Mustard seeds
To be a follower of the one who promised that the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed is to expect a blessed in-breaking of peace.
Jonathan Swift observed that “we have just enough religion to make us hate, but not enough to make us love one another.” I have thought about Swift’s maxim over the years, especially in the midst of church conflicts that became hateful. I’ve thought about it recently with the almost daily news of lethal, religion-inspired violence: the Charlie Hebdo massacre, the deadly shooting in Copenhagen of a Jewish man, the executions of Muslims and Christians by the so-called Islamic State, and the incidents of anti-Semitism in France.
Over the years I’ve read the Beatitudes often and am always stunned when I come to the end: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you on my account.”
In my sheltered, secure, and privileged context, I cannot imagine the horror of such persecution and can only hope that somehow those 21 Christians executed in Libya could remember these words of Jesus and be comforted by them.
