Posts Tagged: we are all civil wars

“The Civil War is Winding Down”

On May 17, 2019 by Dteb With 0 Comments - down to earth believer

“But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.” (1 Samuel 18:16, English Standard Version)

My Hebrew students and I were reading a couple of verses in 1 Samuel, when one of them asked, “Why does it speak of Israel and Judah in 18:16?  I thought it was just Israel.”

That is an excellent question!  But it isn’t a simple one.  The truth seems to be this: The people of Israel were never really “one nation under God” or under anyone else.  The North (often called “Israel”) was bigger, generally flatter and richer.  The South (often called “Judah”) was smaller, hillier and poorer.  And there was frequently tension between them.  Sometimes, after they became two separate nations, they would cooperate with each other.  More often, they were at war with one another.

I gave a brief course in geography and ancient Israelite history.  But then, I made a more sweeping statement, after one of my students commented that it sounded like families.  “Yes,” I responded, “families, states, communities, nations, the world, capitalists, communists.  The truth is that we are all engaged in various wars.”

And then, I added what I think is profoundly true.  “Of course, all these wars are simply the spill-over from the walking civil wars that each of us is.  We all have the voices in our heads that tell us mutually exclusive things.  Because we are at war with our selves, we are at war with everyone else and everything else.”

However, there is another truth.  My own personal civil war is winding down.  I am happier in my own skin these days.  I don’t hear the destructive voices in my head nearly as loud or as often.  I am more acquainted with peace than I am with strife these days.  Not only are peace and I getting acquainted.  We are becoming intimate friends.

I’d like to take some personal credit for this.  Indeed, maybe I should.  I have worked hard.  Counseling, 12-step groups, checking in with my sponsor, actually thinking about my words and actions—sometimes.  Yes, I have worked hard to bring my civil war to a peaceful resolution.

But I owe so much to others as well.  I owe my counselors, my 12-step friends, my sweet, forgiving wife (who also calls on things when she needs to do so), my students, my church and community group.  A lot of friends, both believers and not-yet-believers, have helped to broker the peace.

Yes, the civil war is winding down.  Not because one side won, but because all sides are one.

And, above all and beneath all, there is the One God, of whom it is said,

“He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

                        he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

                        he burns the chariots with fire.

‘Be still, and know that I am God.

                        I will be exalted among the nations,

                        I will be exalted in the earth!’ ” (Psalm 46:9-10, English Standard Version)

, , , , , ,
Follow on Feedly