Defense

I've been mulling over my last post since I posted it yesterday, and feel the need to clarify one thing:
I believe in the right of persons to defend themselves. I believe defending oneself is backed by scripture and the best minds of the Christian tradition. I also find myself wondering, however, when violence will end unless the enlightened stand up against it.

For me, the message of the cross is the futility of violence. Jesus had meted out against him pain beyond comprehension, through capital punishment of the greatest power the earth had then known; and in response, he said, "Do your worst, your most violent, and I will show you the power of God's love to overcome."

Not on wooden crosses but the crosshairs of rifle scopes do the enemies of our way of life find a final end. I hate that this is so; and with the earth, I cry out over humanity's sins. When, O Lord, will we lay down our weapons of war for peace?

What would such a world look like, where peace comes from love instead of force? God help us to find a better way, to be willing to pay the price--a much higher price than we pay for defense.