of light shining in this profound darkness.

In Jesus’ name we pray,
Amen.