Psalm 120
We have finally moved onto a new psalm and don't you love the last two verses: Too long have I lived among those who hate peace. I am a man of peace but when I speak, they are for war.
Years ago, before the first Gulf War, I was working for HomeBanc Mortgage Co as a loan processor. I was passionately anti-war. My co-workers knew this and we had a lot of discussions about why I felt like that and why they felt differently. The night before the invasion was a night that we had a company wide sales meeting at the main office. Pat, the man who ran the company, knew how I felt and he asked me to pray. And I did. I think that may have been the very first time I ever prayed out loud in a non-church setting.
Minutes later, someone came in an announced that we had invaded and it, of course, was all over CNN with its smart-bombs and rolling tanks. The folks around me cheered.
At that moment, I felt just like the psalmist did.
Years have gone by -- I think 20??? and I am no longer passionately pacifist. More jaded, more cynical, with less of the ability to not want to strike back with a sharp blow. I have seen the picture of raped and disemboweled children, women, men. I have encountered (thankfully not often and not personally) true evil.
I wish I could still stand with the psalmist.
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