Blessed are the Peacemakers

  
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  

Matthew 5:9

Extending my hands and blessing the peacemakers today, those who sow peace in ravaged places, dark places, where the violence and the discord run deep, color the earth red.

They are there, in the tumult, where disorder rules, our egos stark and infernal; mine touches yours and it glitters and sparks and this may start a fire, a maelstrom to blot out the dawn. Their hands are in the fray, in the fissures where kindness slips and falls headlong, where pride is easy and love is hard.

To sow peace is to sow righteousness. To love peace is to love holiness. And I kneel low in this tabernacle heart of mine, this jar of clay reliquary of the holy, and I pray for peace in the world, for the wars that tear apart nations, for the blood spilled in the name of ego, of territory. It's lofty of me, isn't it?

But the root of bitterness is small, and it fans outward, climbs high like ivy, clings and adheres. We must shear it, begin at the beginning, with ourselves, myself.

I am doing the work of peace today, this week, hopefully for all of my life. I am severing the bitter roots, and it's hard work, it's humbling work, and most days I don't feel up to the task. But I long for peace on this earth, in my own relationships. And to you peacemakers who aren't afraid of the dark—your own or that of this whole, wide world—can I just bless you, child of God? Because what you do matters. The work of reconciling, uniting, crossing divides, holding out your hands to disparate peoples, warring families, working even on the breaches in your own life.

And it really does begin here, with my own ravaged, dark places, where my violence and the discord run deep, color my very own earth red, this soil of the soul. And He himself is our peace, my peace, he tears down the dividing walls, triumphs over contention, frees us up to extend mercy. I want the world to know, I want it to ring loud, a truth to free the oppressed because the oppressor himself is set free.

And so I will be a peacemaker. I am a peacemaker. And I begin today.