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"Blessed are the Peacemakers"............
I've always quite fancied being known as a peacemaker..... It sounds like a lovely thing to be - so nice, so gentle, and frankly very, very holy! Recently though I've had to think hard about what it means to seek to bring peace into several situations that have been going on around me. If according to the dictionary a peacemaker is 'one who seeks to bring harmony and reconciliation between those who are estranged' - then what does that mean out here in the real world?
The Greek word for peace is 'eirene' which paints a gorgeous image - tranquility- like a boat sailing on a calm sea, or - harmony - a song where all the notes blend together. The Hebrew equivalent is 'shalom' which was often used as a greeting. Shalom conveys all the meaning of eirene, but adds to it the depth of not only the absence of evil, but the presence of all things good. To wish shalom on someone is to say "I wish for you not only the absence of things that may harm you - but the presence of everything that makes for your good".
Peace-faker?
It's easy to think that peacemaking is about making things look 'better' - but then how often are we tempted to paper over the cracks, cover the rot, make people feel better or simply ignore the situation & hope it will go away? But surely that's 'peace-faking' - rather than being prepared to grapple with the real issues we ignore them and hope things will 'sort themselves out'?
So peacemaking then? Isn't it about being prepared to get my hands dirty and risk being actively involved, seeking to be real, rather than opting for 'peace at any price'? Scary stuff - and beginning to sound less attractive by the second!
True peacemaking doesn't duck the issues behind estrangement, but seeks to lovingly build bridges to reconciliation between people and each other, and people and God.
Risky though - as more often than not the words that need to be spoken will be less than welcome.......
Like most of us, I have no desire to get involved with needless conflict - but there are times that when standing up for what I truly believe to be the best for someone may stir things up. Sometimes the only way to lasting peace will involve addressing issues which will be painful to work through - and sometimes we are the ones who need to change. Jesus taught that at times, faithful discipleship will place a 'sword' between loved ones (Matthew 10:34).............
Sounds more scary than lovely now.................
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I've just finished reading "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst". ........
Crowhurst attempted to sail around the world solo in the 1968 Golden Globe race. He had a rough time even before the race started: he encountered all kinds of set-backs - quite apart from the fact that he had no money to build a boat, and wasn't very experienced at sea! However he found people to support him by his sheer personality and enthusiasm "The thing about Donald was that he thought himself God. Everything in his life revolved around his belief in himself, and he was so quick and so clever, he could make others believe in him too. He thought he was wonderful - and he was a smashing bloke - a genius. But he wasn't God, and that's why his troubles were his own fault" Peter Beard.
Crowhurst encountered serious problems from the start, but rather than putting in at the nearest port, he secretly abandoned the race - but continued to radio in his alleged progress to the race organisers, giving carefully calculated - but completely false, sets of co-ordinates. He reported false positions for weeks in an attempt to appear to have completed the circumnavigation without actually going around the world!
Donald Crowhurst died out there at sea, ending his life miles off course.
How frustrating..... It so did not have to be this way! Even after his first decision to report a false position in order to cover up the fact he was doing so badly - this didn't have to be the end of it. His first decision to hide where he was, led to more and more decisons that supported the untruth, until his whole life had become a deception - what a tragic waste.....
It reminds me so much of the prodigal in Luke 15. The decision to take the inheritance early to please himself, wanting it all now, the frittering away, the ending up eating pig food - and then the 'coming to his senses' and going home.
That's what Crowhurst never did. He never faced up to what was really going on. He never 'came to his senses' and changed his course. Even though there was the opportunity to do so - every minute of every day...............
I've just finished reading "The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst". ........
Crowhurst attempted to sail around the world solo in the 1968 Golden Globe race. He had a rough time even before the race started: he encountered all kinds of set-backs - quite apart from the fact that he had no money to build a boat, and wasn't very experienced at sea! However he found people to support him by his sheer personality and enthusiasm "The thing about Donald was that he thought himself God. Everything in his life revolved around his belief in himself, and he was so quick and so clever, he could make others believe in him too. He thought he was wonderful - and he was a smashing bloke - a genius. But he wasn't God, and that's why his troubles were his own fault" Peter Beard.
Crowhurst encountered serious problems from the start, but rather than putting in at the nearest port, he secretly abandoned the race - but continued to radio in his alleged progress to the race organisers, giving carefully calculated - but completely false, sets of co-ordinates. He reported false positions for weeks in an attempt to appear to have completed the circumnavigation without actually going around the world!
Donald Crowhurst died out there at sea, ending his life miles off course.
How frustrating..... It so did not have to be this way! Even after his first decision to report a false position in order to cover up the fact he was doing so badly - this didn't have to be the end of it. His first decision to hide where he was, led to more and more decisons that supported the untruth, until his whole life had become a deception - what a tragic waste.....
It reminds me so much of the prodigal in Luke 15. The decision to take the inheritance early to please himself, wanting it all now, the frittering away, the ending up eating pig food - and then the 'coming to his senses' and going home.
That's what Crowhurst never did. He never faced up to what was really going on. He never 'came to his senses' and changed his course. Even though there was the opportunity to do so - every minute of every day...............
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I've had one of those days today when you smile inside & out........
No particular reason, in fact it's been a very ordinary day - full of domestic normality - but on several occasions I've had that tummy clenching feeling of joy that reminds you 'it's good to be alive'!
Ignatius describes a feeling called 'consolation' as when "the soul is aroused by an interior movement that causes it to be inflamed with love of its creator and Lord, and consequently can love no created thing on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the creator of all things" so maybe that's what's it's all about...............
I've had one of those days today when you smile inside & out........
No particular reason, in fact it's been a very ordinary day - full of domestic normality - but on several occasions I've had that tummy clenching feeling of joy that reminds you 'it's good to be alive'!
Ignatius describes a feeling called 'consolation' as when "the soul is aroused by an interior movement that causes it to be inflamed with love of its creator and Lord, and consequently can love no created thing on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the creator of all things" so maybe that's what's it's all about...............
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"Life is here, all around you and inside you, a succession of astonishments" Leonard Sweet
A while ago before my life changed in so many ways I wrote.................
"I want to live a BIG life - a life that matters, and by its living reaches out to others with a glimpse of what a God-filled life can be. I want my life to be full of everything that God has for me - all the opportunities, challenges, questions and answers.
So why then when I am faced with Jesus' invitation to live 'life in all its fullness' do I constantly only see half the picture? Why do I expect that life in all its fullness means everything should be great - or at least in some way getting a bit 'better', and that if life isn't great, that I have in some way missed the 'fullness' bit?
I don't think I'm on my own here - I've seen loads of people fall into this trap and go searching for a way of escaping the hard times - escape by denial or blame, or ignoring, or moaning, or simply running away from situations that seem to be sending us into a difficult place. But actually I can't see that God ever promises that life will be easy.........
Surely a life of 'fullness' is just that - a complete life, a real life, a full life, a big life, and that type of life inevitably brings good times, hard times, answers and questions, completeness and emptiness and all kinds of other things besides.
It's in the empty, messy, perplexing times when God asks the really hard questions - do you trust me now, or do you only trust me when life is good and you have all the answers?"
2 years and many 'astonishments' later, some thrilling, others really tough - I still wouldn't have it any other way..............
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"Life is here, all around you and inside you, a succession of astonishments" Leonard Sweet
A while ago before my life changed in so many ways I wrote.................
"I want to live a BIG life - a life that matters, and by its living reaches out to others with a glimpse of what a God-filled life can be. I want my life to be full of everything that God has for me - all the opportunities, challenges, questions and answers.
So why then when I am faced with Jesus' invitation to live 'life in all its fullness' do I constantly only see half the picture? Why do I expect that life in all its fullness means everything should be great - or at least in some way getting a bit 'better', and that if life isn't great, that I have in some way missed the 'fullness' bit?
I don't think I'm on my own here - I've seen loads of people fall into this trap and go searching for a way of escaping the hard times - escape by denial or blame, or ignoring, or moaning, or simply running away from situations that seem to be sending us into a difficult place. But actually I can't see that God ever promises that life will be easy.........
Surely a life of 'fullness' is just that - a complete life, a real life, a full life, a big life, and that type of life inevitably brings good times, hard times, answers and questions, completeness and emptiness and all kinds of other things besides.
It's in the empty, messy, perplexing times when God asks the really hard questions - do you trust me now, or do you only trust me when life is good and you have all the answers?"
2 years and many 'astonishments' later, some thrilling, others really tough - I still wouldn't have it any other way..............
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I love reading other people's blogs and have eventually got around to this.............
A place to muse, think, share and question with anyone who cares to read and respond.....
Not usually my final thought, and sometimes deliberately cheeky - I invite comment and dialogue........
I think out-loud in life - so it will also happen here...........
You are invited........
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A place to muse, think, share and question with anyone who cares to read and respond.....
Not usually my final thought, and sometimes deliberately cheeky - I invite comment and dialogue........
I think out-loud in life - so it will also happen here...........
You are invited........
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