November 11, 2008 commemorated another observance of a post-World War I Leuven, Belgium in Western Europe. Posted on the reconstructed buildings were huge prints of the former destruction of war. Ruin and rubble of human lives were found everywhere. The darkness and warfare of the human heart were evident all about the city. It cannot but affect the psyche of a land overrrun with more than 30 wars in its long history.Everthing is better now, right. Well, not if one looked at the sadness in the faces and the often cries of despair evident in the eyes of so many people. Yes, food and drink are plentiful and the outward edifice of lives rebuilt stand. The inner warfare for the souls of so many, however, still rage and the spiritual devastation of those caught in the vollies of the power struggles of darkness leave internal pictures of ruin no less severe than the ones portrayed on this day of 'weapons stilling.' Scripture promises an end to this war as well. My wonderment however is: "who will survive and a how will the message of liberation be brought?" Beyond these are the personal questions and the wondering if the the spiritual ruin from the warfare in our own psyche is recognizable from the edifice of outward beautifications.
Pax et bonum....jerome
