33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time, C November 18, 2007
If we were living in Iraq, or Darfur, or Pakistan, or Myanmar we could take special consolation from this Gospel. Experiencing first hand the terrors of war, genocide, terrorism, and violent political repression, we would easily see this Gospel as written personally to us. The message would be, no matter how horrific the slaughter, no matter how much we suffer, no matter how bad things get, our God will never abandon us, our Lord Jesus will remain with us so the powers of evil will never destroy us. The Lord will deliver on his promises.
This is all well and good, hypothetically. But we aren’t experiencing firsthand war or persecution or violence. Is there a message here for us for our ordinary everyday lives, far removed from all the violent chaotic suffering in our world? I think there is.
A nine-year-old asked his father, “Dad, how do wars start?”
“Well, son,” his father began, “take World War I. That war started when Germany invaded Belgium . . . ”
“Just a minute,” his wife interrupted. “It began when Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria was assassinated by a Serbian nationalist.”
“Well, dear, that was the spark that ignited the fighting, but the political and economic factors leading to the war had been in place for sometime.”
“Yes, I know, honey, but our son asked how the war began and every history book says that World War I began with the murder of Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria.”
Drawing himself up with an air of superiority, the husband snapped, “Are you answering the question, or am I?”
The wife turned her back on him in a huff, stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind her.
When the dishes stopped rattling, an uneasy silence followed. The nine-year-old then broke the silence:
“Dad, you don’t have to say any more about how wars start. I understand now.”
Yes, big wars between nations, small wars in the family, all start because someone insists that I will have it my way, when we cannot see or refuse to see things from the perspective of the other person or other nation.
The “little” wars and skirmishes in everyday life are all too common, aren’t they? And at certain times they tend to get magnified. Like occasions when everything is supposed to be perfect. One’s wedding. The anniversary or birthday party. Thanksgiving. Want to start a war at home? Wait till Thanksgiving Day. Where’s the gravy without giblets? We always have two kinds of gravy. You know I don’t like giblets. Yes, I’ll have it my way. We never eat at 3 o’clock. It’s right in the middle of the football game. We can’t eat until 6! Who decided this? Yes, I’ll have it my way.
The little skirmishes at home have a way of turning into major battles. The major battles into all out war. All out war into deep hurts in and even the destruction of marriages and families. Want to avoid a skirmish at home? Insist that the other person have it her way. Make a real effort to see things from the perspective of the other person. Then you will enjoy true peace in your family.