W A R // K R I E G
W A R ON THIS BEAUTIFUL EARTH
Merciful God of peace,We come to you speechless and powerless.
We observe the brutal business of war, increasing aggression and threats.
All mediations seem to be unsuccessful, the fear of destruction and suffering is rampant.
In this situation we ask you for a new spirit for peace and reconciliation,
for insight and conversion of hearts.
With your help it won't be too late, to enable decisions which prevent destruction and misery.
In the name of all those who directly are affected, threatened and involved, we long for the miracle of peace - for Ukraine, Russia and all of Europe.
You God of life, comfort and love, we trust in your goodness and providence. Amen.
Prayer by Bishop H. Glettler, February 23, 2022
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War
You most horrible act of man,
you misdeed On both sides, rob the father his son,
believe to defend the fatherland.
You kill mothers' sons, you murder women's husbands,
snatch the fathers from the children.
Separate lovers forever, who had just found each other.
You take away from friends their friends,
trample in minutes, what Created over the centuries
and built, that Generations guarded.
Divide the happiness of the individual
in order to to dismember her body.
Lets veterans survive, and mutilated back in body and soul,
lest they curse you.
Leaves only rubble and heaps,
Cripples vegetating in abject poverty,
and you always emerge new, like you're making a promise.
You are the worst of crimes.
Erhard Blanck
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David and Goliath
The Philistines gathered their armies together for battle and came together to Socho in Judah and camped between Socho and Azekah at Ephesdamim. But Saul and the men of Israel came together and camped in the pit and prepared themselves to fight against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the other side, and the Israelites on a mountain on this side, with a valley between them. Then out of the camp of the Philistines came a giant named Goliath of Gath, six cubits and a hand's breadth high; and he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and a coat of armor of scales, and the weight of his breastplate was five thousand shekels of brass, and he had breastplates of brass upon his thighs, and a shield of brass upon his shoulders.
And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the iron of his spear was six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him. And he stood and called to the host of Israel, and said to them, Why did you go out to prepare yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine and you Saul's servants? Choose one of you to come down to me.
If he is able to fight against me and strike me, then we will be your servants; But if I have power against him and smite him, then you shall be our servants to serve us. And the Philistine said, I have defied the host of Israel this day: Give me one, and let us fight together. When Saul and all Israel heard this saying of the Philistine, they were astonished and afraid...
Then David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep to the keeper, and carried and went, as Jesse had commanded him, and came to the chariot. And the army went out and prepared themselves, and they shouted in battle... Behold, a giant named Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, came up from the Philistine army and spoke, and David heard it. But every man in Israel, when he saw the man, fled from him, and was sore afraid.... Then David said to the men who stood with him, What will they do to him who strikes this Philistine? and turns away the shame of Israel? For who is the Philistine, this uncircumcised man, who defies the army of the living God? ........
But Saul said to David, You cannot go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a boy, but this man has been a man of war from his youth ............
And David said, The LORD who delivered me from the lion and the bear will also deliver me from this Philistine... and he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the stream and did put them in the shepherd's bag that he had and in the sack and took the sling in his hand and went to the Philistine ...........
Now when the Philistine saw and looked upon David, he despised him; for he was a boy, brownish and beautiful. And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog that you come to me with sticks? And he cursed David by his God, and said to David, Come unto me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the field. But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield; But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the hosts of Israel, whom you have insulted... Now when the Philistine arose and came near to David, David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
And David put his hand in his pocket, and took a stone from it, and hurled it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone pierced his forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face. So David overcame the Philistine with the sling and with the stone and struck him and killed him. And since David had no sword in his hand, he ran and went to the Philistine, and taking his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him, and cut off his head with it. But when the Philistines saw that their strongest man was dead, they fled. 1 Samuel - Chapter 17
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Two men will work in the field; one is accepted and the other is left behind. Two women will grind grain; one is accepted, the other is left behind.
Matthew 24:40-41
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Then they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.
Wed 4.3
They no longer raise the sword, nation against nation, and they no longer learn war.
Isaiah 2:4
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But wars are also one of the consequences of a general distance from God.
The World Assembly of Christians prayed this in Seoul in 1990: "I believe in God, who is love and who has given the earth to all people. I do not believe in the right of the strongest, in the strength of arms, in the power of oppression. I believe in Jesus Christ, who came to heal us and who frees us from deadly addictions. I do not believe that wars are inevitable, that peace is unattainable. I believe in the communion of saints, the Church, which is called to be at the service of all people. I do not believe that suffering must be in vain, that God has willed the destruction of the earth. I believe that God wants an order for the earth that is based on justice and love, and that all men and women are equal human beings. I believe in God's promise of a new heaven and a new earth where justice and peace kiss. I believe in love with open hands, in peace on earth. Amen."
Also read the bestseller: "Peace is STILL possible" by environmental journalist Franz Alt.
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