peace takes...

... guts. So says the t-shirt I was wearing, little thinking I'd have the chance to show some "guts" of my own...

I was reading the paper and sipping my morning coffee in the restaurant/pub area of the Inn where we were staying. A wonderful little place, run by Mark who obviously relishes the role and vocation of innkeeper. Pick any century in human history, and I could easily imagine this place, with Mark the innkeeper caring for his guests.

And then there was the other guy (never learned his name), apparently a neighbour, eating his breakfast and listening to the news. "Hmmph," he said, upon hearing about the plans for road blockages the next day as part of the national Day of Action by First Nations people across Canada. "This would never happen in the States. They should just bring in the army. That's how to deal with Indians."

The coffee cup clattered to the table.

My mind churned through possible responses, discarding them as quickly as they came. "Great idea. After 500 years, it's a wonder nobody's thought of it before..." or "Brilliant. Seems to be working great in Iraq..."

Before I'd finished contemplating caustic cracks, and long before I even started considering some kind of more constructive response, someone had changed the subject and that was that... and I felt ashamed to be wearing that t-shirt and unable (unwilling?) to respond swiftly, emphatically, and constructively to such a comment, so breathtaking in its stupidity, so casually launched over scrambled eggs and toast...

Reminds me of a couple of books I've just finished. "Blackwater" by Jeremy Cahill (2007) is a shocking expose of the rise of "Blackwater, USA" ("the world's most powerful mercenary army") and the implications and consequences of the systematic "privatization" and "outsourcing" of US military functions and war-making operations in the past decade... In the first Bush Gulf War (1991), the ratio of "private contractors" (mercenary soldiers) to regular military personnel was 1 to 60... in 2003 in Iraq it was 1 to 3... by November 2006 in Iraq it was 1 to 1...

And "Binding The Strong Man: A Political Reading of Mark's Story of Jesus" by Ched Myers (1988) articulates as dramatic an alternative as you can imagine - Jesus' campaign of nonviolent direct action and the inauguration of a new order with a dramatically different character...

"The Jesus of Mark provides very few answers, especially if we are asking the wrong questions. But as a questioner himself, he compels us to reveal where we stand. If we wish to respond, he offers us only a cross and companionship on the way... For Mark, the resurrection is not an answer, but the final question. There is only one genuine "witness" to the risen Jesus: to follow in discipleship. Only in this way will the truth of the resurrection be preserved." (Myers, pp. 403-404)

"Peace Takes Guts" indeed... I hope next time I'll have some...