On Choosing Peace

A comment to my yesterday’s blog makes me think about Peace Pilgrim today. I named this blog after this woman who traveled on foot across the United States in the 50’s. She carried with her a written message to the United Nations and one to the United States Congress. The experiences recorded in her little book, Peace Pilgrim, show how she maintained her peace posture throughout her travels even when her life was in danger. Her message was primarily about peace within. She was criticized for not speaking out more about peace action, but I think she had it right on…if one doesn’t have peace within, they we will not be able to maintain peace in a violent world.

She is one of my heroes along with Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King. There are many others that I have written about since I started this blog. Peace inspires me today.

I thought this morning of Jesus, too. He prayed his prayer of surrender to God’s will in the garden, did he not? When the soldiers came to arrest him, one of his disciples drew a sword and cut off the ear of one of the soldiers, remember? That could have been the moment for him to escape what was to come. But Jesus responded to the violent act…with a reprimand to the disciple who drew his sword, and healing for the man who was wounded. He made a choice in that moment that only one full of peace and love could make. For me this is a lesson…God always chooses non-violence.

Having said all this, if you asked me, “What, then, should be the response of the United States or of the other nations to what the Syrian regime is doing to his people?” I can only say, “I don’t know,” and like Jesus, continue to choose non-violence and love. I really, really don’t know.