Fusion - two become one

I wrote the following a several days ago, and then read a strikingly parallel passage in Thomas Merton's book 'The New Man'. Of course, he states the thought with more eloquence and more thoroughly than I! But here is what I wrote:

A couple of months ago I bowled fourteen strikes in a row during league play. Ten of them were in the same game, so I ended up with a score of 278 I think it was. Several people came up to me and shook my hand, like I had done something great. I felt uneasy, perplexed. I wanted to say to everyone, "Hey, it's just me. I'm still the same person." Something worked through me.

Many times when a sports figure is interviewed they end up giving the credit to God. I think they are being honest when they do this, but it is confusing to us viewers sometimes. We start to think that God somehow caused one side to win, and the other to lose. Inevitably the question is raised- What if two God-fearing teams faced off against each other? What would God do then? Who would God back? This question misses the point.

A person dedicates them-self to a craft, and they become creative in that craft. The craft becomes an art. What used to be compartmentalized steps becomes whole, as the next move flows from the last in a fluid, ethereal current. At this point, openness is all that is needed. What is birthed from this synergistic acceptance is something amazing.

When we look at that amazing product of our dedication, our love, inwardly we realize that we could not have created this on our own. We don't know how the sum could be so much greater than its constituent parts, but it is. Somehow, some sort of brilliance was allowed to work through us. We just made ourselves available to it. And we feel incredibly lucky to be a part of this process!

The whole ball game was full of inspired people, on both sides. The sum of the whole experience is a dance, or a play, and the entertainment to the fans is greater than any score.

All of life is this way. No matter what activity we dedicate ourselves to doing or being a part of, if we have that dedication of heart and soul, we can't fail to see some gracefully talented art or skill come from it. But what if we take this dedication to a deeper level?

A while back I stated that our openness to another produces a relationship, and the result is a trinity of sorts. We have these mini-trinities all the time, with friends, family, coworkers, and neighbors. I did not come up with this on my own. CS Lewis basically said the same thing ('God in the Dock'). Martin Buber expressed the same idea ('I and Thou').

The relationship is spiritual, that is, it is not a material thing that you can lay your hands on. Nothing in the material world can truly change it. It can only be changed by spiritual (non-material) means, because it is not physical. Similarly, a relationship must be fed spiritually, with the spiritual food of love, kindness, and shared warmth. The dedication of each goes into the other, and there is a spiritual merging. The relationship begins, and lives, as a pure, spiritual intercourse between two spiritual beings. Each acts as a catalyst to the other, and the sum is so much greater than its constituent parts!

Just as art is (amazingly) produced from the dedicated love of an activity, true friendship relationships are a type of art that is (amazingly) produced from dedicated openness to others. But what if we take this dedication to an even deeper level?

If we follow the self-sacrificial, surrendering example of Jesus, of not letting our ego pursue revenge, of being open to and loving our neighbor, of continually seeking to walk and talk intimately with God (as in the garden) we will have God's spirit in us. All we need to do is be honestly open, as much as our limited vision will allow. Just as a newborn baby's eyes develop, becoming more acute, our vision will increase, too.

Beautiful art, or great physical prowess in sports, or brilliant programming or surgery, seems to be something that just channeled through us from somewhere beyond. It is a spiritual thing that is greater than what we could have done on our own, and we know it! Relationships are also a spiritual something we cannot do on our own. And the ultimate relationship between our-self and our creator is also something that cannot happen just by our self, in seclusion. No man, or woman, is an island.

The following is much the same idea, expressed by Thomas Merton: (the section numbers are his)

...78. ...The recognition of our true self, in the divine image, is then a recognition of the fact that we are known and loved by God. As such it is utterly different from any self-awareness, no matter how deeply spiritual it may seem. It is utterly different from any other kind of spiritual awakening, except perhaps the awakening of life that takes place within a man when he suddenly discovers that he is indeed loved by another human being...
...79. Without this inner awakening, which springs from the realization of God's merciful love for us the image remains a mere potential likeness, buried and obscured, unappreciated because unseen. The image springs to life when, at the touch of God's ineffable mercy it begins to take on its lost likeness to Him Who is Love. The presence of God in us is the presence of His likeness in our own spirit-- a likeness which is more than a representation, it is the Word of God Himself, united to our soul by the action of His Spirit. The sense of being 'carried' and 'drawn' by love into the infinite space of a sublime and unthinkable freedom is the expression of our spiritual union with the Father, in the Son, and by the Holy Ghost, which constitutes us in our true identity as sons of God.
80. It is quite usual, when a man comes into intimate spiritual contact with God, that he should feel himself entirely changed from within. Our spirit undergoes a conversion, a metanoia, which reorientates our whole being after raising it to a new level, and even seems to change our whole nature itself. And then, 'self-realization' becomes an awareness that we are quite different from our normal empirical selves. At the same time we are vividly conscious of the fact that this new mode of being is truly more 'normal' than our own ordinary existence. It is more 'natural' for us to be 'out of ourselves' and carried freely and entirely towards the 'Other'-- towards God in Himself or in other men-- than it is for us to be centered and enclosed in ourselves.
We find ourselves to be most truly human when we are raised to the level of the divine. We transcend ourselves, we see ourselves in a new light, by losing sight of ourselves and no longer seeing ourselves but God. Thus in a single act we accomplish the double movement of entering into ourselves and going out of ourselves which brings us back to the paradisiacal state for which we were originally created.
81. It is a pity that this metanoia is so rare, often so completely unknown, in the lives of men... It is because of our fear, our blindness, our ignorance, our hatred of risk. For after all, in order to make this leap out of ourselves we have to be willing to let go of everything that is our own-- all our own plans, all our own hesitations, all our own judgments. That does not mean that we give up thinking and acting: but that we are ready for any change that God's action may make in our lives...
82. God will not reduce the distance between ourselves and Him by any compromise with our own weakness and imperfection... the total gift of ourselves to Him... is obstructed, within ourselves, by our own self-alienation.
83. ...If we are to recover our own identity, and return to God by the way Adam came in his fall, we must learn to stop saying: "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked. And I hid." (Genesis 3:10) We must cast away the 'aprons of leaves' and the 'garments of skins' which the Fathers of the Church variously interpret as passions, and attachments to earthly things, and fixation in our own rigid determination to be someone other than our true selves.

NOTE: We must stop running, trying to hide from God. We must cast away- what, exactly? 1)passions, 2)attachments to earthly things, and 3)determination to be someone other than our true selves. As I said before (referring to Jesus' temptation in the desert)- Easy to remember: Needs, Ambition, Wants. All fears fall into one or more of these categories, and oppose spiritual growth.

How are you a catalyst to others? What do you produce together? Can you help them find their true 'identity'?

The Sound of One Hand, Clapping

What is the sound of one hand clapping?

This saying has been repeated so many times that to Westerners it almost seems like a joke. The traditional Eastern use of this type of saying is to stop hyperactive calculative thought dead in its tracks so that intuitive wisdom, which tends to be like 'fuzzy' logic, can have a chance. Have you heard people compare the brain to a muscle, saying that you have to exercise it? Well what about muscle spasms like hiccups? To stop the hyperactivity you must hold the muscle still for a period of time. When it seems like the mental wheels are just spinning and not getting any traction, not getting anywhere, perhaps the thinking needs to be held still!

But it occurs to me that there is another valuable use for this line, one that does have meaning. It is this-- One hand needs the other in order to clap. Obvious, eh?

Trying to envision one hand clapping without the other might be like trying to envision children without parents. A child NEEDS a parent! And the parent, in order to BE a parent, needs a child. If God has birthed us to be his divine children, if we are indeed to be divine spiritual offspring of the one and only God, then we need our spiritual father!

While a painting is being painted, doesn't it need the artist, until it is finished?

Look at the complimentary nature of, well, nature! From very young we are taught about the 'circle of life'. This interdependency means that none of us is an island. None of us is completely self-sufficient. We need each other just as surely as predators need prey, as surely as fresh water requires weather changes.

None of us can adequately describe God. God is ineffable, indescribable. (*See my note below.) But I think it is a useful exercise to think of God as a 'God-of-the-gaps'. We don't know how anything will turn out, how we will be able to handle whatever situation in front of us. But amazingly we seem to muddle through. It turns out that we had the courage to endure, that we discovered how we could make it through whatever hardship. And somehow we made it to what seems to be a little oasis of peace. I think that God made up that gap between what we can normally accomplish and what we find, by surprise, that we can accomplish!

*NOTES:
When I used the phrase 'God-of-the-gaps' above I was not talking about ID (Intelligent Design), nor was I trying to prove the existence of God. It is not a scientific proof of anything. But as an analogy I feel it can be used to poetically describe a facet of our existence.

We can only talk about WHO God is by examples of what he has done, and similarly we can only describe God in terms of attributes like love, grace, power, patience, etc. The view that I present above is really not a look at God directly (because that is impossible for us) but a look at his grace. God's grace fills our 'gaps'-- it is sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV - And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

A criticism that some sling at people of faith is that their faith is a 'crutch' just to help them get by in life. OK, what if I don't dispute that? Is there any shame in a child needing his parent?

Father

I have two children. There are some things that people without children might not fully understand. I knew before my wife became pregnant that I wanted children. Don't ask me how, but with both of my kids I knew even at conception that they were on the way. I remember the circumstances of both, even to this day.

My daughter was born first, and there were complications enough that I wasn't that concerned about her. I was very worried about the health of my wife. So I didn't have time to contemplate just then the exquisite mysteries of having a new member of the family.

But when my son was born, as I looked at him in the delivery room I was blown away by the thought that here was bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, and yet we didn't know each other! We had an automatic familial intimacy, and yet there were no memories, or history!

As my kids have grown, I have been with them through each developmental stage. I have stepped in to encourage each of them, and sometimes to chew them out if that is necessary. I love them, so I care about their development, and about their future.

Regarding whatever the future holds, whether it be fame and glory or disgrace and prison, through it all I will always love my children. It's an autonomic response, almost. Whatever my cost, when they fall short, I will step in to help them.

Jesus called God, "Father" and instructed us to pray to God, "Our Father...". I think each of us are meant to draw similarities between our Earthly (or 'physical') father and our Creator (or 'spiritual') father, otherwise this analogy would have not been used.

Regardless of anything else God loves us and has loved us from before we were born unto the far reaches of eternity. He may be saddened, disappointed, or even angered, as I would be if my child were to end up in prison or worse. But the love is still there, despite the disappointment.

The Bible says that

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8 NASB)

and

"We love, because He first loved us.” (1Jo 4:19 NASB)

It is OUR love that is the response to God, not the other way around.

Whatever a person produces, or what grows out of his spiritual life is considered 'fruit'.
'Fruit' is an indicator of a working together of two things- faith and action (works).

“But are you willing to recognize, you foolish fellow, that faith without works is useless?” (Jam 2:20 NASB, similarly Jam 2:26)

Maybe it would be easier to call this catalysis 'faith-works' because it is both, inseparable.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Gal 5:22,23 NASB)

Fruits of the Spirit grow from acting on a faith in God. Acting out of obligation (the law) produces guilt, whereas acting from faith is only from joy.

What the flesh produces grow from acting from a lack of faith.

“Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal 5:19 NASB)

So we are agreed about our personal choices, and owning the consequences, right?

But the truth is, without God's grace, our 'faith-works' will always fall short. We can't do it on our
own. We miss the mark. The Greek word for 'sin' is hamartia (Strongs #266) and it means to fall short, or to miss the mark, as in an archer shooting an arrow and missing the bulls-eye. None of us is perfect. We are only human, not God. Even if we have the greatest faith possible and do everything within our power, it is not enough that we do not still need God's help agreed?

We can gather seeds for planting, and at the right time we go ahead and plant. And we protect, fertilize, and even artificially irrigate, but can we really be so bold as to take the credit for growth of the crop, without acknowledging the sun, or how we got the seeds in the first place? Truth is, even our best efforts ON THEIR OWN fall short!

If we are saved not by our own 'faith-works' but by the grace of God, then why do we even need our own efforts at all? Why doesn't God just do it all, from the beginning? The answer to this is found in looking at Earthly parent-child relationships. Can your father or mother learn how to ride your bike, and then ride your bike FOR you? No.

Until you learn from them how to ride your bike for yourself, you will never be able to go on a bike ride with your parents.

So your 'faith-works' is not to benefit God, it is to benefit YOU.

And if God did it all for you, would you understand your own free will, your own sentience?

God is deeply concerned about our life choices, how they affect our lives and how they may impact our future, just as I am concerned about my kids' progress in school, and extra-curricular activities.

In the life of Jesus, God modeled for us how to live. The Jewish people of Jesus' day chafed under the rule of the Romans, and hoped for the coming of their messiah that would deliver them from Roman oppression. Jesus, as suffering servant, fell short of their expectations. He intentionally missed the mark. In a sense you could say that Jesus became 'sin' (hamartia) to them. But did Jesus really 'miss the mark' at all? No, Jesus precisely and purposely hit the heart of the target, which is selfless love, the selfless love of a parent helping his child.

This is what it means in the Bible when it talks about the corner-stone (upon which all is built) became a stumbling block. They stumbled and fell, over Jesus.

Jesus' self-sacrifice was a mirror, or a restating of God's love in sending him.

What are we to learn? How do we apply this to our modern lives? How can we be Christ-like, truly like Jesus and impacting others lives as Jesus did?

Every so often I remind my kids that I was not put here to be their friend, but their father. It does hurt my feelings when they say they hate me because of some judgment that they don’t agree with. But they don’t see the bigger picture that I do. So I can’t evaluate the value of my parenting solely by the criteria of their feelings.

Similarly, Jesus did not curry favor with anyone. Neither should we. We shouldn’t purposely alienate others, but we don’t need to put on fake smiles and suck up to them either.

But truly helping others is another story entirely. Rather than be a sanctimonious moralizer (which Jesus was not, and did not want for us to be) how about treating every single interaction you have as HOLY?
“Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified...” (1Pe 4:11 NASB)


I saw William Shatner's interview of Carole Burnett not long ago on the TV show ‘Raw Nerve’, and she related how a rich businessman bankrolled her start into show business, with two provisos. First, he wanted to remain anonymous. Second, if she became a success she had to do the same for others. This is a picture of what we are asked to do. The word 'gospel' means 'Good News' and the rich businessman's offer to bankroll her start in show business was the good news. The only 'bad news' was the very small sacrifice of helping others in the same way.

How can we model unselfishness and caring love, so that others might be inspired to do the same? How can we stop modeling selfishness, and stop looking after our own self-interests?

BULLS-EYE!

A guy can study all the rules of 'The Game', and memorize a bunch of 'sure-fire' pick-up lines, and still not be able to ask a woman out!

And that woman can absorb and adhere to 'The Rules (TM)' and still attract a complete loser!

We know all about sex, don't we? But do we know about intimacy, or relationship? What about relationship with that one special person in your life? Sure, you can decide to trust them, but can you ever know them 100%?

We know about having kids, but do we know what it is to raise them to maturity? Each child is an individual, and no two are the same. What are you going to do?

We know about business, but do we know how to achieve success? What does the fickle consumer want this week?

Our human effort only takes us just --so-- far, and we give it our best, and when we succeed it is often times we feel it's only by the skin of our teeth! We follow our passion, and write poetry, music, paint, or make furniture, and we stand back, momentarily surprised at how well it turned out.

Where did the words, rhythm, tune, or vision come from? There is the almost-eerie-but-pleasant feeling that it could not have come from any effort of our own. What worked through us, in that creation?

It is like we have the fuel (materials?) and the spark (will?) for the combustion triangle, but we never have to worry that the air will be present. Sometimes, maybe we only have the spark, and trust that we will find fuel. My point is-- We don't have all the ingredients, in and of ourselves.

Many people try to convince themselves and others that they are in complete control. But who is in complete control? Certainly none of us! Only a complete fool would deny falling short in some way, claiming to be 'master and commander' (and provider too) of everything.

And that elusive 'something' that defies description --the air for our combustion triangle-- is the object of our fascination, isn't it?

Treasure!

There is a great treasure almost within your reach!

The biggest problem is that as soon as I start to describe the treasure, many people will stop listening for various reasons.

Some will assume they know exactly what I'm talking about, and so will stop right there. They do this because they think they already know about the treasure.

Please examine what I say. Listen to see if what I present to you clears the water or makes it more murky. Because I want for you to find that treasure.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THIS 'TREASURE'?

Honestly ask yourself what you miss most of your childhood. What were the happiest or most meaningful times you had with your parents, your siblings, your extended family? Who was your best friend? What kind of games did you like to play with your neighborhood friends?

As you grew up, who was your first girl/boy friend? What was it like to explore new, special relationships? With whom did you celebrate personal victories? Who consoled you, or was your buddy, that was there for you when life got you down?

If you married, think back to how you felt at the time about your spouse, how tremendously in love you both were. If you had kids, remember the pure wonder of what it was like to first hold them. What was it like, when your whole family was a unified, cohesive unit, a team that could handle anything, invincible?

Maybe you can only remember the dysfunction of a broken or non-existent family. None of us can paint the picture of a perfect family, because none of us have a perfect family. But knowing that something is broken is to have at least a small clue as to how it 'should' work. How do you think a family 'should' work? What do you think friendships 'should' be? What would true love really look like, to you?

I am asking all of these questions for a reason. Although in our modern times most people seem to only care about money and gadgets, toys, the house, cars, and the corner office, I would bet that what people really value is the love of their family, and spending time with their friends.

Why do you like that your shiny new smart phone can quickly link up to Facebook and Twitter? Isn't it because you are better able to talk to your friends and family?

Why is it that you want the latest car or the bigger, newer house? Why is it that some, instead of seeking riches, seek power, or fame? Isn't it because the bonfire of envy that you think will be ignited in your friends will put you in a better light, make you more attractive to them?

So it's not really about the money at all, is it? It's not really about the shiny gadgets or new car, is it? It's not really about power or fame either, is it? What you REALLY want is-- what?

Everything that you do is because you want something. Be honest with yourself. What is it?

What's with the bowl and the moon?

I have been thinking about changing my tag-line, the saying just beneath my web blog's title, but for a while now it has read:

"I placed an empty bowl beneath the moon. Only after it rained did I have illumination."

No one has asked about it, so maybe everyone understands what it means. But in case anyone does not, here is the explanation.

In our modern, so-called 'enlightened' age it seems to me there are many who have the well-intentioned but mistaken idea that emptiness is the goal. The thinking goes that if we empty ourselves of any shred of ego, and if we let go of any expectations, if we release our grip on not only material possessions but also favorite concepts, and 'live and let live' with our neighbor, that we then have no differences and there can be no offense given or taken.

This sounds good, in theory. As far as it goes, I can see some truth in it. But it is like shaving the head and issuing the same uniform to every new recruit as they enter military boot camp. Yes, it puts everyone on the same dehumanized and ready to be reprogrammed level. But ask yourself, "Do all military personnel stay at this level, or even equal?" No, they do not. At the end of boot camp, according to strengths and weaknesses, they are differentiated by their different assignments.

I read a wise little story of some Zen or Taoist master that pointed out that we cannot capture the moon. We cannot keep it to ourselves. But we can have a near perfect reflection of the moon in a bowl of water as long as we are still. This is not alien to other faiths, like Christianity. Christians know that we cannot BE God any more than we can lasso the moon, but we can REFLECT God, in following Christ.

All in all, it IS good to abolish or try to kill off the immature ego (and they are all immature). Some trees must be pruned to the point where you think there is no way that the tree can survive! But it does, and so does the ego. No matter what you do, it is wild as a weed and grows back no matter how harshly you prune it.

Similarly, it IS good to renounce materialism, and every other thing that binds you to this world.

It is also very good to subject concepts to the harsh light of truth. Be ready to throw them away at a moments notice, and then you can examine them without bias.

Our ego tries to bias everything, and that is why you need to be ready to toss it, in order to examine it objectively.

So, why mention the rain (...Only after it rained did I have illumination...)? Because our own individual experience of life, whether happiness or suffering, is how we can best reflect our creator. The Bible says we were made in the image of God. I think we are constantly refined into a clearer image of God all the time. Our creation is an on-going process of which we are still participants, with our creator.

Step out of the way. Stop trying to fill the bowl on your own with egoism and materialistic trinkets, yes. But also stop trying to empty out everything in order to be emotionally and relationally detached from the rest of the human race. These are both extremes of ego!

The doctor does not heal, he only aligns the body so that nature can do the healing. If we come into alignment, we will reflect our creator.

(Philippians 1:6 NIV) "...being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

More to come!

Faith

Faith is our attempt to understand God's grace.

Jesus' Activism

Not long ago in an online discussion I had someone tell me, "Jesus was not a pacifist!"

I thought, "Are you kidding me? The Jesus prophesied in Isaiah 9:6?"

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

'Turn the other cheek' Jesus? The Son of God, the Jesus that voluntarily let himself be crucified
though he could've obliterated everyone at a blink of an eye? The Jesus that would eventually bring about a peace where:

"They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. (Isaiah 2:4)
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isaiah 11:6-9)

NOT a pacifist? Every time I tried to think about these widely different views, I would begin to get a tremendous headache. So I sat on it, so-to-speak, which is always a wise thing to do when you know something's not right.

Then I began to attempt some honest research, and by that I mean NOT reflective of a bias to any 'side' and NOT seeking a compromise between sides (though compromise is many times a worthy step), but to seek out what the Bible says or doesn't say about it. Here are my findings.

The first complication is that the word 'pacifist' doesn't occur in the Bible.

The second complication is that the modern word 'pacifist' means many things to many different
people. For some it means no force of any kind, and some even are against any form of government. For others, a pacifist is one who uses passive activism in peaceful demonstrations. Then there are others that think the civil disobedience of pacifists can include varying degrees of sabotage or vandalism to get the point (peace) across.

The word 'pacifism' or 'pacifist' is evidently just another word that has been stretched out and
over-used.

However, 'peace' is a recurring element throughout the Bible, from beginning to end, and no one can dispute that.

In Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, he says:

"Blessed are the peacemakers, For they shall be called sons of God." (Mat 5:9 NKJV)

As Jesus was the son of God, you can probably infer that he thought of himself as a peacemaker.

But then the question that comes to me is, 'What is a peacemaker? Perhaps a weapon can bring peace, but isn't it also said that those who live by the sword, die by the sword?

Here's what I think is a parallel concept to violence (lack of peace). God anticipated man's sin. Did God create sin? No. We are responsible for sin in the world, not God. And God provides the cure for sin.

Similarly, God anticipates our violence. Does he create the violence? I don't believe so (though I don't honestly know what to make of some Old Testament texts...). I strongly feel that we humans are responsible for the violence in the world, not God. The violence is not God's plan, as
the passage I quoted above from Isaiah 11, and many other passages make plain. God's plan eventually results in peace.

Obviously this is not a 'peace at any cost' type of compromise. There have been, and will be, huge costs. As human individuals we cannot even comprehend the total cost. Like the saying goes, "If you have to ask, you can't afford it!"

There are so many passages that can be used to support various shades of pacifism or activism. It seems like to me, now, that stating a case only for one 'side' is necessarily one-sided, biased, and lacking of God's scope. Should we try to see things God's way? Of course! God's way is always the wisest way.

There are way too many passages for me to quote them all here. But I don't need to be comprehensive in my presentation either. So just let me get to the nitty-gritty of what I think perhaps Jesus was trying to teach, which is often mistaken for pacifism. In general, and of greatest importance, Jesus was teaching a new way of life, following him, worshipping God. These passages that seem to be promoting peace are actually speaking out against vengeance, or revenge. See for yourself:

"You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” (Matthew 5:38-41, NIV)

"If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ‘I repent,’ forgive him.” (Luke 17:4, NIV)

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’says the Lord.” (Rom 12:14-19)

"Do not say, ‘I will do to him as he has done to me. I will pay the man back for what he has done.’” (Prov 24:29)

Now with that understanding, here are some parallel quotes from modern day Christians:

"To our most bitter opponents we say: ‘We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We shall meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we shall continue to love you.’" —Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968)

"The followers of Christ have been called to peace. . . . And they must not only have peace but also make it. And to that end they renounce all violence and tumult. In the cause of Christ nothing is to be gained by such methods. . . . His disciples keep the peace by choosing to endure suffering themselves rather than inflict it on others. They maintain fellowship where others would break it off. They renounce hatred and wrong. In so doing they over-come evil with good, and establish the peace of God in the midst of a world of war and hate." —Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) 'The Cost of Discipleship'

"Consider whether we should make the patient an extreme patriot or an extreme pacifist. All extremes are to be encouraged. Not always, of course, but at this period. Some ages are lukewarm and complacent, and then it is our business to soothe them fast asleep. Other ages such as the present one are unbalanced and prone to faction, and it is our business to inflame them... Whichever side he adopts, your main task will be the same. Let him begin by treating the Patriotism or the Pacifism as a part of his religion. Then let him, under the influence of the partisan spirit, come to regard it as the most important part. Then quietly and gradually nurse him into the stage at which religion becomes merely part of the "cause" and his [faith] is valued chiefly for the excellent arguments it can produce in favour of the British war effort or of Pacifism. Provided that meetings, pamphlets, policies, movements, causes, and crusades mean more to him than prayer and and sacraments and charity, he is ours--and the more "religious" on those terms the more securely ours. I could show you a pretty cageful down here." —C.S. Lewis 'Screwtape Letters'

As that last quote illustrates, to be caught up in well intended religious activism can be dangerous, whether it be patriotic activism or pacifistic activism.

But how do we think of or categorize Jesus' example?

"...and by him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of his blood on the cross."(Col 1:20 NLT)

It looks like to me that Jesus demonstrated a more perfect way, an activism of non-action, endurance of suffering, of non-retaliation.

I think it is true to say that Jesus was not a pacifist, because a pacifist has the specific and limited goal of peace. Jesus wanted to take us further than mere peace.

It is equally true to say that Jesus was not an activist, because an activist has a cause, and that too is limited in scope. Jesus wanted to take us further than any temporary goal or cause.

In Jesus was the fullness of a complete existence, the perfect example.