Practicing Peace
Is it really possible to make peace?
What if peace is an anomaly? What if it is not the natural state of the world? What if every fragment of peaceful coexistence comes about through willful hard work?
Would that make a difference in the way we see each other and the world we live in?
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. - Matthew 5:11
Today's reading form Matthew contains the Beautitudes, those beautiful blessings that Jesus shared with his followers in the Sermon on the Mount.
Each of these blessings carries its own special message, but what they have in common is how natural they appear at first glance.
They represent natural states or conditions of the human struggle, hunger, sorrow, supplication, persecution, mercy. But one stands out as a task or action, while the others are conditions of life.
That one is being a peacemaker.
Perhaps peace is too big a concept for us to grasp, basically because we think globally when we hear the word. And peace on a small scale, like in a family, usually conjures up memories of one-sided capitulations and not real peaceful resolutions.
In a world of win and lose, of master and slave, of victor and vanquished, peace is an unnatural state of tension, rather than a goal or norm.
I know many will think I am being harsh or that what I am saying means peace is not achievable, and that is not what I want to convey at all.
The world is a rough, violent, hostile, chaotic place, down to its very nature, with earthquakes, floods, volcanos, storms, currents, droughts and firestorms.
We live on a hotbed of turmoil, and yet we seek peacefulness and calm.
Jesus tells us this goal is the goal of the Children of God, which to me means we are all heirs of God's dream for us to live in support of each other, fighting against the natural order of things, the brutality that accompanies a kill or be killed food chain, and be unnaturally at peace with each other.
This is hard work, and to think it doesn't require work is to fail.
As we celebrate the end of Summer and turn toward the recognition of our labors, perhaps we can add a challenge to our Labor Day gathering, to practice peace.
It is not achievable without practice, and we are desperately in need of some now.
Happy Labor Day.
More to come...
Image Credit: Inspirational Storytellers
