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Last week, 13 years after the U.S.-led war against the Taliban in
Afghanistan began, both the United States and the United Kingdom ended their
combat roles in that country. On Sunday, British troops and U.S. Marines handed
over their large adjacent bases in Helmand province to the Afghan military, and
left the country. Some of the bloodiest fighting of the war has taken place in Helmand province, and two of its sparsely populated districts are still effectively under Taliban control. That province produces most of the opium that helps to finance the Taliban's insurgency, and the Taliban efforts in that province "fuel the insurgency across the rest of the country," said U.S. Army Lt. General Joseph Anderson, the day-to-day chief of allied operations in Afghanistan.
From this point forward, however, it will be up to the Afghan army to deal with the Taliban, mostly unaided by foreign forces. In addition to the two bases, they have inherited training, supplies and military equipment from the departing allies, but they will be carrying on mostly on their own.
The pullout means that no British troops will remain in Afghanistan. The United States will still have about 12,500 soldiers there, but they will be serving in training and advisory roles, not in combat.
The fighting in Afghanistan began in 2001, when a U.S.-led coalition toppled the Taliban government for harboring al Qaeda, the group that executed the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
In the 13 years of the war, 2,210 American soldiers and 453 British soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan, with many more wounded. At least 21,000 Afghan civilians have died because of the war, as well as an unknown but significant number of Afghan soldiers and police officers.
One of the departing U.S. commanders, Brig. General Daniel Yoo, said he is "cautiously optimistic" that the Afghan forces "will be able to sustain themselves." Marine Corps Lt. Curtis Smith put it more bluntly: "I really hope that the blood, sweat and tears that we invested in this place get used properly. And I wish them luck."
Smith's comment seemingly voices the concern that while turning over the bases to the Afghan forces marks a sharp break in involvement for the United States and the United Kingdom, in terms of the mission itself, the departure is more of a ragged edge. The Taliban has not been defeated, and it's uncertain that the Afghan forces will be able to successfully hold the hard-won gains that allied and Afghan troops have achieved in the 13 years, let alone end the insurgency.
More on this story can be found at these links:
Last of U.S. Marines Leave Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Wall Street Journal
Britain Ends Combat Role in Afghanistan, Last U.S. Marines Hand Over Base. Reuters
Last British Soldiers Leave Afghanistan: 'It's a Relief to Be Getting Out of There.' The Independent
Over and Out: Marines Withdraw From Southern Afghanistan. NBC News (photos)
The Big Questions
For this lesson, we use the following definition of a "ragged edge": Any interaction we have with another person or persons in which there is some kind of disagreement and where the action we take as a result may be the best we can do under the circumstances, but it leaves us dissatisfied.
1. In your experience dealing with the problems of life, especially those involving interactions with others, is the outcome more often a tidy finish or a ragged edge? Has this been truer for you as an adult than when you were a teen? Do you experience more ragged edges within the context of your life of faith or outside the faith? Explain your answer.
2. A U.S. commander has voiced "cautious optimism" that the Afghan troops will be able to deal with the Taliban. In terms of matters you've had to turn over to others to finish, is cautious optimism enough to make you comfortable letting go of the reins? Name a time when you were reluctant to hand over the reins, but you did, and things turned out better than you had expected.
3. When you have to leave things unsettled or unfinished in upsetting dealings with others, or when your efforts to mend a broken relationship are turned away, how does that affect your sense of contentment? Your feelings about your own worth? Your confidence in God?
4. In what ways might a ragged edge be a call from God? What sort of call? How can you test whether a perceived call is really a call from God?
5. What actions of God are still ragged edges, and will not be completed until the kingdom of God comes in all its fullness? What is your response to God's ragged edges? How should this impact our ministries to the world? Are there ways we can smooth some of these edges by our concern and love?
Confronting the News With Scripture and Hope
Here are some Bible verses to guide your discussion:
Romans 12:18
If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (For context, read 12:9-21.)
In verses 9-21, Paul is talking about how Christians should live their lives. He talks about letting love be genuine, contributing to those in need, extending hospitality to strangers, living humbly and in harmony with others, not taking revenge and similar good things. But then he says, "If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all."
In those words, Paul is acknowledging life's ragged edges. In our relationships with other people, the flow of our interactions is almost never totally up to us. As far as it depends on us, we can approach our connections with others with love, humility, kindness, generosity and so on, but as Paul rightly notes, it isn't all up to us. As the old cliché puts it, "It takes two to tango."
More often than not, we find ourselves moving on with feelings of disappointment or dissatisfaction over the way certain things have worked out, with the ragged edges still dangling. That makes us uncomfortable, and we may find ourselves obsessing about how we can tidy up certain ragged edges. If we can, of course we should, but if it's not possible, and often it is not, we have no choice but to move on.
Questions: If we cannot bring a happy outcome from a human interaction -- if the other person won't allow the matter to be settled -- what, if anything, is our ongoing responsibility? Are there times when taking the lead in "living peaceably" with others actually prevents real reconciliation? When is it more important just to let things be as they are, without a real resolution? How do we tell whether that is the best course?
1 Kings 2:1-3
When David's time to die drew near, he charged his son Solomon, saying: "I am about to go the way of all the earth. Be strong, be courageous, and keep the charge of the LORD your God, walking in his ways ..." (For context, read 2:1-9.)
Not all ragged edges ought to be stitched up. The verses above are the opening lines of the Bible passage that records David's final instructions, just before dying, to his son Solomon, who would succeed him on Israel's throne. This is one place where it is important to read the context, verses 1-9. Because of space limitations, we didn't quote it all, but if you read the full passage, you'll see that some of the unfinished business David handed off to Solomon would have been better left alone.
There was one good request, that Solomon "deal loyally" (v. 7) with the sons of Barzillai because of help Barzillai had given to David, but his other instructions -- to kill Joab and Shimei -- were questionable. He tells Solomon to have a man named Shimei put to death because of an offense he committed under David's rule (2 Samuel 16:5-8). But Shimei had asked David's forgiveness for his offense, and David had not only granted it but had promised not to take revenge on Shimei for it (2 Samuel 19:18-23). In telling Solomon to have Shimei killed, David is technically keeping his word, since he himself is not ordering Shimei's death -- Solomon will do so -- but David is getting his revenge nonetheless.
Questions: What ragged edges in your life are better left dangling than finished? Are there times you feel it is up to you or the next generation to fulfill what was unfulfilled by previous generations? How do you feel about such a burden? What unresolved issues between generations have you experienced? To what extent is your church generation attempting to resolve issues that really belong to earlier church generations? What expectations do you think have been laid on you?
Genesis 50:20
Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. (For context, read 50:15-21.)
When Joseph's brothers had betrayed him and sold him into slavery, they never imagined that their act would result in Joseph becoming highly placed in the government of Egypt. That was an unexpected consequence. But after they've been reunited, Joseph interprets their deed as a means for God's will to be accomplished.
TWW team member Frank Ramirez comments, "Sometimes we have to make the best we can of the whole mess. I think some of the most grace-filled words in the Bible come from Joseph when he tells his brothers that perhaps their actions, throwing him into a pit to leave him for dead, his ending up in slavery and therefore being in Egypt in the right place and time, might be God's will to save the family. Not everything is resolved. Or needs to be."
There is also a piece of the gospel that tells us that not everything needs to be finished. The gospel message itself reminds us that past wrongs that can't be undone can be forgiven, and we can move on in the newness of life with Christ.
Perhaps the most important thing we can do is take the ragged edges in our life to God and ask him for guidance to help us know the right choice: abandon them, keep trying to fix them, hand them off, bide our time or live with them.
Questions: How does hindsight figure into our understanding of God's will, especially concerning unfinished business? Is Joseph rationalizing, do you think, or is he having a real lightbulb moment? When have you had the chance to reevaluate key events in your life and have managed to see God in the worst moments as well as the best? When has this been difficult or impossible?
Philippians 3:13-14
... this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (For context, read 3:10-16.)
2 Timothy 4:7
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. (For context, read 4:1-8.)
Note Paul's comment to the Philippians about "forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead." Paul uses the image of a runner of a race, who loses if he turns to see what is happening behind him. Rather, he must keep his eye on his goal, that of living his life in the way God calls him to. That can apply to ragged edges, for when we have loose ends that we cannot tie up no matter what we do, continually focusing on them tends to blind us to the larger goals of life. When Paul suggests we forget what is behind, he probably doesn't mean we should act as if the ragged edges don't exist, but that we not allow them to prevent us from moving on.
In 2 Timothy, Paul talks about running the good race and finishing the course. It is noteworthy that he said this even though it seems there were other things he had intended to do -- like going to Spain (Romans 15:28) -- but which his arrest had curtailed.
Questions: In what sense do we as followers of Christ finish our course even when there are ragged edges in our lives? With the emphasis in our society on winning and losing, does Paul's suggestion that just running the race is enough make sense to you? To people outside the church?
Revelation 21:3-5
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And the one seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." (For context, read 21:1-7.)
This is from the vision John of Patmos had about "a new heaven and a new earth" (v. 1) that come at the end of this world. Note that part of what he sees could be described as no more unfinished business: "Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away."
Question: Why do you think the kingdom of God is described in these no-more-unfinished-business terms?
For Further Discussion
1. Comment on this suggestion from Rev. Evan Jones for discipling Christians. He said to gather 12 together and give them two tasks: (a) Start a ministry you will not be privileged to see through to the end. (b) Pick up a ministry someone else started.
2. Tell some personal "ragged-edge" stories. Here are a couple to get you started:
Imagine that you and your spouse strongly disagree over how to respond to a request from one of your grown children for some financial assistance. It's a situation where there's no real compromise option. You want to give the money, thinking how much difficulty you can spare your child by doing so. Your spouse, however, is convinced that giving the money only enables some irresponsibility in your child, and doesn't want to give it. You can "agree to disagree," but in the end, you've got to do one or the other -- either give the money or not -- and no matter which one you do, one of you is going to be dissatisfied. That's a ragged edge.
In an unthinking moment, you have publicly embarrassed a friend, telling something she told you in confidence. When you realize what you've done, you apologize, which is the best you can do under the circumstances, and your friend forgives you. But you know that you've damaged the friendship because first, you cannot cause the people to whom you blabbed your friend's secret to forget what you said, and second, you know that your friend is going to be more guarded about what she tells you in the future. The blunder can be forgiven, but it cannot be undone. That, too, is a ragged edge.
3. Comment on this from a commencement speech by Andrew Young: ''Salvation does not come through simplicities, either of sentiment or system. The gray, grainy complex of existence and the ragged edges of our lives as we actually lead them defy hunger for a neat, bordered existence and for spirits unsullied by doubt or despair.'' ("Commencement Ceremonies: Words of Farewell and Calls to Conscience ...," New York Times)
Responding to the News
Spend some time contemplating the prayer originating with theologian Reinhold Niebuhr and used in Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, but fitting for the larger circumstances of life:
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.
Consider adding this line to the prayer: "And grant me the maturity to not obsess about them but to do what's right now."
Closing Prayer
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