Make Love Not War - Tolstoy Law of Love

[juantoo3]

Kindest Regards again Star!

Originally Posted by Sacredstar

"But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all PURE; then PEACE-LOVING, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness". James 3:17-18

From the passage on Submitting Ourselves to GOD

"What causes fights and quarrels among you, Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God." James 4:1-2

When it comes to discussion of wisdom, my first and most lasting lesson came from Solomon, who said (chapter 2 Proverbs): "Seek wisdom as for hidden treasure." The same guy (or at least collected in the same series of wisdom books and poetry) in Ecclesiastes told us that knowledge is a heavy burden, and of the making of many books there is no end, so, let us hear the sum of the matter: "Love God, and keep His commandments." End of story. Everything else is vanity!

You see, the funny thing about verse wars, is that people can quote verses at each other all day long, especially if they are willing to take verses out of context. The devil can quote scripture too.

What about applying scripture instead of quoting it at each other?

People are prone, in my experience, to false dichotomies. Either/or thinking. In order for me to be right, you must be wrong. And the reality is nothing at all like that. Wisdom is a middle ground, it is not extreme right or left. What I am seeing you attempt to promote is that people who have the intestinal fortitude to serve their country and countrymen and women are not somehow worthy of God's presence. Quite the contrary, because these people are willing to sacrifice themselves (to lay down their lives for their friends as it were), they are entitled to a blessing you will never understand. I do not say this harshly, I say it most lovingly but insistently.

You see war as murder, I see it as protection. Fact is, we are both right. And both sides are equally just in their due season in the eyes of God.

One of the things I wanted to put in my initial post has to do with a Native American tradition. In the western mind, death is something to fear, to be avoided. But death is a natural part of life. If life is for learning, death is graduation. Death means I am going home to be with my Father. I do not fear death. I better correct myself, yeah, I get butterflies in my stomach thinking about this subject, but I do not fear death like I did as a child. The Native American went onto the battlefield thinking "this is a good day to die." This day, today, is just as good of a day to die as any other, IF you are right with God! I do not look to hurry death, I enjoy my sojourn here in this existence. But I do not fear the day when I am called home. Do I miss those I love who have gone before me? Of course, but that grief is selfish, I miss them. And at the same time, I am happy for them, they have gone to be with the Father! I look forward to the day when we will be together again!

Yes, peace is a very important thing to promote. Peaceful coexistence is the human ideal in this realm. And we are to try, sincerely.

But the cards are stacked against us from the beginning. War has always been. And peace at the cost of surrender of all that is of value to you, is not a peace worth having. At first glance, "one people" makes sense. We are all humans, blessed creations of divine Providence. "One mind" and "one heart" however, gets a bit dicey. Whose mind and whose heart shall serve as the model for the one? Yours? Mine? Are you willing to surrender your all, everything that is you, just so you can get a little peace now and then? That is what is coming, and a true prophet knows it. Which is why you scare me Star. I cannot help but think, the god you listen to, is not the Heavenly Father Creator.

PS, I do not think you are evil. I think you are misguided. I still love you.

[lunamoth]

Dear Juantoo3,

Thank you for your posts to me, I greatly appreciate the time you've taken to reply so thoughtfully. I've pretty much exhausted what I have to say for now, short of getting into Christian eschatology which probably belongs in a different section of the forum anyway.

We agree on many things. I think our differences are primaily a matter of emphasis. I agree that Bible passages are easily taken out of context (although I don't really see much of that on CR--the people here really know their stuff) and, worse, can be used to bludgeon each other. I mean, no matter how sharp our own words can be, how much harsher is it when we imply that the condemnation comes from God? I hope I have not been guilty of using the Word in this way and if I have offended you or anyone else I apologize.

Peace,
lunamoth

[juantoo3]

bump for exposure