Rudyard Kipling"
āWhen you're left wounded on Afganistan's plains and
the women come out to cut up what remains, Just roll to your rifle
and blow out your brains,
And go to your God like a soldierā
General Douglas MacArthur"
āWe are not retreating. We are advancing in another direction.ā
āIt is fatal to enter any war without the will to win it.ā āOld soldiers never die; they just fade away.
āThe soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and be the deepest wounds and scars of war.ā
āMay God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't .ā āThe object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.
āNobody ever defended, there is only attack and attack and attack some more.
āIt is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.
The Soldier stood and faced God
Which must always come to pass
He hoped his shoes were shining
Just as bright as his brass
"Step forward you Soldier,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?"
"No, Lord, I guess I ain't
Because those of us who carry guns
Can't always be a saint."
I've had to work on Sundays
And at times my talk was tough,
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.
But, I never took a penny
That wasn't mine to keep.
Though I worked a lot of overtime
When the bills got just too steep,
The Soldier squared his shoulders and said
And I never passed a cry for help
Though at times I shook with fear,
And sometimes, God forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.
I know I don't deserve a place
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around
Except to calm their fears.
If you've a place for me here,
Lord, It needn't be so grand,
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand."
There was silence all around the throne
Where the saints had often trod
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.
"Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burden well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell."
Christians have been formed in the way of Godās love as taught by Jesus Christ. There is a sense of wellbeing and mature disposition in most of the Christians who are always ready to forgive in the way of the Lord Jesus.
Jesus, in his life on earth as the revelation of God, showed the Fatherās merciful love and forgave those who sinned against God and humanity. Even at the moment of his arrest by the civil and religious authorities in a lonely place where he was conversing with God the Father, Jesus corrected Peter for cutting off one of the soldier's ear. Jesus, who is merciful and loving, immediately touched and healed the soldier by attaching his chopped ear without any surgery, (see John 18:10 and Luke 22: 51)
Human history tells us that there will always be people who may be misguided by teachings that are not in accordance with the will of God. But God will always elect from among his people some prophets, who will proclaim the true teachings of God, which are experienced in our cultures as peace and love among the people.
But in Malaysia, we are developing a strange culture of āgod competitionā. It is like the way the children boast to one another of their fatherās physical prowess or ability: āMy father is great; my father can beat your fatherā. This is seen in the way government bodies and groups of persons violate the dignity of the human persons and defy the peopleās particular laws and customs and subject them to unjust laws. Arenāt these reminiscent of our childish ways? Such attitudes or bully tactics are manifested when some of the nationās laws are enforced inappropriately and according to the political expediency of āpowers that beā of the time. Such socio-political and culture behaviour goes against the common law as well as the United Nations Charter of Rights and our esteemed Federal Constitution.
Because of such blatant violations over the years, Christians are beginning to echo the words of Jesus Christ, when he said, āIf I have spoken wrongly, testify to the wrong. But if I have spoken rightly, why do you strike me?ā (Jn 18:23). Continued here....
