I’ve been thinking about all the things happening in this world and the arguments for and against religion and people blaming war on religion and how others blame war on politics and I wonder why we don’t blame war on people? Yes – to me it makes so much more sense to blame war on people than on institutions. We blame human actions on institutions because it’s hard to blame ourselves and/or it’s hard to find the person to blame. When did all these wars start? How? It’s not religion or politics that started war. It’s people and we just keep perpetuating it from one generation because that’s how it’s always been done as far as we know.

Life is lived with a mantra of ‘All’s fair in love and war.’ What a lie. So we live lying to ourselves and each other every day. The Truth is All is Not Fair in Love and War. There are rules in both of these ‘extremes’ aren’t there? Yes and when the rules are broken people are angry, hurt and stressed. There is a list of manifestations of unresolved stress that are listed in my book Praying Our Way Through Stress: Drawing Wisdom from the Lord’s Life and Prayer. Here is a recap of pages 14 – 17 from my original book published through Westbow Press in July 2013.

“- isolation
– depression
– inability to concentrate, study, or work
– insomnia
– eating disorders
– irrational outbursts of anger
– social anxiety
– chronic neglect of self, spouse, family, parents, and other relationships
-addictions to:
work; alcohol/drugs; sex/pornography; food; video games; gambling; exercise/sports; shopping

the effects of stress left untreated over time lead to sad and even dangerous situations.
– domestic violence
– divorce
– community violence
– violence in the workplace
– suicide
– homicide

When we look at the dangers of untreated stress through the mind and heart of God, we can find a deep and profound meaning to the following verses:

For God so loved the world that he gave his only son, Jesus Christ, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. (John 3:16-1 NRSV)

Ultimately, we need Jesus to lead us out of behavior patterns leading to death and self-destruction into behavior patterns that help sustain people through traumatic times and lead us onto paths of righteousness and to ways of being in right relationships with one another. In this generation, we still need to be saved from ourselves and each other! Now, that statement may sound funny or frightening, but there is much truth in it.

Some people get caught up in arguing about who God is and whether or not he created the world and about whether or not Mary really was a virgin. Whether you believe that God created the earth or whether or not Mary was a virgin aren’t issues for me. For me, the issue [that we need to discuss] is that God desired to save the world so much that he gave us himself through Jesus.” (Praying Our Way Through Stress: Drawing Wisdom from the Lord’s Life and Prayer. (c) June G Paul 2013, All Rights Reserved, Westbow Press.

[What is war? It’s community violence that has extended outside the community into the world. The world was already at war the night Jesus was born over 2000 years ago. When will it end?

Some people pray for the Armageddon – that big and last war . . . I don’t see Jesus telling us to pray that way anywhere in Scripture. But I do see him asking us to pray for us to put aside personal desire for revenge to allow his peaceful desire to reconcile enter into our lives And this is a big part of the reason I wrote the book – to share the wisdom I see in the Life and Prayer of my Savior, Jesus Christ.]

Let us pray:

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
Forth thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. AMEN”

(Praying Our Way Through Stress: Drawing Wisdom from the Lord’s Life and Prayer. (c) June G Paul 2013, All Rights Reserved, Westbow Press. pgs 14-17, 85 bracketed phrases mine).