Interrupted peace

I was in a discussion that included trauma in the classroom when I heard the news about the shooting in Cleveland. Once again the peace of our children and our neighbors' children has been interrupted by the banging and popping of anger and violence. What does one say to the families, friends, and fellow students of those who have been wounded? And what does one say to the family, friends, and fellow students of the who was the shooter who is now dead? Do we live with indifference because it was not as traumatic and deadly as other shootings? Do we dare be cautious and hesitant about being peacemakers out of the fear that being peacemakers may make us unwitting targets? "Seek peace and pursue it!"

The Well of Peace

Years ago, my spiritual director challenged me with the thought, "Do you drink from the well in order to go and be with people, or do your interactions with people, with life, force you to go and drink from the well?" I think that's a good question as we think about and seek peace, "Do we drink from the well of peace in order to go and engage people in life's conflicts, or do the conflicts we experience in life cause us to go and seek to draw from the well of peace?" In a time of draught, will the well you draw from ever run dry?

Broken Peace Is Costly

I heard it hit. When I arrived home, I saw the damage; a rock or something broke the tail light on my car which was fresh out of the shop. The first thing we did was to put clear packing tape over the hole like a band aid (I was going to say my wife did it, but to preserve the piece at home, I will take the "credit"). Then, I called the car dealer and arranged to take the car in for repairs. The car dealer called me back and said that it would cost $253 to repair. "$253.00? Really? That much to repair the broken piece? It's just a little tail light." The voice on the other end of the phone told me that the cost was not only to repair the broken piece, but also for the labor to repair the broken piece by putting the new piece in. Believe it or not, they had to take the bumper off the car to repair the broken piece. Now that I look back at it, I have to admit that I think I reacted more to that broken piece of tail light than I do to broken peace around me, to the broken piece in our world. Just how far will I, will we, go for peace? Check out BREAD. org., ONE.org, and sojo.org. 2007 PEACE School is August 6-10 from 9 am-12 noon. Who knows, perhaps we may plan an evening for adults.

Triggers to Peace

Four way stops can bring out the best in us, or perhaps I should say the worst in us. You know what I mean. My family and I were going out to dinner the other night when we came to one of those threatening intersections. I thought for sure that I had stopped and waited my turn. But then as luck would have it, so did the other person. They started to do a quick turn in front of me, I guess to cut me off and to let me know I had not waited my turn. The driver gave me a mean look, and I looked back. I doubt if I had a smile on my face either. The other driver looked so angry and seemed quick to shake her fist at me as if I, in her mind, had just committed a capital offense. The driver behind her yelled at me too! I thought for sure that I had...well, maybe I had not. Maybe they were not watching and thought I came out of nowhere, without stopping of course. Maybe I didn't; I thought I did. Whatever the case, nobody crashed, nobody was hurt. And yet their anger was triggered to the point of shaking their fists at me like they were ready for a fight. I must admit, they must have triggered something in me too because I continued to talk with my son and wife about it for the next several minutes like these people deserved to be on a "Most Wanted" poster in the Post Office. They both assured me that I was in the right (but then that's what someone else wisely says when they want the other person to pay for dinner).

I wonder, what is it within us, within me, that triggers such anger to the point that we throw down the gauntlet as if we are ready for a fight because of the infringement or mistake of the other person? (Most of us hope that the other person will not accept our challenge to a fight, neither do we wait around to find out if they accepted the challenge). What do these triggers really get us except for some accelerated emotion and some indigestion (and family who wished we would get overe it faster than what we do)?

There was an interesting moment in a show I saw the other night. An assassin had just been caught after killing his target. Seeing himself surrounded he slowly lifts his gun up while FBI agents are yelling, "Don't do it!" And he lifts his gun further and points it at his head and again the agents yell, "Don't do it!" Who was going to shoot first? (What were they going to do, shoot him before he shot himself?)

I wonder what triggers us toward peace with the same passion and energy that we are triggered toward violence? Am I, are you, inclined to pull one trigger more than the other? What really will trigger us toward peace?"

The Hard Walk of Peace

My wife and I recently travelled to San Francisco. She was there for business. I met her there for vacation, or holiday as some call it. The first day we were together we decided to walk from our hotel to Fisherman's Wharf, less than a two mile walk. "Come on," I encouraged her. "We're used to walking; we can make it up and down a few of these San Franciscan hills!" We did make the walk and enjoyed the day. The next day we were sore from all the hard work of walking. We bought a three-day pass and rode the trolley (never pull the rope in a trolley) and bus from then on.

As I was musing about our sore muscles from the hard walking, I reflected on how peace is also a hard walk. Wouldn't it be nice if we could always choose who we are going to walk with and who we will lean on as we are inclined toward peace? We tend to think everyone else in our world is stranger than we are, but the fact is we are all strange. Just ride a city bus whether in San Francisco, or Chicago and you will soon see and smell and hear just how different we are. Peace is not easy. It's a hard walk, but I know you and I can make it, if we are so inclined.

Inclined to Peace

(I actually wrote this reflection the day after the tragic massacre at Virginia Tech).



Three different faith traditions speak deep into o ur hearts today.



"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.." -John 14:27



"Seek peace and pursue it." -Psalm 34:14



"But if they incline to peace, you also incline to it and (put your) trust in Allah. Verily, He is the All-Hearer, the All-Knower." -Surat-al-Anfal (8), ayah 61.



"If they incline to peace...." Three different faith traditions, and yet three unifying traditions of hope and peace. My heart is troubled by the massacre at Virginia Tech, a terrible, horrifying tragedy. I would like to think that even as my heart does reach out to the family and friends of those who died, those who were injured, those who were traumatized, even the entire Virginia Tech community, I am not afraid. But I am; I have two sons in college. They were far away from the actual tragedy. Still, I am troubled by the event. I watched the news today while eating lunch at a Wendy's near the Ohio State University campus. As I looked around, I noticed some were watching, though most were not. I wondered if they were thinking,"We are here, not there; this is us and that is not. It is them." I must confess, I know that I am afraid deep inside, down deep where I can hide from you and you can hide from me, but where neither one of us can hide from fear. I will admit that I am afraid that it could happen again. I shudder at the thought that it may be one of my children, or yours, or my spouse, or friend, or perhaps even me. I hope such a tragedy never happens here, not where I am, not to those I love, nor to those loved by others. I also hope that I never receive the news that my child-was a shooter. And yet, the spouses and parents-parents of the faculty and students, and parents of the shooter, did receive such tragic news. My heart is troubled at this slaughter of innocent lives. What answer can anyone give other than the words cherished by at least the three faith traditions reflected above. And yet, my lingering...dare I admit fear... is that just as it happened at Virginia Tech, and Columbine, and Austin, and Nickel Mines, and Red Lake...it could happen again even closer to home-my home. Your home. What are we to do? Without trying to be preachy, the hope imbedded in the three faith traditions is this: we do not receive the peace the world has to offer. Rather we are called to be inclined to peace found in faith and together, in collabortive efforts, seek it with every ounce of our being.