Thoughts on Peace and Unity
If I can
understand something of myself and something of others, I
can begin to
share with them the work of building the foundations for spiritual
unity. But first we must work together at dissipating the more absurd
fictions
which make unity impossible.
—Thomas
Merton
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander
Now more than ever, the world needs the contribution of those who are gifted in healing the rifts between us. This is a work that carries risk, for it requires both humility and vulnerability. To be a reconciler is to put away ego and pride, and to focus on our common humanity as children of God. This doesn’t mean that there will never be times when we have to make a stand....What it does mean, however, is that we have chosen not to sever our ties or to write the other off; we may have agreed to disagree on an issue, but the relationship remains intact. In following this path, we are taking a step into the Kingdom of God, acknowledging that the one who made us loves and treasures us all.
—Susan Hanson
O God, deliver me from the burden of having to be “right,” and help me to become a reconciler, a healing presence in the world.
…This is God's world, a world so important that God does
whatever it takes to show us his commitment and unconditional love. Each one of
us—you and I—are challenged to resist false separations, barriers, walls that
threaten to divide and isolate ideas, peoples, principles, and reality.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
—Proverbs 10:12
As long as we are right, no spring will come. We must let doubts
about our rightness thaw our coldness so that God can turn over the
hard,
trampled ground of our hearts. This is the choice: fear or love;
revenge or
newness; the cycle of violence or the circle of reunion.
–Porter Taylor
From Anger to Zion: An Alphabet of
Faith
… Mindfulness has the power, has the capacity of
helping us to recognize what is there in the present moment. When anger is
there, we recognize the fact that anger is there. When fear is there, we
recognize the fact that fear is there. And the practice is not to fight, to
suppress, but to recognize and to embrace…
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Mindfulness of Ourselves,
Mindfulness of Others
The dread of being open to the ideas of others
generally comes
from our hidden insecurity about our own convictions.
We fear that we may be
“converted”- or perverted- by a pernicious
doctrine. On the other hand, if we
are mature and objective in our
open-mindedness, we may find that viewing things
from a basically
different perspective—that of our adversary—we discover our own
truth
in a new light and are able to understand our own ideal more
realistically.
—Thomas
Merton
from “Blessed Are the Meek” in Thomas Merton
Essential
Writings
How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live
together in unity! It is like the precious oil on the head, running down upon
the beard, on the beard of Aaron, running down over the collar of his robes. It
is like the dew of Hermon, which falls on the mountains of Zion. For there the
Lord ordained his blessing, life forevermore.
—Psalm 133
We need to have the presumptuous faith… to ask Jesus
to come, to come to this nation and to this world, and to heal us of the many
ills that impoverish us, divide us and keep us from the vitality and leadership
that we are capable of having. Then we need to be willing to stay when Jesus
asks us to, to stay and to become an active and committed part of the healing
process we are longing for.…
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; He adorns the humble
with victory.
—Psalm 149:4
The power of love builds communities that can
exert great force in a society. It takes great strength to build community. To
enable community means to set aside one's own agenda and allow the needs and
concerns of the entire community to set the agenda. To nurture community means
to accept blame without becoming so defensive that one's reaction becomes
destructive. You know one problem with community—there's always someone who just
irritates the fool out of us. Nurturing community means learning to tolerate and
ultimately to appreciate that irritating person. To nurture community means to
give lots of praise to others, to share tasks with others when you could really
do better, and to express thanks to others for their contributions.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthians,
he said that “love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things,
endures all things.” That word “endure” can mean “to last,” but it can also mean
“to put up with a lot.” Love lasts precisely because it puts up with a lot.
Forbearance goes deeper than civility or niceness, both of which have to do with
a thin crust of appearances. Relationships that are “nice” or “civil” can remain
shallow. But forbearance risks going deeper.
—The Rev. Dr.
Stephen Montgomery
He who excels as a soldier is the one who is not
warlike; he who fights the best fight is not wrathful; he who best conquers an
enemy is not quarrelsome; he who best employs people is obedient himself. This
is the virtue of not-quarreling, this is the secret of bringing out other men’s
ability, this is complying with heaven.
—Lao Tzu, in Prayers for Peace
Sixth
Century, B.C.
Each party needs the opportunity to voice fears, hurts and
concerns. We clear the weeds of our hearts by naming, admitting and talking
about them. So often our wars are based upon misinformation, misconceptions and
misunderstanding. The experience of being heard and understood is the furrow
into which the seeds of love can later be sown.
—Albert Haase,O.F.M
from Reflections on the Peace Prayer
of Saint Francis of Assisi
—Thich Nhat Hanh
Walking with Peace and Presence
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself
through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. . .
—2 Corinthians 5:18