Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.
The Hebrew word for peace is Shalom, which means wholeness, health, welfare and safety. The Gospel of John this weekend speaks about a shalom that offers to bring the world a universal wellness, wholeness, completeness, and oneness. It is a peace that makes everything right that has been wrong, a way to mend, heal, and restore. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”(John 14:27)How can we experience this kind of peace?Jesus invites us to find this peace by answering the call to be peacemakers, by loving our neighbors who are rooted in us, a part of us, and an image of us. Jesus says that his peace is not based on good circumstances. It is given, and holds true in spite of the worst of circumstances. In this world, we will always have tribulation, but Jesus tells us to take heart in that tribulation; that he has overcome the world.
Violence is everywhere today! We experience it in our schools, workplaces, homes, and even places of worship. Anybody can be violent. Violence is in our bloodstream. Violence hurts everyone involvedand creates victims and victimizers. It brings pain of all kinds, including physical injury, death, emotional, psychological and spiritual pain.It always leads to despair, hard feelings, resentment, bitterness or worse. Nonviolence, however is courageous and daring, but often requires a great deal of inner strength. It can be the hardest thing we ever practice. Jesus teaches us that nonviolence is not passivity, but rather a way that leads to newness of life.
John Dear, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee, explores in his book, The Nonviolent Life, the powerful journey of nonviolence rooted in a Christian vision of love. That means each one of us is sent like the nonviolent Jesus into the world of violence to make peace. He says that we claim our true identities in God’s love, and must try to love ourselves, everyone we meet, increase love, and end violence throughout the world. This is a beautiful and exciting mission that gives our lives ultimate meaning and purpose. We are invited to become a people of peace, who act like the sons and daughters of the God of peace. We seek to let that peace dwell within us and radiate from us into the world so that it may become more peaceful and nonviolent.
John Dear writes that we begin this work by first letting go of our own interior violence, no longer being verbally aggressive towards ourselves in our self-talk, and to then work outwardly on treating others with that same respect and dignity. “The life of nonviolence begins as we befriend ourselves, make peace with ourselves, and make room for God’s Spirit of peace to live and dwell within us.”This also means taking to heart God’s affirming word of love and seeing ourselves through that lens of nonviolent love. Nonviolence begins with a conscious awareness that we are all victims of violence, that we are all wounded, and that we have all been indoctrinated into a culture of violence. Jesus invites us to enter into our own inner healing in order to learn how to become more nonviolent. This personal, inner journey is the work of a lifetime, but that is what our spiritual life is all about. We all need to look more deeply within ourselves and try to look at the causes of our own violence. This weekend, let us pledge to become more aware of our own woundedness and our need for healing. May our own inner healing better enable us to understand others through our own inner work, becoming true disciples of peace, justice, and nonviolence.
How am I violent?
How have I supported the culture of violence?
Where does nonviolence challenge me the most?
What does it mean to be a person of active nonviolence?
What is a nonviolent life?
How can we become people of nonviolence and help the world become more nonviolent?
How is my life a journey out of the culture of nonviolence?
How do I fulfill my vocation as a peacemaker?
Prayer for a Nonviolent Life
God of peace, give me the grace to let go of violence, to love and accept myself, to cultivate inner peace, and to dwell in your peace. Send your Holy Spirit of peace upon me that I might know your love, healing, and honor you by taking care of myself. Help me to practice loving nonviolence toward everyone I know and meet, that I might love my neighbor as myself, and never hurt anyone ever again. Open my heart to love every human being as my sister and brother, that I might practice your universal nonviolent love from now on. Make me an instrument of your peace, that I might do my part to help abolish poverty, hunger, racism, sexism, systemic injustice, environmental destruction, and welcome your nonviolent reign of peace with justice here on earth. As I follow the nonviolent Jesus on the path of peace and love, help me to claim my true identity as your beloved son/daughter, that I might always live in your peace and love, and serve your reign, now and forever. Amen.