Insanity at the Top of the World

Indian Border Security Force soldiers guard a highway leading towards Leh, bordering China, in Gagangir [Tauseef Mustafa/AFP]

1 Let there be light, let there be understanding,
let all the nations gather, let them be face to face;

2 open our lips, open our minds to ponder,
open the door of concord opening into grace;

3 perish the sword, perish the angry judgement,
perish the bombs and hunger, perish the fight for gain...

Voices United 679 (3 of 6 verses)

Last week there was a  report about a skirmish along the border between India and China which involved troops from both those countries. High in the Himalayan mountains there is an area whose ownership has been disputed for decades. Both countries, each a nuclear power, has a contingent of unarmed soldiers who keep watch against incursions. 

While the details are sketchy, it would seem that the soldiers entered into brutal hand-to-hand combat over a period of six hours, in the dark. Some of them fell or were pushed to their deaths with 20 Indian solders and possibly even more Chinese killed. One report described the skirmish as medieval but I was thinking "neanderthal." 



What a bizarre and destructive species we are. While in the greater scheme of war this wasn't a major loss of life, but what was this fight at the top of the world really about, and why did these human beings have to die in such a brutal and senseless way? 

We want to view ourselves as a sophisticated and advanced species,yet we act like spoiled children playing with gasoline and matches in a garage. It wasn't long ago that the dictator of North Korea, and the dictator of the United States -- excuse me, president -- were trading ridiculous insults and threats about using weapons of mass destruction. 

All this reminds me once again of why I follow Jesus, Prince of Peace, the one who resisted the temptations of power and empire to embody a gospel of love and forgiveness. When his disciples wanted to respond with violence in the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus restrained them saying "the one who lives by the sword, dies by the sword." Christians through the centuries have steadfastly ignored Jesus' teaching and example, often claiming that God was on their side in conflicts. 

Will humans ever repent of their foolish ways? It seems unlikely, but we can pray for peace and live it in every aspect of our lives, Christ being our helper.  

I stopped my cycle the other morning to admire a cottonwood tree, and I'll tell you about it in today's Groundling blog entry. 

https://groundlingearthyheavenly.blogspot.com/2020/06/cottonwood-delight.html