Peace amidst the Unknown

As I and all of us ponder the events of yesterday and Monday that touch each of us in Canada, new awareness strikes home. We have watched the unfolding media of of the fateful events that have taken lives. The young reservist soldier is from Hamilton where I live. The images on the news networks are of places we recognize. Canada has been bruised and changed. Fearful vulnerabilities emerge within our hearts and minds. "Not in Canada" we think. This is so unexpected in our land which is an anomaly in history where our country was not borne out of a war of independence but through nation building negotiations. We do experience civil crime, but introduction of planned and fatal aggression against our nation and innocent people are acts beyond our experience that we have empathetically watched from afar in other nations. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those whose lives were taken in these tragic moments. Words cannot express the sincere sympathy of a person, much less a nation. 

Our church vision of the peaceable kingdom as set forth in our church seal envisions a hope for peace, an assured peace in Christ, independent of our outer surroundings, the senselessness around us, beyond all that may bruise and endanger and even end our lives; this is the peace of Christ that passeth all understanding. This image is truly a test of faith to ponder. In the moments of stillness with God today may we invite the peace of Christ to enter our lives so we may become ourselves beings of peace.

May we with this sense of calm, of resiliency, in the face of tragic circumstances, bring peace to our families and our communities that penetrates the anxiety, the tension, the blaming that could so easily emerge and erupt in group dynamics about us. It is in times such as these that faith becomes real, that sacred communities of loving expressions of hope may envelope those about us with peace rather than despair, hate and retribution.

Peace can only be expressed and enacted through people who are peaceful. May we be such people, mindful in our actions of the unconditional loving, forgiving, empathetic, perfect peace of our humble and holy Creator.

submitted by Kerry Richards