Unless you pay no attention to the international news scene, you are surely aware of the increasingly violent conflict between Israel and Hamas in the Middle East.  However your political take on it, you must acknowledge that it is a horrific situation.  As always, it is the non-combatants, the civilians and other innocents, who are suffering the most.  They are the ones who are losing their lives and homes and families; they are the ones whose livelihoods are being crushed; they are the ones who have no way to meaningfully respond to the rains of destruction that are falling on them.

     We of course could argue for some time about the merits of each side's position and their reasons for continuing the conflict.  There is much passion on both sides.  We could also debate at length the legitimacy of the religious and cultural roots that lie at the heart of this debacle.  Bigger picture, however, we ought to set our political and religious loyalties aside and simply pray for peace, that for the sake of those not directly involved in the fighting, the violence will end.  Unfortunately, as most people who study this region well know, the causes of the conflict will not be eradicated easily, if at all:  for a variety of reasons, definitively resolving this dispute is nearly impossible.

      Nonetheless, people continue to die.  That is the most tragic thing.

     Although it is difficult to discern precisely how to frame this conflict theologically, one thing is clear:  the creator of the universe does not like to see anyone die.