Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Please Pray

Right now there’s three older teenagers skateboarding on our front stoop.  It’s a pretty sweet spot—there’s stairs, railings and good flat spaces.  And while I agree that skateboarding is not a crime, I see these guys (who aren’t very good at this) attempt ollies and kickflips while not wearing helmets and it freaks me out. Blood is remarkably hard to get out of pavement, you know? And then, too, I want to go out there and let them know if they need a bathroom or water or whatever, to come on in.  But then I worry that might seem creepy, so instead, I’m just standing here watching them, which also seems creepy, probably.  It’s a mixed bag. 

We get a lot of mixed bag situations—these moments where there’s not a clear solution.  The most glaringly obvious one facing the entire world right now is what will happen in Syria in the coming weeks. With the clear and unadulterated use of chemical weapons in a conflict that has already killed 100,000 people, the military intervention of the United Nations seems justified. However, Iran and Russia stand in support of the Assad regime; the intricacies of Middle Eastern diplomatic relations are tenuous at best; action taken by the United States would only increase tension, but inaction taken by the United States would also increase tension.  While I am a staunch anti-war pacifist, I cannot help but notice that the status quo right now is not okay, but would not necessarily be improved by war. So here we stand. Please pray for Syria, for those who are in charge of making decisions and issuing orders, for those in the midst of this conflict, for those who will be, and for those who have died in it. 

I am not going to try and segue into something about Sunday at this point.  What is happening now in Syria is terrifying and awful. It will require response from us—but what that is, we should and shall discern, I am sure.  For now, again, please: pray. I look forward to seeing you Sunday. 

Shalom y’all, 

Arthur

No comments:

Post a Comment