Cutting Trees, or........

In Washington, D.C., in the American History Building of the Smithsonian, I went one day to look at a display of a Civil War gun boat that had been raised, almost intact, and brought in for display.  Remarkable artifact!

Just next door to that display was a room of Civil War weapons, beautifully maintained firearms, rifles from that massive conflict.  And between the two major displays, there was a small square glass display case, about three feet square and five feet tall.  Inside that case was a tree-stump, the bottom of which had been cut from the roots with an axe.  The three-foot tall stump had been taken from the battle-field and given to the winning commander as a trophy of the battle.

At the three-foot height, the tree had been cut down by rifle fire.  The shredded top had been pulverized, dropping the tree, at a diameter of probably 18".  The bark was studded with an enormous number of large and small projectiles.  As I looked at the shredded top of the stump, I wondered if anyone could have survived anywhere near that tree.  Probably not.

The casualties of that battle were horrific, like all the battles of the Civil War.  Over and over, the battles were fought because two sides refused to find a political solution, and thus shredded trees and lives, and have warped lives to this day.

The source is sometimes debated, but the truth of it stands:  "We have met the enemy, and he is us" is a lesson not quite learned.  Humans are the source of the carnage, and any diversion from that is simply denial of what human nature can do.  God doesn't permit it, or send it, or punish "Group A" for believing differently from "Group B".

By His own choice, it is not up to God, except as He inspires and encourages us, to find solutions.  We will set up road-blocks on the paths that lead to horrific instances, or we won't.  We will learn the things that make for peace, or we won't.  We will "let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream", or we will sing pious songs of denial.

A thousand rifles (or one modern one) can cut down a tree, and once cut is cut!  There is no divine guarantee that damage will not come, but there is the divine mandate that we are to find ways to harness and restrain human nature in honor of God and in anticipation of finding the best of life.

In this difficult time, we will find ways to do that, or we will simply discover terrible monuments to, yet again, missing the better way.