Peace seems very fragile this week. I have been actively, thoughtfully praying for peace in our Nation. This presidential election has been full of the worst behavior from “adults” that I have ever seen. When did it become OK to make xenophobic, misogynist, homophobic, racist, sexist, and ableist remarks? My parents would never have allowed me to talk about someone that way, and I suspect yours wouldn’t have either.

Yet in the middle of the chaos, the angry tirades, the fear-mongering, and the inflammatory rhetoric, I have found Peace. Peace from the Holy Spirit reminding me that even in the deep divisions in our country, there are people speaking up to challenge the status quo. There are people who are willing to move past party lines to think of our democracy first. The call to peace demands that we find the traits we have in common vs. focusing on our differences.

I was reminded of a quote by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.¹
This is a quote that comes from a violent period of white supremacy in our nation’s history. The lynchings and attacks on those advocating for integration were muted in my history books (at least in the South). We have barely crawled out of this era when a Presidential candidate’s behavior normalized boorish behavior. People of color remain targets of discrimination. The billionaires who have poured money into this election only have the rich and powerful in mind. They are not demonstrating compassion for the disenfranchised, for those on the margins. It is sobering. It makes me pause…

My prayer today is that we tap into the Holy Spirit’s gift of Peace… and continue to demonstrate that in our actions and our words. We become peacemakers as we actively seek to bring about justice for every person, to demonstrate peace between all factions. A Marcus Borg quote (whose source I have long forgotten) says: God’s dream for us is not simply peace of mind, but peace on earth.

As the folk song says: Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
May it be so.

Blessed be.

1. (from A Martin Luther King Treasury, chapter 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest”, p. 30. Published Educational Heritage, Yonkers, NY. (c) 1964.) ↩︎