by A. A. Neale

You're thinking that I must have gone mad. My good wife tells me the same thing at least once a week, but I'm in my right ole noggin. I don't claim to remember everything, but two and two still make four.

I am thankful for war. Yes, thankful for war, and I can be so for at least a couple of reasons. Try them on for size.

Right off the bat, I am thankful that war, at the present moment, represents government fulfilling its God-given responsibilities. The so-called secular ruler is "the minister of God to thee for good," says Paul in Romans 13:4. As such, "he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil."

No government is perfect, I'll grant that, just as no marriage is perfect. (How goes yours at the moment?) But marriage and government, not to mention the church, are both created and blessed by God for our good and peace on this earth. And in the present crisis, as terrorists and other similar hoods, misguided by false religion, threaten the peace of citizens in many countries around the world, our government (and maybe yours too, if you're not from the U.S.) has taken steps to combat this plague. So I am thankful for that.

Please don't carp about how bad a job it's doing, or how it ought to do things differently. You might even be right, I don't know, but neither of us is in the hot seat, in the place where decisions must be made and carried out. So I'll just refrain from pointing fingers, thank you, and give thanks to a good God who has people in charge of the nation concerned about these matters. I'm thankful for war, because it means robbers of our peace will not have free rein to wreak their havoc.

I'm also thankful for war, because it reminds me of the perfect peace and safety awaiting us beyond this world of strife and suffering. Obviously, war is no good thing, and only a crazy mind would argue that point. (See, told you I hadn't lost it.) The atrocities of war are unspeakable, and combatants often come back from the front tightlipped about what they went through. So as I wind down the long years of a blessed life on this earth, the description of that heavenly city becomes ever so dear.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

My friends, I am ready, ever so ready, for the former things to pass away. And I am thankful for war, for it serves as yet another reminder of the depravity of this world and its hopeless condition that can never be remedied by science or technology or peace treaties.

I suppose those are two rather different sides of the coin, but they both can make me thankful for war and grateful to Almighty God who put us here on this earth to prepare ourselves for a glorious and oh-so-peaceful reign of joy and plenty at the Master's side.

Yes, I am thankful for war.