When peaceful stillness compassed everything and the night in its swift course was half spent, your all-powerful word, from heaven’s royal throne bounded, a fierce warrior, into the doomed land, bearing the sharp sword of your inexorable decree.
And as he alighted, he filled every place with death; he still reached to heaven, while he stood upon the earth.
This stark passage from the Book of Wisdom, recalls the night of Passover when the Angel of Death passed over the Hebrews to slay the firstborn of the Egyptians. Until that grim moment, "peaceful stillness" rested upon the "doomed land." Perhaps Jesus was thinking of that very passage when he declared,
“I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized, and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division."
Jesus seems to despise that peace which is easily shattered by his coming. During the first papal visit to the United States, Pope Paul VI famously reminded the United Nations, "If you want peace, work for justice." No political, economic, or social system can attain peace; and that peace which they might create is only a facsimile of the real thing. Fragile, brief, and just as doomed as ancient Egypt.
Nor is justice attainable without the wisdom, courage, and spirit of God. Human notions of justice, worked out within our historical, cultural, geographical landscape, cannot include every consideration; human considerations cannot foresee every consequence of every action.
The Egyptians were quite satisfied with their system. If the Hebrew slaves were unhappy, they were a small, powerless minority and why should Pharaoh or his people care about them? The controlling caste did not remember Joseph and the divine wisdom which delivered them from a seven year famine. That was all in the past and why should they worry about that? It's not like they owed something to the Hebrews!
Last summer, when I visited Mammoth Cave, I learned about the miners -- African slaves -- who excavated the saltpeter used to make gunpowder, which was used to fight the British navy in the War of 1812. Our history might read very differently had we lost that war. The more we examine the economics of antebellum United States the more we discover our debt to Africa and its people. Now forgotten slaves were essential workers; they contributed much to our present prosperity.
The first large immigration of Asians were imported to build American railroads; they were educated and organized but their strike for just wages ended in the wilderness when their food supply was severed. Could there be a United States without Chinese labor?
If "peace" would overlook these debts, it is doomed. If peace does not welcome the onward march of justice it deserves to suffer "the sharp sword of your inexorable decree."
We begin by hearing the cry of the poor, and continue by studying their historical contributions. We make progress by considering what might, can, and should be done; and then move forward. We might yet forestall the punishing hand of God.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.