By Susan Bates
“When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, ‘Come!’ Out came another horse, fiery red. Its rider was allowed to take peace from the earth so that people would kill each other. He was given a large sword.” Revelation 6:3.
The four horsemen of the apocalypse are always lurking, striking somewhere in our personal and larger worlds. The pale horse of plague, the black horse of famine, the red horse of war and the white horse of false prophecy (modernized as misinformation spread on social media?) seem closer to us this Lenten season. Active war in Europe, with violence exploding from a country only 2.4 miles from Alaska’s Little Diomede Island, illuminates that red horse galloping into our own foreground. We perceive tragedy and horror streaming in front of us from satellite feed. We are urged to acknowledge our involvement and react.
“Kill Putin!” plead Ukrainian refugees. Instead, “Pray for Putin, to change his heart,” our pastors advise us. We cheer Jael in Judges 4:17-24 as she dispatches Sisera with a tent peg to the head, but her actions do not end war in the Middle East. Her bravery did alleviate her people’s Canaanite oppression at the time. Elimination of the commanding general perhaps saved lives of those he may have led into or killed in battle. Would this be enough, now? I can afford one answer here in Anchorage; my response if I lived in Kyiv, Mariupol, Kharkiv or Lviv might be different. How do we stop the horsemen?
Sometimes we pretend mistreating another human is OK by giving them a label. Called a thing or an animal, they are dehumanized. Saint, sinner, hero, scapegoat – these labels or roles may be assigned to political and religious leaders. We know what’s coming up for Jesus on Good Friday. We also know how His story continues. Killing one mortal human won’t stop humanity’s tide as it surges towards good or evil. Might we do more by praying for a change of heart for all? Is that the powerful possibility and promise laid before us?
God, you have written peace, justice and love onto our hearts. During these Lenten weeks help me remove that which clouds my vision, so that I can better see the way to move forward as your servant.
St. John UMC member Susan Bates is a Certified Lay Servant.