It has been 30 years since this conversation.
She was the Mayor of the community in which we lived at the time and a member of the congregation where I served as pastor. Instead of the usual “Good morning.” or “Nice sermon.” as she paused for a moment as she shook my hand. She then looked me in the eye and said, “We all are peace lovers. Only a few are peacemakers.” I had just preached a sermon on the text from Matthew 5 which includes the verse, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.”
I have no idea what I said in the sermon that day.
If I could find it again and read it I would probably cringe.
While youth and energy have their place so do age and experience.
What I am sure of is this.
At that point in my life, she and Jesus knew something I did not yet know.
Loving peace is easy.
Making peace is hard.
Jesus calls us to do that which is hard because that is what is so desperately needed.
And, that is something I am doing my best to learn.
Juan says
September 13, 2015 at 10:58 amI have taken the non-violence vow. I invite oterhs to join me in a vow to not watch gun violence, not on television, nor at the movies, nor in video games.Watching gun violence de-sensitizes us to its destructiveness and exposes our children to images they should never see as a normal part of life.