Swords 
by Tracy Young

Let Us Beat Swords into Plowshares, sculpted by Yevgeny Vuchetich
The sculpture is part of the United Nations art collection.

He shall judge between the nations, and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

~ Isaiah 2:4

It is not hard to yearn for the future vision presented in this passage from Isaiah--the Lord's house, established over all people, and nations laying down their weaponry. They will not learn the ways of war anymore, and the swords they once raised against one another instead become tools that promote growth. It's an especially poignant longing as we learn that thousands more men and women will be deployed to Afghanistan over the next several months.

Browsing around the web while pondering this verse, I came across the sculpture shown above. Based on the Isaiah passage, it features a herculean figure whaling on a massive sword with a hammer, slowly pounding a curve into it that will eventually transform the sword into a plowshare. It was the strength portrayed in this image that sort of rattled me. When I've considered the Isaiah passage before, I've always thought of the quietness of the image - the tools of peace and growth, tilling the land and trimming the trees. I never thought about the action necessary to beat those tools of war into tools of peace. When portrayed as it is in this sculpture, the action of pounding this tool of death into a tool of life looks incredibly difficult. Mr. Universe there is using all of his strength to turn that metal, to change it away from its violent purpose. The more I considered it, the more jarring - and appropriate - the image became.

To become peacemakers - makers of peace - ourselves, will we not strain against the rigid strength of so many obstacles? Including, perhaps most strongly, our own human natures, which are loathe to bend from their ways of pride, greed and anger? Against the predominant culture that tells us "me first, second and third"? Against the dangerous political realities of the world we live in? 

I don't know about you, but I don't resemble sculpture guy by a long-shot. With what strength and with what power strokes am I to beat the constant machinery of war and violence and injustice and poverty into instruments of goodness and mercy and justice and peace?

And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth,
and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 

~ Luke 2:7

Our King of kings, our Prince of Peace, turns on its head our expectations of how strength and power and might should look. Born into a stable, ridden towards his death on the back of a pack animal, our King taught us to love our enemies, to be neighbors to those who are broken, to feed the hungry, to turn the other cheek.  This is where we find our strength to become makers of peace: in the One who was lowly.

Prayer
God, help us to see what--in ourselves, in our nation, in our world--allows swords to remain swords. And then give us the strength, and supply us with the energy, to transform those swords into the tools of your kingdom. Amen. 

Pursue Peace
As we consider the consequences of the US and NATO decision to deploy more troops to Afghanistan, it's important recognize the consensus among international political and military leaders that a military defeat of the insurgency in Afghanistan is not possible. So leaders are looking for new and creative approaches to peacebuilding and human security for the peoples of Afghanistan. The CRC's Committee for Contact with the Government (CCG) has been encouraging Canada to support reconciliation and local level governance as one path to peace in Afghanistan, and has many resources to help you learn more.  CCG has also contributed to a major ecumenical study on Canada's contributions to reconciliation and diplomacy in Afghanistan. CCG encourages us as citizens to steer policy makers to think less about western security and troop levels and more about the steps to help build trust, livelihoods, and well being for and with the peoples of Afghanistan.

Tracy Young is communications consultant for the Office of Social Justice.