...the kind of work each one of us has agreed to do: to use every resource at hand to build the reign of God--to use the gifts we have, the ones we think we might have, and the ones we haven't yet discovered yet, to be willing to speak aloud about our vision of peace, whether in the newspaper or the halls of Congress, and to dedicate our lives to making that vision come alive, to give our hearts to it, to believe in it, with every fiber of our being. - p. 35
Thus the Kingdom of God comes to earth! And what a vision of the Peaceable Kingdom it is. ++Katherine has moved into the second section of her book, assembling a small but invigorating group of sermons dedicated to raising our awareness to our call as disciples of peace.
I, like her (and I am finding many more similarities in thoughts and feelings), sign many of my correspondences with "Peace." For my Christian brothers and sisters, I sign "Peace in Christ." I do this to remind myself and others of our call to be peacemakers, and with every close, I ask myself, "Am I making peace or breaking peace with and through this person?"
There is always conflict in every place: in our homes, in our workplaces, even in our houses of worship. ++Katherine points out that as baptised members of Christ's church, we are called to join with Jesus and with others to be bringers of peace and builders of the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth. We don't have an option, if we take our Baptismal Covenant seriously.
So, lets get to work. With whom at work are you not at peace? In your family? In your past or future? Do you see others who are not at peace with each other? How can you take steps toward making peace, even if such steps may be difficult to make?
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Today I finally posted my thoughts for the last two days readings. And then I read the next chapter, “City of God”. And then I read your comments, Shawn. This is just a little bit freaky!
As I remember, when I felt my newest calling (it's been a couple of years now), which scares me a bit, I started writing “Peace” at the end of almost everything I write. The calling definitely has something to do with Peace as I now realize. Yes, perhaps it’s because I am a pacifist, could be because my young niece is back in Iraq, could be that I haven't felt at peace in so very many years, could be because the thought of a peaceful existence makes me smile! I don’t like tensions, I don’t like when people are mean, what can I do to change that? See, out to change the world I am!
While in San Francisco one time, we went to Sammy Sunchild’s Peace Center and B&B in the Haight-Ashbury district. She is an artist/poet and an avid Peace activist. While there we found one of her colorful posters with her poem called “DOG” on it. We couldn't help but smile as we read through it. I can’t imagine anyone not smiling after reading it. It is an unusual answer to the challenge of bringing world peace, whether it is the entire world or your own personal world. If you'll indulge, I'd like to share part of this poem here.
Dog is the designated tail
wagger for all of us
mortals who have no tails.
The purpose of tail wagging
is to make joy visible.
Millions of wagging tails
help keep the air fresh and
in motion
and the clouds
circulating the earth.
The wagging of all the tails
of all the dogs in the world
could end wars if all of us
would stop arguing
and let our dogs
take us for a walk.
Now, I don’t mean to make light of the problems of peace in our world, but just a little “think outside the box” could do wonders in allowing others around you to explore what they can do to bring peace into their own circle.
I find that when I think of this last line of this poem, I see things in a more "peaceful" way. I am not as quick to anger or discourage. Sounds corny, but it really isn't. It shows in my face, in my attitude and in how I respond to others.
For someone who is having such difficulties bringing peace to my own situation, I should be should listening to myself. But it is so very hard to do so. Regardless of what you told me a while back, I still feel like a hippacrite and I still can't seem to resolve that issue. Instead, I do whatever I can to show peace towards others. Like it is supposed to make up for not doing so with those that I should.
I do take my baptisimal covenant seriously, I really appreciate ++Katherine's vision of what this means. But some things are just so hard to bring peace to.
So, when I think of this new calling, and wonder how can I be worthy of tackling this, it means going beyond my difficulty and doing what is right. You know what I mean?
When I think about all these dogs taking their humans for a walk, this difficulty fades to the background, never away, but back so I can be the person I want to be. But is this what God wants?
Peace
K.
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