Pace e Bene Blog

Don't miss this short film on Aussie Peace Heros

April 5th, 2009 - by Jarrod McKenna

Pine Gap, 2002, was the first time where I felt lead break the law to uphold the law of Love. As Martin Luther King, Jr. (who was arrested over 30 times for civil disobedience) said,

“There is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians.”

This is a video of four friends of mine who I have worked with, workshopped with, prayed with and even fought with (nonviolently of course) ; Donna, Adele, Bryan and Jim, and their amazing witness to truth, peace and justice in the tradition of Gandhi, Martin Luther King, and the early Christians.

May you be moved, encouraged and challenged by the Peace of Christ.

If you are interested, an interview with me about why I trespassed at Pine Gap in 2002 (via a website dominated by a very conservative agenda):

“Jarrod McKenna, part-time Youth Pastor at Bullcreek Church of Christ, is a follower of Jesus. He is one of several people I have had the privilege of talking with recently about how the gospel impacts our lives and can’t help but spill out into the world around us. Jarrod is going to rock your pew-occupying, ten-percent-tithing, small-group-attending world. He’s going to ask some questions that will hopefully cause you to sleep less. He’s also going to say some things that offend you. He’s going to point at some of the things in your world and ask “Why?” Perhaps you won’t agree with him. Perhaps you won’t like him. That’s ok, he honestly doesn’t mind. But more than anything, he and I are asking you to take a look at what it means to follow Jesus and how that might be made real in today’s context.”

And a photo essay about my observations while at Pine Gap later published first by FOR Magazine thanks to the help of Walter Wink and Richard Deats.

“As a follower of the risen Rabbi Jesus, I do believe God takes sides. In Jesus I see God sides with those who are poor, marginalized and oppressed regardless of the boxes we put them in or the labels we place on them. In Jesus I see the fulfillment of Love who wills that the world would be one with the Most High, no boundaries be they national, economic, racial, religious, philosophical or ideological. One Love, with one people, our earth, our children, our future. In Jesus I see that the universe does bend towards justice, and calls on all of us to lean the same way. I hope that by us listening and answering the call to lean towards justice through peace we could knock the world off the axis of violence and retaliation.”