Peace And War

FRI., MAY 22, 1987, 6:49 AM
FARM, STUDY

The yearning of most people on the earth is for peace… and for no more war. Yet there are small wars in progress, mostly with no end in sight. The Preacher who formulated the wisdom known as Ecclesiastes, said there always is a time for war and a time for peace. Fortunately these do not have to be equal times, but the ancient wisdom is that a time of peace is, in some sense, a preparation for war.

You were not a warrior, even as you aspired to be one. You have some of the feelings for war, even as you are fundamentally pacifist. There is almost a sense of loss that you were not more of an active participant in the war of your youth. In each person there is some balance… some portion of self that is excited by or longs for some kind of combat. Paradoxically it is part of that God-given desire to survive and to live a bit longer in the earth and in better circumstances than one, or one’s country, has had.

In symbol form the Garden of Eden was the stepping stone to earth life. Once earth life truly commenced certain adaptive characteristics were needed by humans. One of these was the spirit of combat which is in its most destructive form in a full-scale war. In My life as Jesus there were several events that showed this characteristic of a true human, even though only one was recorded. In the temple I once attacked the money changers in a fierce fashion. In fact I was so dedicated to My cause at that moment that they did not fight back. Many wars are averted by comparable aggressiveness, but this also shades into brutism and domination. What would I have done had they fought back? I would have continued My assault and been engaged in a small war. And the story would have been told differently.

In the garden after the last supper I could have fought back and involved My disciples as well. I chose at that time to be a man of peace, and the result was the loss of My life. It was a sacrifice. I gave it up. Fundamentally it was not taken from Me. Peace can sometimes be as costly as war.

It could be an interesting test of your government’s “spirit” (as represented by those who make peace and war decisions, of course) if there were a true confrontive situation in which nuclear weapons could be used. Would the actual war-like behavior dominate, even with the knowledge that the planet earth might be made unlivable – the ultimate loss of freedom? The power of present weapons makes it necessary for the spirit of peaceful compromise to prevail over that of the warrior.

As you look out at the beauty of a sunny, peaceful day you feel pleasure. And yet you know that there must be times of storm to keep the balance, even in the physical earth. I am not the Spirit of just the lovely, sunny days. I also am in the storms and the destruction that may result.

In like fashion I am telling you that I am involved in the spirit of war. Oh, the spirits of some who engage in war are out of relationship with Me, and such would do truly evil deeds. Some of this is best overcome with a more truly fighting spirit, even as some is met best by true peace. You cannot deny the wars described in My Old Testament, some instigated directly by Me. It is easiest to feel that I as not truly involved… even that I was overcome by stronger evil forces. I finally must say, “Not so.” I am part of all that occurs in the earth.