"The only thing
necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." ~
Edmund Burke (quote also used in the
movie “Tears of the Sun” in 2003.
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| Sony Pictures |
“You know me…I don’t cry easily,” I reminded my husband as I
started sniffling, though tired from just being roused from my mid afternoon
sleep after working the night before.
He was in the middle of watching a movie and at first, I
wasn’t paying attention except to read the news from my cell phone. My heart sank as I read that a British citizen was just beheaded by Muslim extremists. Two Americans lost their lives recently in the same fashion by these evil hands.
A loud “No!” was aired from a particular scene that I had no
choice but to peek really quick and saw the evil act being done by rebels in
Nigeria. They were raping women. The
villagers were also massacred by the said evil group. To make it short, I kept
interrupting my husband to give me a short summary, as I put my phone down and
tears started swelling in the corner of my eyes.
“It was only a movie,” I would often tell myself. But this
time, I felt the villagers’ struggle. I felt their pain. I felt their loss. But
worse, my heart was broken when it realized the sacrifice the American Navy SEAL
Team headed by Bruce Willis (as Lt.Waters) had done. Close to the end, Lt.
Waters was forced to choose between following orders (which was to extract a US
citizen and a mission priest and two nuns) or to save the lives of those villagers
facing tortures and death. The US citizen, Dr. Kendricks, (played by Monica
Bellucci), had set up a clinic in the jungle, also refused to leave unless she
could bring along at least 70 refugees with them. She made it clear. If left
behind, they, for sure, would face a certain death. With Lt. Waters’ conscience
forcing him to disobey the order to get the citizens and missionaries only, him
and his team willingly chose to help the remaining villagers to reach a nearby
border town where they all could go for a safe haven. But with that choice came
an expected gut-wrenching loss of some of his team members as they were
ambushed by pursuing, evil rebels. Eventually, the movie ended where the
villagers reached the border and were saved and the SEALs’ help arriving to get
them out and retrieve the bodies of the dead soldiers as they bombed those
pursuing rebels and killed them all.
“It was only a movie…” my thought started reiterating what I
would often say. But it didn’t even go there. As my tears flowed and I recalled
the many lives lost in the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan. As I recalled the many
awaiting families who sent off their loved ones to battle the terrorists in
different places of Earth to preserve freedom and help a particular country’s
oppressed.
The movie had long been replaced with another and as I returned to reality, I knew...
That we are all
still facing this war. As Christians, our true battle is spiritual and we can’t
face any without God’s strength and His weapons. War is ugly. But at times, war
can be justified and is necessary. To bring aggression, injustice and even
genocide to stop is a just cause.
Let’s all pray for our country’s leaders and for God’s true
wisdom to prevail in these trying times…
Deep in my heart, those who were
killed but believed in Christ never faced death…They died…in the hands of evil
men… yet they lived…Eternally… And as Christians, knowing this faithful promise
of His, should enable us to live our lives differently. What can each of us do
with the light He imparted in each of our hearts today that can bring change
around us? May we be faithful in our prayers as we share what we know about His
love and grace…
Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. - Ephesians 6:11,12 (NIV)
And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people. - Ephesians 6:18 (NIV)
