Archdeacon of Worcester, Mark Badger has written an article on peace for the August editions of parish magazines:
I remember as a child seein
g a man interviewed in the rubble of Beirut - he had just been bombed out of his home. He was holding his small boy in his arms. He said: 'Now I shall fight to the death, and I shall teach my child to do the same'.
As my life has changed - as I have held my own children in my arms and I have feared, and fear, for their future in a hostile world, I become more and more struck by the contrast between the tenderness with which that man held his son and the venom in his words. Another brand had been burned into another family, scarred for perhaps three or four generations. I look back and I wonder where that boy is today - I wonder if he is one of the many masked gunmen who sow terror and harvest tears in a world that speaks of peace but seems to know only hate and vengeance. Perhaps he one of those fighting on the streets of Gaza or perhaps he is once again hiding in a Beirut basement fearful for the lives of his own children and grandchildren!
Peace costs more than words, more than an outward show and political brinkmanship. For peace to reign – there must be a change of heart! In the book of Acts Peter told Cornelius that God would give peace to those of any nation who would confess to him and show by their actions their sincere desire for goodwill to others.
As Christians we must remember those words, also sang by the Angels at Jesus’ birth. In the face of all the terrors of his day, Jesus himself dared to hold, in life and in death that YAHWEH ALLLAH, THE GREAT UNKNOWABLE I AM - THE CREATOR OF US ALL is the God of LOVE and of PEACE and that those who follow will know and proclaim peace – TRUE PEACE
We must also remember that God is not dependent on the battalions, armies, or even super powers to do his work. God has a way of working, through individuals, through minority groups, through the weak and powerless, through undistinguished people, even through men and women who are unconscious of being agents of his power.
This means that you and me, far though we may be from what most people conceive of as corridors of power, can be a centre of serenity in a world that seems to have gone mad. If the room where you live becomes a place of prayer, it may be more potent for good than the council chambers of the nations.
