What are you doing to be a peacemaker? Seven years ago David Streight, the president of Council of Spiritual and Ethical Education (CSEE) asked a group, which I was apart of, that question. He had us go around the room and answer the question. My heart started pounding. I could not think of anything. Here I was the religion teacher at an independent school and I could not think of one thing. Different people around the room began talking about their peacemaking efforts. Everything seemed so amazing. In my head I was frantically trying to think of something because I did not want to look totally inept! I did answer the question. The things I mentioned were positive things but what I remember from the day is I was not doing enough!! This experience was another powerful experience for me that moved me in the direction of the interfaith work I am doing in my community.
When I say that as a follower of Jesus I am compelled to be a peacemaker I am thinking in terms of the word Shalom. The Hebrew word for Peace is Shalom. Often times we think of peace as the lack of conflict. And the lack of conflict is an important aspect of peace. But as a peacemaker I don’t desire just a lack of conflict. Shalom refers to a hope of completeness or wholeness for the individual and the relationship. And what I love about the word Shalom is that it also refers to actions that move to completeness or wholeness. My hope is that my efforts are moving our community towards Shalom.
This will be my last blog post for awhile. The next six weeks in my life are busy with the very good things that occur in a family. My youngest son is getting married to an amazing young lady. They are having a destination wedding which is exciting and full of adventure. Both of my sons are moving to new locations. My husband and I will be assisting in this exciting new phase of their lives. Our oldest son is moving with his wife to Nashville, TN and will be starting his PhD program at Vanderbilt University in Community Psychology. Our youngest will be moving to New Haven, CT to start his PhD program at Yale University in Cognitive Psychology. For the next few weeks I will be traveling and helping these two great young families get settled in their new lives.
I leave you with this question.
What are you doing to be a peacemaker?
6 comments:
One of the most powerful ideas I ever encountered was the concept of Jesus's birth, life, death, and resurrection as a model for redeeming the world in its grand historical arc towards reaching Shalom. It was the climactic act in a history that ultimately ends in wholeness and completeness. It's now up to us to continue to usher in Shalom as we participate in the Kingdom of God.
I think one of the simplest and practical things about anyone can do is to 'stay out of the box' - this refers to a concept described in the book by The Arbinger Institute called "Leadership and Self-Deception." If we don't respond to someone the way we know we innately know we should, we enter 'the box' and immediately try to justify why we didn't do the right thing; ie "that guy's a jerk anyway!" - we may look to collude with others who have 'entered the box' toward that person. Relationships break down for the dumbest reasons. The way out of the box is to take responsibility and question your own virtue in this circumstance.
"....to continue to usher in Shalom as we participate in the Kingdom of God." Love the idea of 'ushering in' because it is a hospitable, welcoming word. Thank you for the comment.
Dave, your comment reminds me of the verse, Psalms 139:23, “Search me, O God, and know my heart, test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead in the way everlasting.” In all relationships it is important to assume the best of others while questioning our own motives and intentions, for then we can truly hear and move towards understanding.
What occurred to me, in reflecting on your post was that, so many times in the
Bahá'i writings we are warned of the detrimental effects of gossip, not only to the
person of whom is being spoken, or to the person speaking ill of others, but even to
the unwilling listener. It is not enough to simply refrain from participating. We
must seek to end this most corrosive and prevalent element in our society.
One of the most effective means I have found, is simply asking, "Well, there must be
something you like about, person x?"
While not 100% effective, it has, many times, completely turned the tide of the
conversation. Often other listeners have even supported this change in focus.
I'll leave you with this quote from the writings of Baha'u'llah:
O SON OF SPIRIT! The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not
away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee.
By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others,
and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor.
Ponder this in thy heart; how it behooveth thee to be. Verily justice is My gift to
thee and the sign of My loving-kindness. Set it then before thine eyes.
Scott
Scott,
I really like the passage that you shared here. The concept of justice is certainly one that is present in many religions (full disclosure - I come from a Christian faith background). I think that the concept of justice interacts very nicely with this concept of Shalom. Instead of justice only being a retributive sort of thing where people are punished or rewarded based on their actions, justice understood as part of Shalom brings with it a sense of already being woven into the fabric of the way things are. The conversation about punishing or rewarding people is no longer important because this sort of justice works at a higher level. In a world where true Shalom is present, systems and institutions operate in a completely just way. There is a sense of wholeness/completeness that applies to the world at large. This means that Shalom not only impacts person-to-person relationships (like the issue of gossip that you mention), but also person-to-system relationships (think of institutionalized racism), society-to-nature relationships (pollution), etc. For me, this is the appealing thing about working for Shalom -- it is not just trying to fix the symptoms of a global problem; it is working at a higher level to weave justice into the very fabric of society and the world.
I will continue to read over and ponder the passage that you posted. Thanks for sharing it!
Ben
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