‘The sickness of war’
Good afternoon,
Quite early in this time of constraints on our public life, a friend on the mailing list sent this to me, from the UN Secretary General António Guterres :
Our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19.
The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction or faith. It attacks all, relentlessly.
Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world.
The most vulnerable — women and children, people with disabilities, the marginalized and the displaced — pay the highest price.
They are also at the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from COVID-19.
Let’s not forget that in war-ravaged countries, health systems have collapsed.
Health professionals, already few in number, have often been targeted.
Refugees and others displaced by violent conflict are doubly vulnerable.
The fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war.
That is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world.
It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus together on the true fight of our lives.
To warring parties, I say:
Pull back from hostilities.
Put aside mistrust and animosity.
Silence the guns; stop the artillery; end the airstrikes.
This is crucial…
To help create corridors for life-saving aid.
To open precious windows for diplomacy.
To bring hope to places among the most vulnerable to COVID-19.
Let us take inspiration from coalitions and dialogue slowly taking shape among rival parties in some parts to enable joint approaches to COVID-19. But we need much more.
End the sickness of war and fight the disease that is ravaging our world.
It starts by stopping the fighting everywhere. Now.
That is what our human family needs, now more than ever.
The UN has recently reiterated this call. We heard recently of the virus reaching the world’s largest refugee camp, in Bangladesh, which is worrying. If ever there were a time to lay down arms, this surely is it.
On a recent walk in St Andrews I happened upon a wood in harmony with these hopes.
The sign in front of the copse makes the intention clearer:
The biblical reference is to the final chapter of the Bible:
22:1-2 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city. On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.
This is a vision of the holy city in the new heavens and new earth, a vision of life restored, fulfilled and transformed into what it could be. Let us hope that healing will come to the nations, of coronavirus, and also of the sickness of war.
Yours,
Donald.