From the Study...
Dear Friends,
One of the things we were graded on in elementary school was conduct. It had its own set of behaviors, like ‘speaks only when spoken to’ or ‘keeps desk clean’, which were checked either ‘satisfactory’ or ‘unsatisfactory’ by my teacher, Mrs. Arnesby. Her check marks determined my grade in conduct. Those formative years are the ones when we learn the basics of life in community, which we take with us into adulthood. One of those behaviors to be checked off as satisfactory or unsatisfactory was ‘plays well with others.’ How have we done with that?
Peace is at the center of the Faith and is at the foundation of life in Christian community. The Psalms call us to “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Ps 34:14) Peter picks up the call to live peacefully in community when he writes, “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another … Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing …” (I Peter 3:8ff). Then he reaches back and quotes the same verse from Psalm 34. Jesus is clear how he feels about living in peace. In John’s gospel Jesus is gathered with his disciples in the Upper Room at the end of his days on earth and tells them, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you.” (John 14:27a) The current climate in politics would seem to indicate that peace has eluded us. Maybe we haven’t tried hard enough. Our job is not to wait for peace to find us. Our job is to participate in finding it. Paul writes, “… as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” (Romans 12:18). We play an active part in the pursuit of peace.
Today there seems to be more conflict than peace. And as we approach another election, that absence of peace seems more pronounced than usual as angry voices grow more strident. This is not the path our Lord calls us to walk. Conflict is the child of anger, and anger is easy. Peace is the child of love, and love can be hard work. Let us do the hard work for the greater reward. Mrs. Arnesby would be proud.
Grace and peace,
Mike