Dear friends,
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Jesus spoke these words as he sat on a hill looking over the Sea of Galilee, teaching the multitude who had come yearning for hope and meaning. These words are part of the Beatitudes, a series of blessings that challenged the listeners to see their lives in a new light. Where the world, for example, taught that the powerful will inherit the earth, Jesus proclaimed that the meek, the ones the world saw as powerless, would receive the earth’s goodness.
This peacemaker blessing, like the others, challenged Jesus’ listeners. They lived under the sometimes-brutal rule of Rome. Some folks chose to work with Rome, trying to keep everything calm and peaceful. Some removed themselves from society and tried to live a peaceful life far from the power of Rome. Others advocated for violent resistance to the empire. In that context, Jesus proclaimed the blessedness of peacemakers. Not peacekeepers. Not inner-peace seekers. Not peace-destroyers.
I imagine the people gathered on that hillside left wondering, “What does it mean to be a peacemaker?” Two thousand years later, we are challenged to ask the same question. In a world overwhelmed by violence, what does it mean for us to be peacemakers?
For the first three weeks in May, we will explore this question. We will dive into the biblical meaning of peace – “shalom –,” which involves communal well-being. We will offer special music – based on a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a prayer attributed to St. Francis, and a folk song by local musician Fred Small. We will hear from the families who attended the Family Service Project Trip, reflecting on our small contribution to communal well-being. We will tell stories of mothers whose love for their children inspired them to work for peace. We will wonder about the work of diplomats past and present.
Like the folks who gathered on the hill to listen to Jesus, we will come away from our explorations with more questions than answers. Hopefully, we will also come away inspired to be peacemakers.
Peace, Debbie