Peace ~ Shalom ~ Salaam
Last week, while attending Chautauqua Institute in New York, I accepted a kind invitation to attend a daily gathering, made up of people of varied ages and faith backgrounds. Many of the individuals who attend this five minute focus time are barely acquainted or are meeting for the first time. In the center is a tall peace pole, around which we circle. A candle is lit recognizing the presence of the Spirit of the Creator and a reading or two are offered, be it a scripture passage, poem, hymn text, or quote. Folks in the circle all join hands and, as a prayer, sing Let There Be Peace on Earth. To be in a circle with people new to me, and connect by a shared desire for peace to come on earth as it is in heaven, is powerful. I found myself, each morning, imagining what the world might be like if we all sang this each morning before beginning our day. What if even those who have been around the peace pole at Chautauqua across the summer started doing this? Once you sing the words as a prayer, you can’t help but feel their weight as you go about living.
And the subject continues to work on me., as this week on an episode of the Soul Boom podcast, Rain Wilson was interviewing two men, one Israeli and one Palestinian. Each of them have lost family members in the fights between their people, and have discovered sincere compassion for one another because of their shared experience of grief from senseless tragedies. Rather than seeking revenge they want to wage peace in the world. Their dialogue reminded me that in each of the three Abrahamic religions, all beginning in the same part of the world, peace is central to God’s character and is God’s deep desire for his creation. These men invest their lives to sharing this message of hope and possibility, that peace can come between their lands and among all people., as it has happened between them. They truly believe it is possible.
The song we sang last week, challenges me to keep singing this song with intention and as a prayer. Maybe it will seep its way into my body and bones until it’s what I live and breathe everywhere I go. God is our peace.
Peace pole song text & prayer. May it be so.
