Grant us peace

5 May 2010

When you have young children filling your days it is easy to imagine the peace and quiet that would occur if only they would go to sleep, stay asleep or play quietly.

John Lennon’s 1969 Give peace a chance was a top tenner in my youth, an anthem for those who sought withdrawal of allied troops from Vietnam. Vietnam had, of course, invaded our homes via television. Our desire for peace was as much a thrust towards honesty and trust (in government) as much as it was in ending that unwinnable war.

Peace is a value that lies at the root our both our spiritual and fundamentally human well-being as well as the highest achievement in relations between nations. Moreover, peace it at the centre of right relationship with God himself.

This understanding comes down to us from the ancient scriptures of the Old/First Testament. This right relationship with God was dependent on right relationship within our communities and between communities. It has a strong sense of completeness and well-being. Church thinkers, like Thomas Aquinas (died 1274) firmly believed that peace brought a tranquility both within and between persons. Since the beginning of the 20th Century the Church’s social teaching has seen a growth in the understanding of the ethical dimensions of peace – for while peace is the fruit of right relationship, it is to be grounded in justice and directed by charity.

The search for peace is interminable – whether we are driven to travel the vast inner worlds of our minds or the outer extensions of the know universe, the human quest, the personal quest is to find peace.

Jesus declares to his disciples just prior to his ascension (in John 14:23 – 29): Peace I bequeath to you, my own peace I give to you; a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you. This is spoken to every single human being, to every family, community and nation. The peace that Jesus offers is that overwhelming sense of fulfillment, of enrichment, of being at-one with one another. But it comes at a cost, for even though it is always pure gift, it requires the establishment of a covenant, an agreement. It is what is completed between nations to ensure lasting peace, and for true peace to endure the signatories must remain faithful.

The covenants arranged between you and your God, between you and your spouse, between you and your workmates will probably only ever be known to you. Yet these right relationships will ensure that peace will grow, that our spiritual and physical well-being will be assured, and ultimately – our children will grow up in a world committed to non-violence, justice and equity.

As Lennon so aptly sang: All we are saying is give peace a chance. But let that peace be Christ’s.