Jacqueline Block, MCC Service Worker in Chiapas Mexico, continues her reflections on a compilation of Henri Nouwen’s writings entitled: The Road to Peace.
Are we for peace? Are we at peace? These are good questions. Henri Nouwen begins a work entitled A Spirituality of Peacemaking by quoting a psalmist: “Long enough I have been dwelling with those who hate peace. I am for peace, but when I speak, they are for fighting” (Psalm 120:6-7).
As an MCC volunteer serving in Mexico, I admit that I am still growing in my sense of what it means to be someone who advocates for peace. What I am increasingly confident in is that we are all called to be peacemakers. As Nouwen says, “Nobody can be a Christian without being a peacemaker…what we are called to is a life of peacemaking in which all that we do, say, think, or dream is part of our concern to bring peace to this world” (6-7). This is not a call to join any particular organization or project but to live a life of peace in thought, word and deed.
So how is this done, how does one life a live of peace? For me, one thing seems obvious, real and lasting peace does not come to us externally and/or through self-effort. Yes, some of us at times have the option to try and control our environment as a means to avoid all struggle, hardship and disorder, but we are often brought back to the realization that such an effort is impossible. In fact, for me, perhaps some of my most non-peaceful days come when I falsely expect that my efforts to control my environment can be accomplished.
So, if we cannot make peace for ourselves, where might it come from? Jesus spoke clearly to this question in stating: “Peace I leave to you, my own peace I give to you; a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you” John 14:27. This is also the biblical quote that Nouwen uses to support his conclusions that “peace is a divine gift, a gift we receive in prayer” (9).
If the key to peace is receiving it in prayer, how are we to pray? To Nouwen, prayer is “living in the presence of God” – a daily and intentional act that is so needed since it is often our experiences in this world that take away our peace and replace it with fear, anxiety, frustration or hatred. Even for those who are advocating for peace, Nouwen stresses the need to acknowledge the profound nature of how our own needs and wounds affect not only our own inner peace but also our efforts at peacemaking.
From personal experience, I must agree with Nouwen’s conclusions that it is good to confess that “much of our behaviour – even our so-called good behaviour – is an anxious, though perhaps unconscious, attempt to advance our own cause, to make ourselves known, and to convince our worlds that we need to be reckoned with” (11).
Yet, this assessment does not leave us hopeless in our desire to be for peace, but instead gives us a place to start. For, as Nouwen says, “the invitation of a life of prayer is the invitation to live in the midst of this world without being caught in the net of its wounds and needs…” (14).
I conclude with a more personal summary and reflection:
This world is not a safe place; we cannot allow our hearts to dwell in it but instead need to spiritually abide in the house of our Father so that we can get beyond our own wounds and needs and into a place of true peace, regardless of our present experiences. Furthermore, when our attempts at peacemaking come more from our own good desires but lack the wisdom and truth of a Spirit-led work our results may be beneficial at best but will clearly lack the lasting power of the Peace of Prince.
So I reflect again – Am I for peace? Am I at peace? Yes…I desire to be, and my hope is that while I continue on my journey in receiving peace from above that God will also empower my efforts and desires towards being an advocate for peace in this world.
References
Nouwen, Henri. The Road to Peace. Ed. John Dear.Maryknoll,NY: Orbis Books, 1998.
Paintings by Beatriz Aurora, of Chiapas, Mexico http://www.beatrizaurora.net/