My wife and I celebrated our 25th wedding
anniversary this past summer…in Paris! It was awesome! We only had about 7
days, but we were able to take in all the major sites.
It just so happened that we arrived to the festivities of
Bastille Day. What's more, France was making quite the run in the World Cup. And with the U.S.A. not even in the tournament, we were
pulling for “Le Bleus.” And they didn’t disappoint, bringing home the Copa du Monde!
Paris was electric for days after the French team was
crowned “Champions du Monde.” Parisians adorned themselves with French flags, strangers
hugged (and kissed), cars honked their horns in celebration. People lined the
Champs Elysees to get a glimpse of their futbol heroes. The nation was one
because the nation had won! Everyone was of one accord.
Eventually, lives returned to normal for the French. They
went back to work. They raised their children. They dreamed of what had been
and what can be. And they paid their taxes. Lots of taxes. Lots and lots of
taxes. And riots erupted. The nation was no longer in one accord.
I make no claims to fully grasp what’s happened in Paris between
late July and early December. Surely there are some complicating factors that
I, as an outsider looking in, just won’t get. But what I’m able to see is a
country that was recently at peace is now not at peace.
This past Sunday marked the second Sunday of the Christian
Advent season, the Sunday of “peace.” This gave me reason to reflect on Paris,
particularly, but on peace more broadly.
In the Middle East today people greet each other by
saying “peace.” Don’t think hippies in tie-dye holding up the “V” sign. They’re
saying shalom (Hebrew) or salaam (Arabic). In the Semitic
languages, “peace” doesn’t simply mean tranquility; it means complete, whole,
fully operational. When they greet each other, they are basically saying they
hope that your life is fully ordered. That you are healthy. Your relationships
are whole. Your business is thriving.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “Blessed are the
peacemakers” (Matt 5:9). He wasn’t just saying “Can’t we all get along?” Instead,
making peace is “an active involvement that confronts the problem and works through
to a satisfactory reconciliation.”[1]
I don’t have to look hard to find problems in the world, in
my government, in my employment status, in my family, or with myself. Being a
peacemaker isn’t avoiding the problems and pretending they don’t exist. Being a
peacemaker means being a healer—not necessarily by leading, but by serving.
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