FOCUS ON FAITH
Peace: Know or No?
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September is a month of new beginnings.
This month, the calendar has been dotted with fresh starts as we gathered again after the hot summer. At our church, we blessed backpacks, enjoyed ice cream socials, and returned to our food ministries. Yet, amid the love and joy of reunion and celebrating old traditions, the consistent theme of anxiety permeated our gatherings just under the surface. As we near the end of the month and turn the chapter in October, we cannot deny the tension of wars halfway across the globe and the political violence here in our country.
Is it possible to feel peaceful?
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Peace is both a noun and a verb. Throughout the Bible, God promises to pour extraordinary peace into our hearts. However, I wonder if we need a reminder to receive that peace. What if we treated peace less as a feeling and more as a behavior, as a state of being we inhabit as a result of how we treat each other? "Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other" (Ps. 85:10). How have they tethered together? Righteousness is "right living" in God's eyes. "Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Mt. 5:48). Of course, achieving God's perfection without God is impossible. Jesus has just said, "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Mt. 5: 9); the only time in the Bible that the word "peacemaker" is used and it is an active word, think "reconcilers." In our troubled world, how can we be peacemakers?
Just a few verses later, he tells us! "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." Really? How? I believe God is active in every moment, in the "now." So, God is offering us the solution: "Do just this one thing: love the person right in front of you." There is a certain surrendering to this spiritual practice. When I love you, right this moment, I let go of my anxiety, which then opens the door to receive God's peace. Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid" (Jn. 14:7). Rabbi Edwin Friedman famously called this having a "nonanxious" presence that is always available even in times of chaos. In my tradition, receiving God's peace and being peaceful is a product of the love within our relationships and our inner transformation.
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Specifically, when we share the love of Christ ("He is our peace." (Eph. 2:14) we are restored, renewed, and transformed.
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Dag Hammarskjold said, "Unless there is a spiritual renaissance, the world will know no peace." I believe you and I can change that dire prediction by living moment-to-moment by focusing on caring for the person in front of us. By doing this, we become peacemakers (reconcilers); we "know" peace. Let's start with a simple phrase of mutual high regard: "l care for you!" or "l love you!" or, better yet, "Peace be with you!"
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Gratefully,
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Rev. Brett​​​​​​​+
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This article was published recently as the "Focus on Faith" column in the Wakefield Daily Item.