Let it Begin with Me

III.    Vows of Nonviolent Witness

“We pledge to act in allegiance to God alone, and to resist injustice with goodness”

Penn State Special Collections via Flickr

14. I will seek to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the world around me.

Many reasons are given for specific occurrences of violence and war. Some sound more honorable than others: We needed to strike back in self-defense, compassion obligated us to stand with an oppressed group or friend or ally. Some are more critical: He was jealous and drunk, those two had a sour history already, they were after desperate for more resources or money, they wanted to prove their power and be taken seriously. Some of these may be true at times, but every act of violence and war whether at home, in the neighborhood or overseas arises from a cocktail of causes.

Christian peacemakers are called not just to protest and react to the violence that erupts, but to proactively dig at the root motives and causes embedded in a nation’s political, social and economic systems, in a community’s historical patterns and current goals, in a family’s loyalties and divisions, in one’s own places of hurt and desire. This last one must go with the broader ones. To be people of God’s peace, we must become aware of the motives, anxieties, fears, wounds and desires within our own ensouled body. So today, we begin within us and let it prepare us to move outward. “I will seek to abolish war and the causes of war from my own heart and from the world around me.”

For Reflection and Action:

(1) Read Luke 6:43-45 and Matthew 15:8-20.

• Think of the activities you have to do (or have done) today. What are the deep desires that drive some of these? What fears or anxieties are present? List out as many as you can think of.
• Which of these desires or anxieties hamper or disrupt good relationships with yourself, other humans around you or far away, or the Creation itself? Which ones increase the difficulty of following Jesus wholeheartedly?

(2) Confess to God and to a close confidant one or two of these “warring causes” within you. Be conscious of their presence and influence in your life today. Ask God for healing of your fears and right-ordering of your desires.

Prayer Focus

"Let There Be Peace on Earth"

by Jill Jackson Miller & Sy Miller (1955)

Let there be peace on Earth,
And let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on Earth,
The peace that was meant to be.

With God as our Parent,
Siblings all are we,
Let me walk with them,
In perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me,
Let this be the moment now,
With every step I take,
Let this be my solemn vow,

To take each moment and live each moment
In peace, eternally.
Let there be peace on Earth,
And let it begin with me.