The Deacon’s (global) View:  
“Make me an instrument of your peace.”

It is Lent, and I find myself reflecting upon what it means to be an instrument of God’s peace.  The Greek word used in scripture for peace (eirene) can have a somewhat negative meaning:  a period of non-struggle in the midst of the normal human condition of conflict and unrest.  The Latin word (pax) also  refers to a temporary agreement not to fight. 
    To get to the kind of peace “that passes understanding”, the peace that Jesus talked about, we need to go back to the Hebrew word, (shalom), which means wholeness or unity.  When shalom is used in the Old Testament, most of the time it expresses the fulfillment that comes to human beings when they are in a right relationship with God.  The prophets added an even deeper dimension to this understanding of peace.  They proclaimed that God not only brought peace and harmony to individuals, but that God also intended to bring peace to the nations.  But this peace would be possible only with God’s presence.
    I hear all this to mean that God is calling us (individually and collectively) to be those who work not for pauses in conflict, but rather to be workers who expose by our words and our lives the reality and availability of God’s lasting peace, the sort of peace that no treaty can ever fully accomplish.
    Real peacemakers probably won’t show up on the front page of the New York Times or be interviewed on CNN.  The instruments of God’s peace are much more apt to be unseen, holding the hand of the lonely, the sick, to be praying for the peace of the world, to be forgiving of the injustices done to themselves.  In each of our days there are countless opportunities to  quietly become the peace instruments of God.  Let us intentionally embrace this call.
(The following prayer was written in Dag Hammarskjold’s personal journal.  It seems to be a wonderful prayer for would-be peace-makers.)

“Thou who art —also within us.
May all see Thee—in me also,
May I prepare the way for Thee,
May I thank Thee for all that shall fall to my lot,
May I also not forget the needs of others.
Keep me in Thy love
As Thou wouldst that all should be kept in mine.
May everything in my being be directed to Thy glory
And may I never despair
For I am under Thy hand,
And in Thee is all power and goodness.
Give me a pure heart—that I may see Thee,
A humble heart—that I may hear Thee,
A heart of love—that I may serve Thee,
A heart of faith—that I may abide in Thee.”
       
Shalom, your Deacon, Gay