I went book shopping last weekend.  That is not a surprise given my tendency to read.  This time I was able to find a few books on sale.  Cheap reading can be the best of all.  Two novels were added to my stack.  One book is a work on the War in Iraq during the last two years of the Bush presidency.  My plan was to go with the fiction first but it did not turn out that way.  Bob Woodward often writes on behind the scenes issues in Washington.  I have several of his works on my shelves.  His access into the people and process behind the war effort is fascinating.  There are few efforts to give his opinion on our struggle but what he reveals is more than enough to capture the mind.  Learning about the private issues regarding an event that still affects us is sobering.  We find that even the most noble of efforts can be polarized by imperfect people.

One of the lasting themes of this conflict will be how intelligent people allow decisions to be shaped by fairly dumb motives.  Do not think of me as a critic or lacking support for our efforts.  We lost good men and women in the cause of freedom.  Neither should you think of me as someone who even imagines that he knows better than people who lead our war efforts.  But just realize that even the most educated of individuals can miss the warning signs of failure.  Also know that pride, deceit, and other sinful emotions can come into play wherever you are.  Our best attempts at being fully human still fall prey to the most common of ailments. 

Woodward recounts how arguments over who would be in charge of planning will lead to failures before and during the war.  He writes of how pride will blind leaders from the evidence in front of them.  There is an account of two men who carry great responsibility for the war and end up severing a thirty year friendship.  One man takes the other to task for obvious mistakes made during planning and executing the conflict.  He seems to be correct in his conclusions at first glance.  Perhaps both people are in the wrong but the lack of listening becomes a final blow in the friendship.  This is only one example of how facts are often secondary to personal ego when relationships fracture.  The writer does not need to criticize what was done preceding or during the war.  What takes center stage is the human tendency to self destruct from within. 

Let me tell you a secret.  Problems like this are not limited to those in public office or with people of great power.  Everyday church members relive conflicts like this on a regular basis.  Here is what we usually do.  We will hold to the claim that we love others just as Jesus commands.  But no one asks if that equates to actually liking the other person.  We find room to harbor anger, resentment or grudges while still declaring our love for others.  Our words may say one thing when our actions truly do say another.  No wonder our efforts in taking up God's mission can fall short.  Love is not just a noun but it is a verb.  It is what we do not just what we say.  We become our own worst enemy when we forget that.

Bro. Trey