Since the civil war began in 2011 nearly 500,000 people have been killed in a country less than twice the size of North Carolina. 6.5 million live in refugee camps within the country, while 5 million have fled Syria because of fear and starvation.
And the fear is fully justified. In 2013 alone, the Syrian president launched a chemical attack upon his own people, killing 1500, including nearly 500 children. Pressured by the US, Assad promised not to use chemical weapons in the future. Ever.
Well, here we go again. Last Tuesday Assad launched another chemical attack on innocent civilians, yet another spineless, heartless disregard for life. The guy's a monster.
Remember the image two years ago that changed the world -- of the 3 year old Syrian boy refugee whose lifeless body was found on a beach in Turkey? His family and thousands more like them had risked life and limb to escape the horrors of what must be hell on earth. That image almost single-handily led to the opening of Germany's doors to hundreds of thousands of refugees.Or last year, the image of a 5 year old boy whose blood-stained body lay covered in dust after another government-sponsored air strike on his hometown of Aleppo?
Oh, and how could we forget last year's video of ISIS militants carrying out a mass execution by beheading Syrian rebels? Can there be two more feared and hated groups fighting each other?
Brutal warfare led by a brutal dictator against a brutal opposition.
What are we to do?
I wouldn't want to be president in times like these. As I write, President Trump is launching a targeted cruise missile attack on Syrian air bases. It's hard to know if that's the right move or not, although I'm sure part of the decision was simply to "do something." We all want to "do something" ... it's just hard to know what to do.
As leaders form their plans, God loving people around the world are called to pray for peace and wise leadership ... earnest prayers that human suffering might end and sanity might prevail.
We pray that pride-based systems might fail and heartless dictators might be displaced. We pray that "justice might roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream" (Amos 5:24) ... that God's kingdom of peace might supplant earthly kingdoms of hate ... that Christians around the world might hold the candle of truth and bear arms of mercy for all ... that refugees might be comforted rather than demonized, and a new generation of peace-loving leaders might rise up rather than be gunned down.
This Sunday in worship we again read the story of Jesus, the ultimate victim of brutality, hatred, and violence. He understands the cry of the oppressed and feels the pain of the persecuted. He has escaped political violence and lived as a refugee. He's been hungry, homeless, falsely accused, imprisoned, beaten, tortured, abandoned by his friends, ridiculed by the authorities, and executed for a crime he didn't commit.
What that means is that Jesus has been in the shoes of the Syrian refugee. He's felt the pierce of a spear to the side. He's been in the arms of a mother holding her lifeless child.
As close as a mother hen is to her brood, we are reminded that God does not abandon the forsaken ... and he begs the same of us. In this time of chaos, may we do as Christ and draw close to the broken-hearted, that we might proclaim with the psalmist, "I have not kept the good news of your justice hidden in my heart" (Psalm 40:10 NLT).
I wish there was an easy answer to this mess. Unfortunately there's not. In the meantime, this prayer of St. Francis:
Make us worthy, Lord, to serve our fellow men throughout the world,who live and die in poverty and hunger.Give them through our hands, this day, their daily breadand by our understanding love, give peace and joy.Amen.
