The movie Miss Congeniality with Sandra Bullock is a parody of beauty pageants–oops, I mean “womens’ scholarship programs”. Of course, every contestant’s answer to the competition’s final question is: “world peace” (no matter what the question is). Cue the laughter.
But world peace is no joke for Isaiah, who envisions a day when conflicts will be arbitrated and disputes will be settled without resorting to swords, spears, bombs, tanks, missiles, WMDs and drones (Isaiah 2:2-5). Instead of turning to weapons of war, nations turn to the Word to learn a new way–a ‘just’ way which makes war so obsolete that they cease to manufacture weapons and close their military schools.
But Isaiah isn’t naive. Even in the last days, there are conflicts and disputes. Nations have issues with other nations that need to be arbitrated. God’s shalom is not the absence of conflicts. God’s shalom is the presence of resolutions to conflict that preserve the safety and dignity of all and do not require taking up arms. God’s way results in win-win. War is always lose-lose. For too long, we have learned our conflict resolution strategies from West Point, Annapolis and the School of the Americas. In these last days, we need to go to the Mountain for some retraining before we destroy ourselves.
Come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Tongue on Fire 