The Side That Christ Was On

Before we left the United States in July, my best friend gave me a mixed CD that included a song by Griffin House called “I Remember (It’s Happening Again)”.  She knew I would love it but I don’t suppose she knew how many times I’d listen to it on repeat, or what an encouragement it would be to me during these frustrating months of questioning why we’re here.  Nor did she know that this song would be one of the few things providing me with meaningful reflection on and connection to the beauty of Christmas. 

The song talks about war and killing, and how Jesus isn’t about either.  Jesus doesn’t point guns.  Jesus doesn’t retaliate.  Jesus doesn’t speak hate, even when hate seems justified.  Jesus is on the side of peace.  Always.  As an infant sleeping among animals, he was about peace.  As a man dying on a cross, he was about peace.  And he came to make me about peace.  He came to change my heart, to bend it towards peace.  I’m still bending, and probably always will be.  Peace is hard.  Choosing to reject hate and violence and killing (especially in my heart) is hard.  But peace is the side that Christ was on, so I make it my side too.

Right now, being on the side of peace for me means living as a minority among people who have been labeled the most ‘other’ of all the ‘others,’ finding generosity, love and friendship and discovering that I have a lot to learn from Muslim concepts of charity and devotion.  Being on the side of peace means trying to tear down stereotype and build up reality.  Being on the side of peace means changing my heart, and asking you to change your hearts as well.  Jesus endured birth and death for me, and for you, and for our Muslim brothers and sisters.  All of them.

Peace on Earth.

My grandpa fought in World War II
My uncle fought in ‘Nam
My father was too young
He went to school and met my mom
And her dad always told us stories around dinner time
And there’s one he told when I was young that sticks out in my mind
He said ten years after daddy taught me about the birds and bees
I was stranded in Pearl Harbor fighting off the Japanese
When the kamikaze pilots came and dove in without warning
I was on the Arizona on a warm December morning

(Chorus)
I Remember
When I was a younger man
We were soldiers
Fighting in a foreign land
Now I’m older
And it’s happening again

It was hard to have forgiveness for the things they did that day
And our President decided we should make their people pay
So we dropped on Nagasaki and we cut ‘em down to size
And the one we dropped on Hiroshima left them vaporized
And I heard some Christian sing, what would Jesus do
What if you were on the wrong side, would he point the gun at you
And they read through every word of Matthew, Mark and Luke and John
So they could see if killing was the side that Christ was on

(Chorus)

And they separate the church and state
And keep God out of school
So our governments can educate
Based upon their rules
But people start to wonder if our politics make sense
When religion is our best excuse for national defense
And when our citizens start saying that our wars are not okay
And Washington keeps telling them God loves the USA
And they teach us history so we can learn from our mistakes
And this generation wants to know how many years it takes
To change the way we treat our neighbors all across the land
Cause if we don’t change our hearts we repeat the past again

I Remember
When I was a younger man
We were soldiers
Fighting in a foreign land
Now we’re older
And it’s happening again

When my grandpa finished talking
We went walking, he and I
I was thinking of the future and how scared I was to die
Now my best friend’s overseas in the desert where it’s dry
Fighting for our country and I need a reason why

I Remember
When he was a younger man
Now he’s a solider
Fighting in a foreign land
Now we’re older
God bring him home again