December 4, 2009

Longing for Peace
by Karl Westerhof

“Those of steadfast mind you keep in peace—in peace because they trust in you.”
~ Isaiah 26:3

When I was 14 years old, I wrote a poem – my first ever. It won a prize! It was about my longing for peace. World peace you ask? Nope, inner peace.

Why in the world would a 14-year old write about his longing for peace? At the time, I probably would have told you I needed a topic that had some heft for my literary debut. But, looking back, I think there was a little bit more to it. Somehow at age 14 there was a longing in me that was unsatisfied, a longing for a mind and heart at peace. I now think that longing had more than a little bit to do with God and his work in me.

Kids can crave peace – maybe longing for a quiet and safe place to study or play. There's a part of me that still longs to sit on God's lap like a contented child and bask and dream. But these days, who has time? There are an awful lot of distractions in our lives – lots of noise, a steady stream of messages, tension, and stress. That litany we know by heart. Who has time to make poetry anymore?

How about making peace? The Bible says peacemakers are blessed. And I wonder how it could be more obvious: peace doesn't just happen, it has to be made. Jesus made it. It took some heavy work to break down walls. Jesus is our peace. He invites us into the work with him.  Blessed are the peace makers.

Why hasn't it occurred to me that I need to put forth some effort to make peace in my own life? Jesus did the heavy lifting, and now he enlists me. And how much thought have I put into making peace in the lives of my family and my colleagues? To make peace is to create safe space, to quiet the buzz, to be a knee-jerk reconciler in the split seconds of fear and anger that blindside us humans all the time.

Human traffickers are disturbing the peace of millions. So is an overload of electronic urgency. So is the bombardment of advertizing. So are my competitiveness and my defensiveness. The world is not a peaceful place, and life is not a peaceful activity. Things are not the way they're supposed to be. One of the many effects of sin is that we lost our peace. And we are waiting for peace to be restored.

But meanwhile… meanwhile Jesus is telling me I'm blessed when I’m a peace maker. He was at work in me when I was 14. And he still is. He stokes the longing for inner peace, for world peace, or spiritual and economic and social and physical peace that I felt at that young age and I still feel today. And he invites me to join his work crew. He set it all up so I could enjoy it, and help him make it, and look forward to it. I think those are three good habits to cultivate – enjoying peace, making peace, and looking forward to peace.

Prayer
God of peace, thank you for the longing you’ve placed in me for peace in my life and in the wider world. May I join your work to make peace; may I enjoy the peace that your son makes possible even now, and may I live a life that looks forward always to the day when your peace will be complete.  Amen.