{"id":2282,"date":"2012-11-30T21:18:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T21:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/striving-for-a-hopeless-cause.html"},"modified":"2012-11-30T21:18:00","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T21:18:00","slug":"striving-for-a-hopeless-cause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/striving-for-a-hopeless-cause.html","title":{"rendered":"Striving for a hopeless cause"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

One of the things that struck me about this article<\/a> that quotes Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s reaction to the recognition of a Palestinian state is just how, as Christians, we are to strive for the inevitably hopeless. \u00a0I mean, read the reaction:<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead let us break the vicious circle of violence. Let there be lasting peace based on justice, let there be genuine reconciliation and healing. Let it be universally recognized that the State of Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace and security within internationally agreed borders. Let it be likewise acknowledged that the Palestinian people have a right to a sovereign independent homeland, to live with dignity and to travel freely. Let the two-state solution become a reality, not remain a dream.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

No more\u00a0bloodshed?\u00a0 \u00a0No more fighting? \u00a0No more terrorism? \u00a0No more war? \u00a0That would be great. \u00a0And since peacemakers are called blessed, and told they will be called sons of God, I think it\u2019s something we Christians are supposed to strive for, despite the fact that it\u2019s\u00a0apparently\u00a0a hopeless cause. \u00a0Why hopeless? \u00a0Because of sin? \u00a0Because of human nature? \u00a0No, because Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars,when speaking about what to look for leading up to the last days. \u00a0He took the existence of warfare as a given in the same way he took the existence of the poor as a given. \u00a0And yet, we are to reach out to the poor, even if we can never help everyone.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something in that, I must admit. \u00a0Something that makes me wonder if in the tendency we have of adjusting our faith around a yen for\u00a0comfortable\u00a0lifestyles we might be missing something. \u00a0I mean, I spend my life trying to keep my home, avoid foreclosure, avoid\u00a0bankruptcy,\u00a0somehow get my kids through college, save in some way for retirement, and so on. \u00a0And that, too, seems to be an assumed set of values, since Jesus often uses the shrewdness or the\u00a0careful\u00a0planning of individuals as a good thing in certain parables (I\u2019m thinking of Matthew 25 and Luke 16).<\/p>\n

But yet, in the end, there seems to be something in our faith that say just do it, no matter how\u00a0hopeless\u00a0 \u00a0This isn\u2019t to be confused with using such an observation as an excuse to avoid\u00a0responsibility\u00a0 \u00a0This isn\u2019t to say our response to complex ethical\u00a0dilemmas\u00a0should be \u2018screw it, I\u2019m not going to sin, babies are going to be killed anyway, so I\u2019ll stay pure and know I\u2019m\u00a0doing\u00a0the right thing.\u2019 \u00a0Martyrdom, after all, is not how willing I am to let others die for my faith.<\/p>\n

But there is something to be said for striving forward, fighting the fight, giving it that old college try, no matter how hopeless. \u00a0Even if God himself has said there is no hope that wars will end, we are to strive to end wars. \u00a0Even if Jesus spoke of the perpetual existence of the poor, we are to strive to help all who are poor no matter how hopeless. \u00a0I don\u2019t know. \u00a0There\u2019s probably a profound insight in there somewhere. \u00a0It just hit me when I read that quote. \u00a0No more war? \u00a0Indeed, there will always be war, just as there will always be crime, poverty,\u00a0despair.\u00a0 I suppose as long as it doesn\u2019t lead to an ethic that allows the weak and helpless to suffer under the guise of \u2018it would happen anyway, but at least I\u2019m being pure\u2019, it is something to consider when we measure effectiveness versus our calling as Christians to strive to set our minds on God\u2019s interests, rather than man\u2019s interests.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One of the things that struck me about this article that quotes Pope Benedict XVI\u2019s reaction to the recognition of a Palestinian state is just how, as Christians, we are to strive for the inevitably hopeless. \u00a0I mean, read the reaction: \u201cNo more bloodshed! No more fighting! No more terrorism! No more war! Instead let […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nStriving for a hopeless cause<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One of the things that struck me about this article that quotes Pope Benedict XVI's reaction to the recognition of a Palestinian state is just how, as\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2012\/11\/striving-for-a-hopeless-cause.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Striving for a 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