Be At Peace

‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched. ‘For everyone will be salted with fire. Salt is good; but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it? Have salt in yourselves and be at peace with one another.’ Mark 9:42-50

We all want peace, I believe, but we want our competitive, walled off lifestyles as well. Peace means living with other people in mind, protecting the safety of the vulnerable, making room at the table for the hungry, and seeing to the needs of the unhoused. We can be stumbling blocks so easily when we fail to make the care of others our priority. Peace comes when we sit together and listen, not when we bomb communities and leave them with nothing. We are called to be salt, living for others, and be at peace with one another through compassion, care and listening.

Loving Creator, you are the source of peace

despite the chaos we create and truly enjoy

your heart is one of compassion and caring

calling us to be those who shelter the weary.

We like our creature comforts and our fences

we love to criticize people who are different

we round up the aliens and the refugees

and call them criminals and undeserving.

Give us your peace anew today, dear Lord

and give us hands to share and eyes to see

the needs around us and strangers as family

so we can carry your peace into our world. Amen.