Bishop Peter Reflects at the end of week 7:
‘Walking in the Somerset countryside is often quiet and peaceful away from the busyness of roads, traffic and the day by dayness of life. however, it is not always so. Travelling across Exmoor, or the Blackdowns, coming close to Taunton or Yeovil, there is frequently the sound of aircraft, jets, helicopters, and the like. Two visits on ‘Peter's Progress' have been connected to these interventions, to Norton Fitzwarren, the home of 40 Commando Regiment of the Royal Marines; and Yeovilton Air Base. Here I met men and women who have been engaged in the conflicts in Iraq and Pakistan. Some bore the scars of relatively minor injuries; others faced truly life changing ones. On each visit, recent fatalities had been taken by the companies.
On my travels, as I have noted before, Dietrich Bonhoeffer's writings have been part of my daily reading. During one of the days of visiting I found my thoughts and his in close harmony. Like him I do not believe that political treaties, the investment of capital in universal re-armament in order to guarantee so called peace, can work.. Such measures may guarantee safety, but safety is not peace, and peace is not safety. ‘It is a great venture, observes Bonhoeffer, ‘ but it can never be safe. For peace is the opposite of security and to demand guarantees is to want to protect oneself.'
I am constantly challenged by the call to peace and peacemaking that is integral to the Kingdom of God. Throughout the Bible the people of God are told not to put their trust in weapons to make peace but in faith and obedience to God, ‘ leaving the destiny of nations in the hand of Almighty God and not directing it for security purposes. Battles are not won with weapons but with God. They are won on the way that leads to the cross.' These observations of Bonhoeffer have been profoundly challenging for me. Is he naïve, wrong - or is his observation: ‘which of us can say that he or she knows what it might mean for the world if one nation should meet the aggressor not with weapons in hand, but praying, defenceless, and for that reason protected by a ‘bulwark never failing' - right?
Whatever, Iraq and Afghanistan are not far from Somerset, and those who seek the security of the nation in military service are experiencing real dangers and life changing realities, and call for our prayers, and support.
+Peter
