Article March 11, 1991 Issue

As this issue goes to press, news of war continues. It can make it difficult to remember that other voices cry out for help as well. In fact, the articles included in this issue remind us that as we bring a more watchful prayer to the primary need of humankind to know God, the voice of divine Love can be heard above even the din of war.

"Watching" THE WAR An editorial

Not the "gods of war" but the "God above all gods"

Allison W. Phinney, Jr.

War says, "Look at me." War says, "I am the most powerful thing in the world. I destroy nations, obliterate boundaries, change the course of history. You must look at me and believe in me before all other powers, before all other gods."

It can seem nearly a hypnotic attraction. We are drawn to every news update, count every missile. Scuds, Patriots, Tomahawks. F-16's, Tornados, Mirages, and EA-6B Prowlers. And now M1 A1's. Sorties and losses. The hardware and statistics of war. We miss very little. We become expert on war.

Yet when we pull away even slightly, as we break the spell, perspective returns. We begin to realize the same emotions are being recycled over and over—fear and anger, apprehension about the course of events, fascination and awe about the newest technological wonders of war (which, after all, achieve much the same end their simpler predecessors always have). And such emotions are not actually helping men and women in combat, or ourselves. These are passive reactions, not truly active in nature. They tend to put life on hold as we watch the war.

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