Peace be with you

John 20:19-31

When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you." When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe."

A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you." Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe." Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!" Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe."

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.

The LORD shall give strength to his people

The LORD shall give strength to his people; *
the LORD shall give his people the blessing of peace.
~Psalm 29:11

Jewish Prayer for Peace - Hat tip to "Fiat Lux"

Jewish Prayer for Peace

Grant us peace, Your most precious gift, O Eternal Source of peace, and give us the will to proclaim its message to all the peoples of the earth. Bless our country, that it may always be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate among the nations. May contentment reign within its borders, health and happiness within its homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship among the inhabitants of all lands, and may the love of Your name hallow every home and every heart. Blessed is the Eternal God, the Source of peace. AMEN

Gates of Prayer (Jewish), p. 695


Hat tip to Jim Richardson at Fiat Lux

noncooperation with everything humilating

The first principle of nonviolent action is that of noncooperation with everything humiliating.

- César Chávez

hat tip to "God's Politics" blog

From Bishop Suheil S. Dawani, bishop of Jerusalem on the situation in Gaza

My prayers are with all the people affected by the conflict in Gaza, please offer your prayers, and, if you can, also your help!

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

From "Episcope" blog...

The Rt. Rev. Suheil S. Dawani, Anglican bishop in Jerusalem, issued the following statement on January 8, 2009 about the situation in Gaza and the Al Ahli Arab Hospital.

At a time when great tragedy is occurring in the Holy Land in Gaza, I want to share some insight into what we are experiencing on a moment to moment basis. Our Diocese has one of 11 hospitals serving a population of 1.5 million residents in the Gaza Strip. The Al Ahli Arab (Anglican) Hospital has been in operation for over 100 years and has a very dedicated medical staff of doctors, nurses, technicians and general services personnel.

During the best of times they are stretched to their maximum meeting the medical needs of this populous community. Now, during the current military conflict with its heavy toll on human life and material, the hospital faces even greater responsibilities and challenges. The result is growing strain on the hospital's resources. Every day since the beginning of military operations, the hospital has received 20-40 injured or wounded patients. A large proportion of them require hospitalization and surgery. These patients are in addition to those with non-conflict-related illnesses. About one-fourth of the patients are children.

In addition, the conflict has brought new type of medical and surgical conditions. For example, patients with burns and acute, crippling psychological trauma, are being seen more frequently. Because it is not possible for aid workers to enter Gaza at this time, the hospital's staff is working around the clock, struggling with the effects of exhaustion and against limited resources in a conflicted area of ongoing military operations.

Read the rest HERE, at "Episcope" blog...

Prayers for Peace - a Jewish Prayer for Peace

"Peace and Joy to you in 2009"

As many of us sent and received Christmas and Holiday cards that had words such as "Peace" and "Joy" and "Hope," I thought it would be a good time to explore some of these deep concepts. Beginning with "Peace," we might also begin by praying for peace.

My friend and colleague, Jim Richardson, who is the rector of St. Paul's Memorial Episcopal Church in Charlottesville recently had a Day of Peace, in which he and his congregation gathered on a Saturday to pray for peace, and they used prayers from a variety of sources. While I was unable to attend this day, I did "follow" it a bit online. Jim, and those who attended, offered a beautiful variety of prayers for peace. I know only too well that while we strive to work for peace with justice, we also are in deep need of God's grace as we pursue this lofty (and difficult!) goal of bringing peace to our lives "nearby" and "far away."

~ The Rev. Peter M. Carey

Jewish Prayer for Peace

Grant us peace, Your most precious gift, O Eternal Source of peace, and give us the will to proclaim its message to all the peoples of the earth. Bless our country, that it may always be a stronghold of peace, and its advocate among the nations. May contentment reign within its borders, health and happiness within its homes. Strengthen the bonds of friendship among the inhabitants of all lands, and may the love of Your name hallow every home and every heart. Blessed is the Eternal God, the Source of peace. AMEN

Gates of Prayer (Reformed Jewish), p. 695

And, do check out Jim's blog, "Fiat Lux" HERE.

"fighting for peace"?

Can we fight for peace? Or is this part of the problem...?

from Thomas Merton:

Perhaps peace is not, after all, something you work for, or fight for. It is indeed fighting for peace that starts all the wars. Peace is something you have or do not have. If you are yourself at peace, then there is at least some peace in the world. Then share your peace with everyone, and everyone will be at peace.

Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander

...and a few more...

Harlem Meer, Central Park

You don't often see a car with a US Marine Corps Sticker, a sticker indicating a medal won, a Peace Symbol, and a "Veterans for Obama" sticker...

Coffeeshops are gifts from God, as is the work of Archbishop Michael Ramsey

Recognize it?

What has the church had to say about the war in Iraq? - article at Episcopal Cafe

My most recent article was posted today over at the Episcopal Cafe. Let me know your thoughts.

"What has the church had to say about the war in Iraq?"

I was recently at a gathering of church leaders and the question arose, “what has the church had to say about the ongoing Iraq War?” While I realize that there may be churches that have taken on the issue of the war, for the most part, I believe we (and I include myself) have done a poor job to take on the issue of war in any kind of a helpful or constructive way. (If your church has engaged the question that is awesome; let me know what you’re doing!)

Of course, there are a variety of perspectives about war that emerge from the Christian tradition, and preachers and church leaders would do well to recognize that pacifists, veterans, active duty officers, as well as victims of war sit in our pews. But still, couldn’t we have the courage to examine the tradition of just war and the various forms of pacifism and do this in a way that could raise the tenor of discussion? Why haven’t our churches taken up the subject of the war in a more direct way? Are we fearful that any criticism of foreign policy will lead us to an I.R.S. audit (such as happened at All Saints Episcopal Church, Pasadena)? Or, are we worried that if we try to be prophetic someone might post it on Youtube and we would be labeled as “anti-American”?

Fear may be at the root of our reluctance, but there may also be deeper reasons for the church’s reluctance to take on war and violence. I believe that Western Christianity would receive a mixed verdict in terms of how it has addressed global issues of violence. All too often, the Church has become enmeshed in the power structures of society and has not offered alternatives to the dominant world-view.

Read it all HERE.

Hearts filled with Joy - Where do YOU find JOY?

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The school at which I teach has within its list of core values that we want students to take JOY in their learning. I love this statement and this sentiment, and I am so happy (shall I say Joyful?), that those who crafted these statements have included this statement. Joy is perhaps a somewhat underused word, perhaps even somewhat old fashioned, but the concept of JOY is a wonderful one. Where we find joy is really where the Holy Spirit is at work and thriving in our lives. In addition, the affirmation of JOY in our lives is an affirmation that God wants us to live abundant lives. John 10:10 is one of my favorite verses, "I am come so that you may have life and have it abundantly." God does not want us to live lives of slavish service, but rather joyful lives of caring for ourselves, caring for one another and finding JOY and LOVE and Peace in life.

I had my students write an assignment on where they find JOY, and these were some wonderful papers to read - there was a wide variety of ways that students find joy, in family gatherings, running in the rain, making food, having a cup of tea with a mentor, playing sports, writing, reading, teaching, learning, watching zombie movies...you name it, they mentioned it -- and I find joy in reading these wonderful papers.

Then I ran across this quote from Mother Teresa, a sort of a different take on the quote attributed to St. Francis ("preach the gospel at all times, when necessary, use words"), Mother Teresa is quoted as saying:

"One filled with joy preaches without preaching." -Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Where do YOU find JOY?

merton on nonviolence

I could quote Thomas Merton every day of the year, ... there is so much there for the picking, the following quote was on the "God's Politics" blog ... and I am very aware of how much we need to re-examine and lift up some theologies of nonviolence, of peacemaking, and reconciliation as it seems war is becoming more and more entrenched. We seem to be reaching a point of nearly perpetual war in the Middle East and elsewhere. Merely singing, "ain't goin' to study war no more" will not be enough, and church people need to grapple with the complexities of war in this 21st century. I commend Rowan Williams' book, "The Truce of God" which takes a thoughtful, full, deep and complex approach to war, peacemaking, and issues today. I will write on Williams' book in a later post, but until then, here is Thomas Merton's quote:

Very often people object that nonviolence seems to imply passive acceptance of injustice and evil and therefore that it is a kind of cooperation with evil. Not at all. The genuine concept of nonviolence implies not only active and effective resistance to evil but in fact a more effective resistance... But the resistance which is taught in the Gospel is aimed not at the evil-doer but at evil in its source.

- Thomas Merton
from Passion For Peace

Hope

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Hope in a time of War from Thich Nhat Hanh

"In April, we cannot see sunflowers in France, so we might say the sunflowers do not exist. But the local farmers have already planted thousands of seeds, and when they look at the bare hills, they may be able to see the sunflowers already. The sunflowers are there. They lack only the conditions of sun, heat, rain and July. Just because we cannot see them does not mean that they do not exist."

~~Thich Nhat Hanh, quoted on the Fellowship of Reconciliation, forusa.org website


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