Brick by Peaceful Brick

Today's readings: Ps 33, 146; Isa 5:18-25; 1 Thes 5:12-28; Luke 21:29-38

When we talk about peace, it’s easy to get caught up in large scale visions that seem difficult if not impossible to achieve. Maybe one of the reasons worldwide peace can seem like little more than a dream is because lasting peace even within our own small communities is so rare. Like many things, peace is something we learn over time, and our understanding of how to create it grows slowly.

As he closes his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul offers several exhortations on how to “be at peace among yourselves” (v 13b). We would do well to review his list often, because many of the behaviors he describes are not our natural reactions. What is our natural response to idlers, the weak, and the faint-hearted (v 14)? In a culture that worships self-reliance, do we treat them with love or with disdain? What about people who do evil? Do we seek to do good for them (v 15), or do we want to see them get their just desserts? If God wants us to act this way, no wonder we also need to pray without ceasing (v 17)!

Peace is always a choice, but it is not always the easiest choice. When Paul and Christ speak of peace, they are sometimes talking about an inner calm, but they are also speaking about our actions. Just like agape love, shalom peace is more about what we do than how we feel. If peace has to wait on our feelings, it will be a pitiful sort of peace indeed. On the other hand, creating peace through action and relationship—like creating love through action and relationship—transforms our understanding of the world. Once we allow ourselves to be transformed into a people of peace, we might just find it easier to envision a peaceful world.

At first, our efforts at peace may be sloppy. But as we grow more skilled with them, we will be able to shape them into something useful, like the apprentice bricklayer who will one day piece together soaring castles.

Comfort: Peace in our actions creates peace in our hearts, our communities, and our world.

Challenge: One day a month, reflect on how well you are doing the following: admonishing idlers, encouraging the faint-hearted, helping the weak, seeking to do good to all, praying without ceasing, and giving thanks in all circumstances.

Prayer: God of Peace, teach me the foundations of peace making.

Evening reading: Ps 85, 94