| The way of the cross leads home, towards peace  By Harry C. Kiely War. Where will it all end? The writer of Ephesians, who wrote about spiritual warfare, provided the spiritual context for understanding the struggle in which our world is now engaged. Our real enemy is not any nation or its leader or army. Rather, our enemy is an invisible spiritual force that seduces us into engaging in violence, which ultimately is self-destructive. Look around you and see how war fever has our nation in its thrall. A worldwide disaster of unimaginable proportions may be in the making, but our obsession with the designated enemy has blinded us to the possible consequences of our war-making policy. It is as if we, the people, have become addicted to a powerful drug that anesthetizes our consciences and thwarts our capacity for independent thinking and acting. In short, we have surrendered our freedom. Those of us in the peace movement are not off the hook. Only when a crisis occurs do we rally to protest, but then it is too late. We have neglected to do the long-term work of building for peace, including identifying and campaigning for leaders who are committed to a vision of a nation and world that are just and merciful for all people. Even worse, we are often guilty of the self-righteous hatred that we deplore in some of our national leaders. God has not left us alone to struggle with our power addictions, for the message of the cross is forever enduring. In Jesus day, the Holiness Code was the system by which the temple rulers maintained their dominance over the masses. Using this system, these rulers kept a tight inner circle and lived well off the offerings of the poor. Jesus recognized the viciousness of the system and deliberately violated the Code by healing on the Sabbath, eating with outcasts, and treating women as equals. All the while, Jesus was proclaiming the message of Gods reign the authentic Kingdom which was inclusive, non-exploitative, nurturing, and loving. The temple rulers recognized that Jesus liberating message was a threat to their system, so they decided he had to be silenced. They stooped to lies, deceit and bribery to have him executed under Roman law. What they had not counted on was that Gods will ultimately cannot be defeated, for out of the grave Jesus arose. The Resurrection radically transformed the disciples from cowards into courageous men and women who boldly went about carrying on Jesus ministry, and doing so at great personal risk. If the church is to be faithful to the Gospel in this time of war, we must cling to the cross of Christ. When we hold on to the cross, we are taking on the whole armor of God, which will break the chains of our addiction to violence. The cross helps us to see how we have used our religion to bless wars bloody undertaking. The cross gives us the power to follow Jesus in loving our enemies and regarding them as beloved children of God. The cross lifts up the vision of building for peace rather than for war. The Rev. Harry C. Kiely is a retired clergy member of the Baltimore-Washington Conference living in Silver Spring. He may be reached at
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