“It is true, political problems are not solved by love and mercy. But the world of politics is not the only world, and unless political decisions rest on a foundation of something better and higher than politics, they can never do any real good for men. When a country has to be rebuilt after war, the passions and energies of war are no longer enough. There must be a new force, the power of love, the power of understanding and human compassion, the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive. The will for reconciliation.”
From Introductions East & West. The Foreign Prefaces of Thomas Merton (Unicorn Press, Inc. Greensboro, NC 1981) Page 105.
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June 26, 2006 at 3:20 pm
bereans
Hi Helen!
Hope you had a good weekend. Except for the evil of men we would have no war. I understand what Thomas is saying though.
-j
June 26, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Helen Losse
Hi Jack,
Yes, “the passions and energies of war.” How sad we treat each other so harshly, with so little respect for life.
June 26, 2006 at 6:20 pm
writeathome
The book of James tells us why we have wars. This is from the Amplified Bible.
Jam 4:1 WHAT LEADS to strife (discord and feuds) and how do conflicts (quarrels and fightings) originate among you? Do they not arise from your sensual desires that are ever warring in your bodily members?
Jam 4:2 You are jealous and covet [what others have] and your desires go unfulfilled; [so] you become murderers. [To hate is to murder as far as your hearts are concerned.] You burn with envy and anger and are not able to obtain [the gratification, the contentment, and the happiness that you seek], so you fight and war. You do not have, because you do not ask. [I John 3:15.]
Jam 4:3 [Or] you do ask [God for them] and yet fail to receive, because you ask with wrong purpose and evil, selfish motives. Your intention is [when you get what you desire] to spend it in sensual pleasures.
I look forward to the day when the Prince of Peace shall usher in lasting peace.
Carol
June 26, 2006 at 6:36 pm
dantheman123ya
i cant understand anything about politics. it is so hard cuz i am so young.
June 26, 2006 at 7:16 pm
Helen Losse
That is, indeed,why we have wars, Carol. We refuese “the strength of selflessness and cooperation, and the creative dynamism of the will to live and to build, and the will to forgive. The will for reconciliation” that God will give us, if we only ask and do not plan to use it for earthly pleasures.