Jesus is often called the “Prince of Peace”’ yet paradoxically, countless wars have been fought in his name during the past 2000 years.
A silver star used to hang in the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem over supposed Jesus birth place. But now one could see there a star inset in the floor under the manager and no silver star could be noticed hanging above as it has been removed 150 years before.
In 1853, this star became the focus of discord that led within a short time in the Crimean war. It all began when the clergy of the Eastern Orthodox Church decided to replace the Silver Star with a star of their own. The clergy of the Latin rite objected. The former were backed by Russian and the later by France. When Turkey sided with France, Russia went to war with Turkey. Then France, Great Britain and Sardinia declared war on Russia. The war lasted 3 long years and resulted in the death and wounding scores of thousands of soldiers. It was during this war that the famous “Charge of the Light Brigade” occurred and that Florence Nightingale went out to look after the Military Hospital at Scutari. The Crimean was one of the worst-managed war in history, for the armies attacking the Russians were sent out without enough food supplies or clothing to protect them from the winter cold and no proper arrangement were made to care for the sick and the wounded.
When Florence Nightingale arrived at the Hospital in Scutari, she found no drugs/medicines, no bandages, no laundry system, no sanity arrangements, not even a cake of a soap or scrubbing brush. She managed to re-organize the hospital completely and make it a place where men were brought to be healed and not to die.
In the end, the allies won, but the ironic part of it is that, although 2 years after the war, the centre of contention, the Silver Star was permanently removed. The war left a legacy of ill will that lasted for years.
Have you ever wondered why Christ has so often been linked with war and bloodshed, when he is the “Prince of Peace”? Christ is not the one who causes these wars, they are caused by the people who may profess to be His followers (James 4:1.2)
1. “Where do wars and flights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasures that war in our member?
2. You lust and do not have. You kill and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and make wars. Yet you do not have, because you do not ask, but apparently have never experienced, and therefore do not reveal by their actions, the peace of which Jesus Christ is Prince. (John 16:33) “These things I have spoken to you that is me you may have peace. In the world you may have tribulations but be of good cheers. I have overcome the world”.
This is the season of the year when the thoughts of man turn to the birth of the “Prince of Peace”. May it be a time when your thoughts turn to Him. May He be born anew in your heart, and may you always experience the peace he offers-Peace which passeth all understanding. Philippians 4:7. “And the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”.
Sangjilung Chiru,
Dimapur, Phone No.9436064254
