Hello friends,
In the March 6 edition of the Newman News in 1991, Rev. Shire wrote, “thank God the Gulf War has ended and that service personnel will be returning home soon.”
In his wisdom and love, Rev. Shire offered support for the families of returning reservists, he called on nations to control future aggression without armed conflict, and he quoted Psalm 34, “seek peace and pursue it!”
Six months of war had just ended, and the pursuit of peace felt tractable.
Another March 6 is now upon us in 2026, and the pursuit of peace in the here-and-now feels far away as the president of the United States seeks to pummel the country of Iran into a state of unconditional surrender in a war that a vast majority of Americans reject.
This is not the peace we have pursued.
Newman Church will continue to seek the conditions for peace; we still take comfort in the psalms of thanksgiving like Psalm 34, but we also raise up wailing psalms of lament — How long, O Lord? — in the hope that God will come alongside us in our grief and despair, and help us to again gain traction in the pursuit of peace. Together, we will.
Traveling together,
Sam (contact)
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