Opening Eyes

The Rev. Laura Spangler
Lloyd Presbyterian Church
Winston-Salem, N.C.

The Eyes Wide Open display remembers those from the United States and from Iraq killed during the war. Photo by Mark Koenig

Between July 4 and 7, Montreat’s residents and visitors had their eyes opened to the human and economic costs of the ongoing war in Iraq. A powerful outdoor exhibit, sponsored by the 2007 Presbyterian Peacemaking Conference, reminded those who celebrated the U.S. Independence Day in Montreat of the loss of life and precious resources that accompany war.

Eighty-five pairs of empty boots memorialized the lives of soldiers from North Carolina who have died in Iraq. Also on display were large photographs of Iraqi people and empty civilian shoes that symbolized the thousands of Iraqis killed in the violence. The American Friends Service Committee, who created the Eyes Wide Open exhibit, graciously assisted in making the display possible.

"Jesus: Proclaiming Peace" was the theme of the 2007 Peacemaking Conference. How do Christians in the United States proclaim peace when our country has sanctioned and initiated war? Following Jesus humbles and challenges us as citizens of a nation quick to use weapons and force.
A number of visitors to the Eyes Wide Open exhibit shared written comments in a reflection book. Teary-eyed, my own husband said he could not finish reading the nametags on the boots — many of them young adults, some the ages of our own children.

The display touched many on a deep emotional level. Volunteer Mary Miller Bruggeman said that groups of children from the Montreat Club program stopped to ask questions. They saw a pile of stuffed teddy bears and the empty shoes of six-month old children. Why were these lives cut short?

Several people wrote in the reflection book, “Lord, please forgive us for we do not know what we are doing.” Jesus’ words from the cross are echoed in the suffering of the many victims of war. Someone from Kansas wrote, “Christians must never see the world in terms of countries, a human-made creation, but instead see all of the world as God’s world and all of its people as God’s people.”

The drumbeat of the war continues. Iraq Coalition Casualty Count reports that as of July 6, 2007, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) had confirmed 3,589 U.S. deaths with an additional 7 deaths reported and awaiting DoD confirmation. Ten deaths were reported between July 4 and 6. Deaths from the U.K. forces total 156; deaths from other coalition forces total 128.

Records of Iraqi deaths are not being kept. Estimates range between 66,000 (Iraq Body Count) and over 600,000 (Johns Hopkins Study).

Banners spoke to possible economic trade-offs for the resources consumed by the war: One day = 84 new elementary schools; One day = 1,274,336 homes with renewable energy.

God’s peaceful presence graced us in the mountains and cool breezes of western North Carolina. Our hope is that more Christians in the United States will find the moral strength to act to end the war and to go forward in a new way — the transforming, peaceful way of Jesus Christ.