Pease, Peace, When There Is No Peace

 

[1]

Jeremiah 6:14 King James Version

¹⁴ They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, "Peace, peace; when there is no peace."

 

On October 13, 2025, I started this blog when President Donald Trump stated: “We have Peace. There is peace.” I’m sure he fondly hoped that there would be peace.

A thousand or two years before Christ, Abraham had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. They were long separated because Sarah, Isaac’s mother, couldn’t take the way Ishmael, fourteen years his elder, was taunting Isaac. The two brothers buried their father. That was probably the last time they, or their descendants, ever did something together in peace.

None of the descendants seem to have learned how to forgive when something evil was done to them. Instead, they feel obliged to seek revenge at all costs. Their vengeance seeking may yet plunge this world into a nuclear war that would threaten the survival of the human race. I’m sure that this attitude is the one that caused Christ to say that if we forgive men their sins, God will forgive us our sins, but if we don’t, neither will He forgive us. Matthew 6: 14-15.

It appears that Trump needs to learn the lesson of forgiveness himself. He has still not forgiven California for not voting for him and has refused Federal help for the massive fire burn areas near Los Angeles of last winter.

Lord, help us to be forgiving in love.

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[1] https://www.npr.org/2025/01/10/g-s1-41873/la-fires-los-angeles-palisades-eaton-hurst-california

Tyler Galleria Temple

 

[1]

Joshua 24:15 Good News Translation

¹⁵ If you are not willing to serve him, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your ancestors worshiped in Mesopotamia or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are now living. As for my family and me, we will serve the Lord.”

 

When we first moved to Riverside, the greatest shopping center in the city was Tyler Mall. That was almost forty years ago. I used to say to Sylvia, “This is Riverside’s temple to the goddess of materialism.” Thousands of people converged on this temple every day of the week. Then things began to happen. Workmen got in there and added another story of shops. They renamed the Tyler Mall, the Tyler Galleria. They spent several years redoing the streets and the 91-Freeway to make it more convenient to enter the temple.

Out of curiosity I looked up the meaning of the word “galleria”. One dictionary traces the etymology of the word to a chapel at the entrance to a 15^th century church—indeed, a place of worship. A place of worship for the populace, not just for the appropriately dressed nobility who could worship inside the church.

But now, in this modern age, things have changed beyond the wildest imaginings of the designers of the Tyler Galleria. Modern technology has brought the galleria into everyone’s home and pocket. Now far more people spend their millions on their computer or phone from outlets like Amazon. People can worship the goddess of materialism from the comfort of their own home, car, or office. They can even have the product delivered to their own front door. If they don’t like what is delivered, or it breaks, they can ship it back and get their money back.

And what has happened to these “places of worship?” Many, especially since the Pandemic, have fallen totally into disuse. They lie desolate, practically abandoned, licking their wounds. We can apply Christ’s 2,000-year-old lament to our age: “And so your Temple will be abandoned. I assure you that you will not see me until the time comes when you say[2] ‘God bless Him who comes in the name of the Lord.’”

In the end, our materialism will be destroyed. For a peek into the future, just look at what is happening to our gallerias during a “snatch and grab” raid—or for their eventual destiny in the pictures from Gaza or Ukraine.

I pray that we will choose with Joshua: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!”

 

 

 

 

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[1] https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8163/7580038042_c0b7a09a90_b.jpg

[2] Luke 13: 35 GNV