Am I My Brother's Keeper?

"Now Cain said to his brother Abel, 
'Let's go out to the field.' And

while they were in the field Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. 

Then the LORD said to Cain 'Where is your brother Abel?' 

'I don't know,' he replied, 'Am I my brother's keeper?'" 

I don't think that I have ever been so nervous as I have these last few days regarding the President's adamant decision to strike Syria for atrocities against their own people. I hear our "representatives" giving us "reasons" for spending millions of dollars which we do not have to exact "justice" upon people that we have selectively chosen to deem our "national interest." They tell me that this is about principles. What principles? Is this another "just war"?  Death is death but for some reason chemical weapons are different. Have no mothers, fathers, and children died through bombings and gunfire? Are bullets, shrapnel and falling buildings discriminant? What principles are we really fighting for as a nation? I wish our elected officials would tell us and perhaps we would empathize a bit more with their potential decision. If our President has called our nation a post-Christian nation then what values other than the Judeo-Christian ethic are being considered? What sense of "right" is governing this decision. I just cannot believe that we will do this when the Arab League is condemning this. Europe as a whole is condemning this. Israel is handing out gas masks as I write this and bracing for an all out Middle East explosion, and the Islamist are praying that we give them another reason to exact "justice" upon the "Great Satan". 

Can we please call this for what it is, "Saving face." Would not the most principled thing be to admit that one did not adequately think about the consequences before one spoke?" There are times when strength is found in both reason and humility. But there is no "I apologize. I was wrong. I spoke before consideration." In our great capital there is no humility. And I fear that we shall pay for this action and not recover; not from the Muslim world but from God.
"I resist the proud," God says. He will abandon us to the consequences of our own sins. 

Oh, Church of the Living God, may we be like Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel in those chapter 9 prayers of contrition. May we rise up and confess our national sins of pride to a merciful God and find mercy. May godly people stand in the gap and pray for those who are not. Let us pray for the good people who are trying to do the right thing but without the counsel of God. Let us come against the spirit of confusion and delusion. Instead of killing Bashar Al Assad, why are we not on our knees praying for his salvation and the salvation of his people. "If by the sword you live, by the sword you shall die." That not only goes for Syria but for the U.S. as well. 

I was in a suk (sook - a shopping plaza) in Damascus, Syria less than ten years ago. The people were the kindest I have ever met. Middle Eastern hospitality puts us to shame. Time and time again we heard, "We hate your politicians. We hate our politicians. But we love the American people. They are the most generous people in the world." Herein lies our greatest strength - love  through a generous spirit. 

It grieves me to think that many of those friends are now displaced and possibly killed. Families that I once had supper with until midnight...singing, enjoying life...


The Lord speaks to my heart, "Where is your brother?" 

I'm afraid my answer is, "I don't know, Lord. What am I to do but pray and weep for him. His blood testifies against us from the ground."