John Knowles’ novel, A Separate Peace, is pretty good, maybe even worthy of that much sought after accolade, the great American novel.
And yet, it was wasted on me.
It is entirely possible it would be wasted on any ninth grade boy. But any way you want to look at it, I was not the right audience for the novel. Maybe I was just too immature. In any case, I am far better equipped to understand it as an adult. At the time, though, I just didn't find anything about the book to like. Everyone seemed kind of mean. Or at least that's how I remember it. For whatever reason, I never connected with it.
But I do recall one important thing.
The title had to do with treaties.
It goes something like this: A group of allies agree to go to war together, as a unified force, or at least agree to all fight the same enemies. That's part of it. The other part is this: Each country making up the allies also agrees to not make "a separate peace" with the enemy forces. In other words, "We're all in it together, and none of us quits until we all agree to quit."
A separate peace sounds like a nice thing, a way to walk away from the battle rather than face the terrible things that are assuredly coming: pain, separation, destruction and death. But there is a problem with a separate peace that may not be readily apparent. If one of the allied countries decided to make a separate peace with the enemy forces, that would be a betrayal of the other countries in the allied forces. The original commitment made by the betraying country would now be without meaning, and they would likely never be trusted by their former allies, ever again.
That's what's happening in this week's scripture from Luke. Satan, in the middle of his multi-millennia war with God, has come to Jesus to entice Him into a separate peace. Satan even quotes scripture at Jesus (see the Psalm 91 passage, verses 11 and 12). They both know that some hard times are ahead for Jesus: pain, separation, destruction and death. Satan's "temptations" are all inducements for Jesus to abandon his allegiance to God.
To step out of the war.
There are times and places for a separate peace. Truly. Sometimes it is better to walk away from the war than to continue, even if we can't convince our allies to do so. But for the "war in heaven" that spilled over onto Earth, our oath of fealty must stand firm. Like Jesus, we must resist whatever draws us away from our commitment to God.
Now is not the time for a separate peace.
_________________________
PHOTO: Steve Orr
_________________________
Friday mornings are the best! We gather at 8:00 on Zoom and in person at Our Breakfast Place for DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast. We wrap things up around 9:00. Join us for food, fellowship, scripture, and prayer ... and laughter.
No comments:
Post a Comment