study war no more

It's memorial day. The president asked for Americans to take a moment of silence to reflect on the sacrifices made by many in war. In my feeble attempt to honor this request, I couldn't help but think that the greatest way to honor the sacrifices of these men and women is to work tirelessly to bring an end to war. Yet as I look around, I see very little desire to do this in the American public. With the exception of the Catholics and Anabaptists, I see particularly little of this among Christians. I don't understand why every church is not packed today with parishioners on their knees begging God to bring an end to warfare. Certainly none of them expect war in God's fulfilled kingdom. I am not even arguing (here at least) that there is not a place for it now. Yet why are we so comfortable with it? I am posting a video of the old gospel song "Down By The Riverside." For slaves, spirituals were often covert messages of escape plans. Many slaves pursued freedom by travelling on a river. Subsequently, the "riverside" was often used as an image of the point of liberation from slavery. When the song says "I'm gonna lay down my sword and shield, down by the riverside" I find it to be a reminder of the coming day when we indeed will "study war no more."