Creating Peace
John 14:23-27    Micah 4:2-4
May 24, 2009    Memorial Day Weekend

    Each year since 1948 the president of the United States has proclaimed Memorial Day a "Day of Prayer for Permanent Peace."
Interesting, hmm?  I am not sure I have ever heard this proclamation made, and maybe you haven’t either.  But today I thought it would be good for us to take a look at what it might take to actually bring this proclamation into being.  What would it take to bring peace to our world and to our lives?  The Chinese philosopher Lao-Tzu wrote that peace in a society begins within the individual person.  If there is peace within a person, there will be peace in the home.  If there is peace in the home, then there will be peace in the community.  If there is peace in the community, then there will be peace in the nation.  If there is peace in the nation, then there will be peace in the world.  I think Lao-Tzu was on to something.  Peace really does start in each of our lives and hearts.  Think about it.  If someone is content with their life and happy in themselves, then they are easy to get along with and enjoyable to be with.  A person who is at peace in him or herself spreads harmony wherever they go because they are not interested in arguing with anyone nor in holding someone responsible for feeling bad in any way.  The opposite situation, that of creating disharmony because we ourselves are feeling bad, is one we have all encountered and maybe even been the originator of at times.  When we do not have peace at the core of our being, then we cannot find peace anywhere else in the world.  We are discontent with everyone and everything, often not even realizing that the problem really lies within us, not out there in everyone else.
    Peace in the larger sense grows out of a personal sense of peace; and yet it can be extremely difficult to create peace when the world feels unsettled and uncertain.  It takes a certain amount of courage to respond with compassion to whatever comes our way, perhaps even more courage than it might take to react with a show of force.  We all remember the schoolyard bullies who were actually filled with fear at the heart of it all.  When we were young we may not have been able to see it, but as adults, we can often see the truth in a situation.
Often we are able see the fear that lies at the heart of a conflict, and if we can name the fear, then we stand a chance of diffusing the situation.  It is amazing, actually, to watch a conflict disappear before your eyes when you just home in on what the heart of the issue really is.  Non-violent Communication teaches people to look underneath what is being said, and figure out what the emotions are that are driving the words.  Don’t stay on the surface, but dive down deep into the heart of the issue in order to figure out what is really going on.
    I sometimes wonder what it might take to diffuse the fear that is prevalent in our world today.  What would it take to diffuse the fear at the heart of the financial crisis?  What would it take to bring a lasting and just peace to Afghanistan, Israel, North Korea or Iraq?
What would it take to create a culture of peace in the midst of racial and class tensions in the United States’ cities and towns?  What are the fears that lie at the heart of these conflicts, and can they possibly be allayed?  How do we get ourselves back to a place of peace when conflict is already the order of the day?
    I was intrigued to discover that Memorial Day actually began in Georgia at the time of the Civil War.  Women there were the ones left to bury the dead.  They decided that they would honor the enemy dead just the same as their own soldiers who had died. They buried them together and planted flowers on their graves – honoring friend and foe alike.  Wow!  What a powerful message this must have sent to the people on both sides of the battles.  These women were faced with an unbearable situation in which friends and neighbors and often family members were fighting against one another.  They tried to figure out what they could do to make a difference, to maybe bring an end to the violence.  And what they did sent a message loud and clear that the people killed on both sides of the battle lines were cherished, valued, and beloved.  There was no dividing line when it came to the heart of a mother or sister or wife.
    We sometimes lose sight of the fact that we are all human beings, all people with families who love us and wish us happiness.  When we are preparing for a war, one of the first things that happens is that we are encouraged to see the people on the “other side” as machine-like cold, calculating enemies rather than as human beings.  This happens in large ways and in small.  It happens in war zones and in living rooms.  It happens across the borders of countries and between the residents of different parts of the same city.  Many things conspire to ensure that we do not see our enemies as people just like us.  It is inconvenient to look into someone’s eyes when we are attempting to build up a head of steam against them.  I remember one particular teacher who would put two fighting kids in the same small group where they had to work together on a class project.  The two would start out angry at one another, but eventually form an unlikely friendship as they were forced to cooperate with and depend on one another for the success of the project and their individual success as well.  If we are to build a culture in which peace can become a dominant value, then we need to ensure that we never lose sight of the reality that each and every person is a valuable and beloved part of the whole.
    It is far easier to start with peace and build on it rather than begin with conflict and have to find our way back to peace.  I wonder if this Memorial Day we might commit ourselves to building a culture of peace so that conflict simply has no place to take root?  The Buddhists have a practice called “Metta” or “Loving-kindness Meditation” which might be helpful in reaching this goal.  It is a meditative technique or prayer which many Buddhists use every day.
The idea is to start with yourself, start by praying for yourself using these words: May I be filled with loving-kindess.  May I be well.  May I be peaceful and at ease.  May I be happy.  Teachers of this technique suggest that we practice it just like this for awhile, until it becomes familiar and comfortable to us.  After a few weeks, they say to start offering this prayer for others, for friends and family.  Hold someone in your mind and heart and pray the prayer for
them: May she be filled with loving-kindess.  May she be well.  May she be peaceful and at ease.  May she be happy.  After another while, when you have become familiar with this prayer and have surrounded the people you love with it, then it is time to offer it for the people you find it difficult to deal with - people you might even call your enemies.  Take them one at a time, after you have first taken some time to pray for yourself and are feeling calm and centered in loving-kindness, then offer the prayer for someone difficult: May he be filled with loving-kindess.  May he be well.  May he be peaceful and at ease.  May he be happy.
    One technique is probably not enough in and of itself, to create a culture of peace, but it is a start.  Thinking about how we might contribute to a peaceful way of being for ourselves and for all people is a way of honoring the One who created us - all of us, and of recognizing our sister and brotherhood with all of life.  So now, with the words that the apostle Paul was fond of using to close his letters;  Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.  Amen.