What if they had a war and nobody showed up? It might sound
like a silly little sentiment, but it’s such a Hippie thing to say. Jesus said
that His Kingdom was not of this world and we are told in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 that
we don’t war against flesh and blood. Jesus said in the Beatitudes that Peacemakers
would be called the children of God. But what is a Peacemaker and is that
different than a Peacekeeper? A Peacemaker helps facilitate the resolution of
conflict, makes a way for reconciliation, promotes healing, and works towards wholeness and
justice for all parties. Whereas the role of a Peacekeeper is preventing the
continuation of armed conflict or reengagement of combatants and to protect
non-combatant civilians, by the use of force if necessary. The United
Nations is an example of an international peacekeeping force. Your local police
are actually called "Sworn Peace Officers” whose job is to preserve the peace, maintain public safety and to protect life, limb and property. The UN and local police officers are not Peacemakers
- that’s not their mission, but ultimately Peacemakers and Peacekeepers need
each other to bring about a peace that has a chance of being longterm and more than just the mere absence of
conflict.
What if they had a war and the Peacemakers showed up?
Peace, Love and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)
Rock Mass - Christmas 2025 Edition
Kevin (Cloud)
The inspiration for creating "Rock Mass" came from the Rock Mass at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California back in the early 1970’s. On the first Friday night of each month All Saints held a Rock Mass which was a mix of traditional Episcopalian Mass and rock concert. A live band would play popular rock music which couldn’t necessarily be called “Christian” but contained spiritual phrases and references to God or Jesus. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was an explosion of these songs coming out of the "secular" music industry way before there was “Contemporary Christian Music”, in a way, it could be called "The Gospel According To Billboard's Top 10".
(Stained glass guitar angel found at www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber)
Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)
The inspiration for creating "Rock Mass" came from the Rock Mass at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California back in the early 1970’s. On the first Friday night of each month All Saints held a Rock Mass which was a mix of traditional Episcopalian Mass and rock concert. A live band would play popular rock music which couldn’t necessarily be called “Christian” but contained spiritual phrases and references to God or Jesus. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was an explosion of these songs coming out of the "secular" music industry way before there was “Contemporary Christian Music”, in a way, it could be called "The Gospel According To Billboard's Top 10".
(Stained glass guitar angel found at www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber)
(James 3:9-12)
Peace, Love, and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)
The inspiration for creating "Rock Mass" came from the Rock Mass at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena California back in the early 1970’s. On the first Friday night of each month All Saints held a Rock Mass which was a mix of traditional Episcopalian Mass and rock concert. A live band would play popular rock music which couldn’t necessarily be called “Christian” but contained spiritual phrases and references to God or Jesus. During the 1960’s and early 1970’s there was an explosion of these songs coming out of the "secular" music industry way before there was “Contemporary Christian Music”, in a way, it could be called "The Gospel According To Billboard's Top 10".
(Stained glass guitar angel found at www.patheos.com/blogs/nadiabolzweber)
This morning, I snuck out of the house while everyone was still asleep. My goal was to satisfy a buttermilk pancake craving I've had for the last three days, but my dilemma was which diner to go to. Ultimately, I decided to go to a diner where I knew a few guys met on Friday mornings to discuss the Bible over breakfast hoping to at least say hello. As I was leaving, one of the Brothers recognized me from a previous chance encounter and introduced me to the group. I shared some of my thoughts about theology, that no matter how sound it might be, it is wrong if it leads to the mistreatment of others. I was asked what I was going to be doing for Jesus today, and I said I was going to be blogging today about loving our enemies... so that brings me to a topic that has been on my mind for the last week or so...
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven" and then follows up with the rhetorical question; "Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you?" This is so different from what we are seeing right now in our hyper-polarized Nation where tribalism and revenge politics rule the day.
If we are truly Children of God, then we cannot participate in the hatred of those whom we disagree with. No matter how right you think your cause is or how evil you believe the other side might be there is no room for hatred in the heart of someone who calls themself a Christian. We are called to a higher love, we must see everyone as precious in the eyes of God. Every person deserves to be treated with dignity and respect no matter how strongly we disagree with them. We are all entitled to our own opinions and with that we are all entitled to be wrong - but we are also entrusted with the care of our fellow human beings.
"The one major thing you have to remember is that the man next to you is your brother, and you'd damn well better treat each other that way because if you don't, then we blow the whole thing, but we've got it right there." (Announcement from "Chip" Monck, Woodstock 1969)
Our politics may be "Right" or "Left" or somewhere in the middle but first and foremost we are God's children and therefore Brothers and Sisters in God's eyes.
“But I tell you who hear me:
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you,
and pray for those who mistreat you."
~Jesus (Luke 27-28)
Peace, Love and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)
Fair Use Notice
Rock Mass
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| Five Loaves and Two Fish pendant by Kerri W. |
What if the miracle actually took place in the hands of the disciples, the bread and fish multiplying each time they broke off a piece? Then, what if it multiplied as each person took it and broke off what they needed and passed it to the next person? What if it simply multiplied again and again, over and over in their hands exponentially until every person had more than enough to eat to the point where there were enough leftovers to fill up the twelve baskets as the Gospels claim?
I realize that this way of thinking about the feeding of the five thousand probably doesn't exactly follow the pattern of Jesus' other miracles which seemed to happen in an enormous and sudden fashion. Many of Jesus' miracles involve some form of participation on the part of those receiving healing or water being turned to wine or catching a huge load of fish after a futile night of empty nets. The feeding of the five thousand has some of the same elements of participatory faith, but the Gospel accounts of Jesus feeding the five thousand lack that Cecil B. DeMille flair of enormity and suddenness that Hollywood loves and that leaves me imagining five thousand individual miracles happening right in the very hands of the recipients.
The point I'm trying to make is that participation in the miracles of Jesus just might be a series of small acts rather than a big showy event. Maybe you can't feed five thousand people at once, but you can show acts of kindness and generosity to one person at a time. We can go through life being overwhelmed by the great needs of the whole world feeling that we can't make a difference, and that might be the reality. But we can make a world of difference in one person's life.
From him the whole body,
joined and held together by every supporting ligament,
grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.
(Ephesians 4:16)
Peace, Love and Light!
Kevin (Cloud)
