"Playing With Dynamite"

 have never played with dynamite but I did find a large box of BB’s in my Dad’s closet when I was about nine years old. Since I could not get them open I used my trusty hatchet to break the top off. The familiar red tube was not filled with BB’s, but with small pieces of lead, backed by circular cutouts of felt with mysterious black powder in the end. The metal end, I soon learned, was a detonation pen of a shotgun shell. Fortunately, my big brother found my experiment before any of the shells exploded. My experience had the benefit of learning to be extremely cautious with explosive situations.

There are many explosive regional situations in our world; however, there seems to be only one that could spark a world-wide confrontation which could approach proportions of a World War III, and there may be no long-term solution. That hornet’s nest is in Palestine, the Holy Land. The place where there should be accord. Negotiations between the sides have to be approached most carefully because it is truly like playing with dynamite, or in this case weapons of mass destruction.

There seems to be no hope of lasting world peace. Jesus said that there will be “wars and rumors of wars,” until the end (Matt. 24:6). However, he tells us not to worry because these things seem to be inevitable and they will not bring in the end themselves. Any ultimate ending of our world seems to be something that is in the hands of God, and only He is privy to the timetable.

So, how are we to proceed until that date that may be today, but may also be a millennium away?

First, we must remember that we are playing with dynamite. This is no easy task. Secondly, we will never find a perfect peace. Thirdly, we can work toward a time when wars are only rumors and events that we read about in history books. Fourthly, the one thing that mutually binds us is the brotherhood of all human beings. We could agree to disagree and create a truce, a mutually agreed upon cessation of hostilities. Not a time of real peace, but a time when our kids will not be forced to play with dynamite.

In my humble opinion,