“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9
I grew up an “Army brat.” I am the daughter of retired LTC Robert Albert Dunn, a military man and ardent disciple, who continues to inspire me to this day. I was raised with the West Point motto of “duty, honor, and country,” engrained in my psyche. Upon this Memorial Day weekend, when we culturally honor those who have fallen in war, my thoughts drift to the few stories my father has shared about his time in Desert Storm.
My dad does not share openly about that particular chapter of his life. I can never recall him organically offering up reflections from that time. The only instance he spoke of it with me was when I interviewed him for a class project (which, 20+ years later, I don’t even remember the assignment).
However, I do remember the somberness of sitting down on the barstool at the kitchen island, while my father stood hunched over the sink, trying to hold back the tears in his eyes. I remember him recounting how heart wrenching it was to leave his wife, his 18-month-old and 4-month-old. I remember him sharing about the effects of mental health upon his fellow soldiers. How one was sent home because the responsibility of being accountable for so many lives was just too much to bear. I remember my dad sobbing as he shared about his friends who didn’t make it home. He was almost unable to speak the words of how it all had happened. Years later, I can still palpably feel the pain expressed in that moment between father and daughter.
As a disciple of Jesus this Memorial Day weekend, I struggle with war. I struggle because I don’t want human beings, God’s beautiful creation, to experience such heartache, pain, and suffering. I don’t want soldiers to come home weeping for their fallen friends. I don’t want veterans returning to their country and not given the adequate support they need as they struggle with the ramifications of PTSD. I don’t want civilian lives to be uprooted, for them to experience hunger and thirst, for their children to not have a safe place to play, for any of God’s children to be fearful of what might come for them in the night or even in the plain light of day. Seeing such current shocking images on my various devices, tears well up in my eyes as I write to you, dear friends.
One of my favorite teaching moments of Jesus is the beautiful and difficult words of the beatitudes. Jesus preached: blessed are the poor, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the clean of heart, those who are persecuted. Jesus also proclaimed, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
I know I have very little control over any of the war and violence that goes on across this globe. However, what I do know as a disciple of Jesus, is that I am called to be a peacemaker. I wonder if we actively prayed for and participated in peacemaking, would our world be different? I wonder if Christians in this country lived into the words of the beatitudes, would we be engaged in war ever again? I wonder when enough is finally enough. I wonder how much loss of human life we view as acceptable casualties. I wonder a lot… and I often don’t have an answer.
Yet, what I do know as a disciple is that I am called to take care of the least of these, to stand on the side of the marginalized and oppressed. I do my best. I have hard conversations with family, friends, and parishioners. I show up and protest violence against my fellow children of God. I vote to the best of my ability for those who will follow most closely in the footsteps of Jesus, and I actively discern every day how I might be an agent of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.
So, this Memorial Day weekend, as we remember all those lives lost, my ardent desire is that the violence will cease. My hope is that we will study war no more. My prayer is that we will give peace a chance.
God’s abundant peace and steadfast love,
Sarah+
The Rev. Sarah Dunn
Associate Rector
Published May 23, 2024