Peace has been on my mind a lot lately, even more so this past week. I have often found myself contemplating what peace is, what it feels like, how to foster peace within ourselves and relationships with others; this week in particular, I found that “peace” was jumping out at me in readings, songs, and discussions.
In my own life I often find myself asking for peace, and I’m not really sure what it is I am asking for. In a conversation with a dear friend, I talked about how I feel my mission in life is to be a minister of peace, but what really is that? Peace is not simply something given or taken; it is something we strive for and takes conscious work to achieve within ourselves and our communities. It seems so simple, and yet it will take entire lifetimes to achieve peace, accept peace, lead with peace – not to dissuade, but to understand it is a worthy process, to spend our lives as peacemakers. In a single mass setting, we are constantly praying and offering peace: “Peace be with you,” “Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace,” “…graciously grant peace and unity in accordance with your will…” “Go in peace to love and serve the Lord and each other.” A sentence that called out to me yesterday from James 3:16-43 was “Peacemakers, when they work for peace, sow the seeds in which will bear fruit in holiness:” a lifelong continual process, worthy and necessary.
Last Spring, I taught my 5th graders a song for Holi (Festival of Colors) and using a phrase in the song – “Shanti shanti om”, a Sanskrit invocation of peace – I incorporated a discussion about peace. I asked each student to write on a small piece of paper what they thought peace meant. I received an alarming amount of responses where most students thought peace was being left alone, nobody in your business and bothering you. How sad that peace was almost shed in a negative light; “I just want to be left alone” was essentially the response to “What is peace?” In mass, when we offer the sign of peace it is a handshake; we reach across to our neighbor and verbally wish them peace in that hour, that day, their life. Peace is much more than being left alone; and more than the inner work of finding peace within your own self.
Peace bridges the divides and barriers between us. On Friday September 21st, the United Nations International Day of Peace, an organization I am apart of (AVoice4Peace) set up livestreams at various points throughout the day for people to sing with others around the world for peace. The anthem of this organization is Ukuthula, a Zulu hymn: a rough translation of the first verse is “We find peace in this sinful world; through the blood of Jesus Christ we find peace.” Finding and creating peace is a communal act as much as it is an internal one – we foster peace within ourselves to share it with others.
So what is peace exactly? I’m still not sure, but for me, peace is living in acceptance of everything in my life as it is, no longer living in discordance of God’s will; striving each day to live out the gospel in my actions and interactions with others; leading with love and kindness in conversations, lessons, while conducting and teaching; extending my hand, literally and figuratively, in a sign of peace. We as humans and peacemakers, myself included, still have much work to do in sowing these seeds, but what a worthy thing we are doing.
