PEACE

“Make peace within yourself and both heaven and earth will make peace with you.”

HAFIZ

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by Brother Dennis

Today and every day we are called to peace. As we stand amid the swirling winds of violence, of atrocities committed against humanity and cries for vengeance, it is important to remember that we have a higher calling. It is the calling to peace, to justice, and to dignity. We need to be reminded that it is when we take on the work of peacemakers in the world we are doing so from our core identity as children of God. We are doing so as workers in the kingdom of Heaven and as representatives of The Prince of Peace. Violence only inspires more violence. And violence not only harms others but also the aggressor.

For some, the call to peace in the face of aggression may be a hard position to accept or seem naïve and uninformed about how the world works. It is true that the conscience of many, and indeed the conscience of the global community, may be tested by the violent nature of a few. But we must maintain our posture of peace. This means that in the face of suffering caused by aggression and violence we do not allow our anger to rule us because that runs the risk of becoming thirsty for revenge, which can fuel more violence. The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said it this way: “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hatred cannot drive out hatred, only love can do that.” 

But this does not mean that we stand idly by and take what violence dishes out. We should stand firm in our resolve to resist while calling perpetrators to accountability. We can also position ourselves to avoid further harm. This is what Jesus was teaching when he said to “Turn the other cheek.” When struck, we turn and posture ourselves so to make it impossible to be stuck in that way again.

The call to a peaceful response in the face of violence is the narrow gate. When many take the easier way of aggression that leads only to yet more suffering, we as peacemakers need to point people to the narrow way that leads to life. Jesus knew this would never be easy. But the way of peace is the only way to real life in the Kingdom of Heaven, which is not just around us, but also within us. God never calls us to aggression and violence. We are only called to peace and love. And this is not some Utopian dream; it is the living dream of God. Everything else is an illusion. But because of the need for control and revenge, some fall prey to choosing the lesser illusion that leads to diminishment of life.

We cannot pour new wine into old wineskins. The idea of revenge and violence as the first and only effective response to violence is ingrained and embedded in our culture. This old, rigid, and ineffective way of thinking is the old wineskin. The consideration of peace as the first and only response to violence is a new idea for some, but not for all, and it is the new wine for a world that is aching and longing for peace. But we must welcome this new wine of peace with new wineskins – new ways of seeing things – new ways of responding. We must be vessels that are pliable and open to the way of peace, even – and especially – in the face of atrocities that tempt us to something lower.

But peace is not a Pollyanna notion that all is ok with the world and that if we just pretend that harmful acts do not exist then and therefore, we are at peace. That is not peace. That is denial. This kind of denial is dangerous because it can lead to indifference toward the persecution and violence being brought upon our brothers and sisters, and when we become silent, we become compliant. To be real peacemakers means that, as instruments of peace, we stand facing the worst knowing that there will be consequences. But we cannot allow that to silence our lips and close our hearts. But there is much to be gained. In fact, the entire kingdom of heaven is to be gained. This is where our peace must originate – from the Kingdom of Heaven within us.

O God, let us be people of peace.