{"id":389,"date":"2015-10-29T06:31:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-29T10:31:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/?p=389"},"modified":"2016-09-22T08:28:49","modified_gmt":"2016-09-22T13:28:49","slug":"how-can-we-work-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/how-can-we-work-for-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"How Can We Work for Peace?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vanier1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-394 size-full alignright\" src=\"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/vanier1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"276\" height=\"182\" \/><\/a>In his 2003 book <em>Finding Peace<\/em>, Jean Vanier poses\u00a0some rhetorical\u00a0questions that seem especially poignant for readers of this website:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;How can we work for peace when we are faced with authority that does not listen, that cannot accept that it is not always right, and that refuses any form of criticism or dialogue? Do we leave, slamming the door? Do we seek to create a revolution? Do we let the desire for vengeance grow? Or do we fall into a form of depression and submission because there is nothing else to do? How can we be true when faced with insolent oppression and might? How can we work for justice in impossible situations?&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Powerful questions indeed.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Before jumping to Vanier&#8217;s answer, please stop for a moment and think. What is the best answer that <em>you<\/em> can give?<\/p>\n<p>When I stumbled upon this question,\u00a0a voice in my head began to speak. The voice\u00a0said:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Don&#8217;t become bitter. You must not become bitter.<\/li>\n<li>Humble yourself. A\u00a0spiritual\u00a0man defers to others and\u00a0does not insist upon his own idea.<\/li>\n<li>Be patient. Wait. Wait a bit longer. Then wait some more.<\/li>\n<li>The problem is within you. If you solve your own\u00a0inner problem, then you will be happy and peaceful in Jesus, no matter what is happening around you.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t become a radical. Christians shouldn&#8217;t be radical.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In\u00a0the past, I\u00a0would have\u00a0believed this to be the\u00a0voice of godly wisdom. Advice like this sounds so spiritual.\u00a0\u00a0Any of these statements\u00a0can be backed up with numerous Bible verses. And there are plenty of\u00a0situations where this advice\u00a0would be\u00a0appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>But not always.<\/p>\n<p>This may be the voice of godly wisdom. But it may also be the\u00a0chatter of an oppressive system that\u00a0merely wants its\u00a0authority to\u00a0go unchallenged.<\/p>\n<p>After\u00a0many years of following these prescriptions, \u00a0I\u00a0gradually learned that\u00a0this kind advice does not produce mature disciples of Christ. It eventually turns people into this.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/turtle1.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-396 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/ubfriends.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/turtle1-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"turtle\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After posing the question, Vanier\u00a0gives examples of\u00a0men and women who successfully worked for peace in the midst of oppression: Francis of Assisi, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day, Aung San Suu Kyi, Corazon Aquino, and others. He calls them prophets of peace.<\/p>\n<p>He quotes Mahatma Gandhi:<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;When I despair, I remember that throughout history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they can seem invincible. But in the end they always fall. Think of it always&#8230;. whenever you are in doubt that this is God&#8217;s way &#8212; the way the world is meant to be. Think of that and then try to do His way.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Then Vanier explains what prophets of peace have in common.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;These men and women didn&#8217;t attack insolent might face on, which often only reinforces the barriers, but worked to help the powerful to step down, to change and evolve. At the same time, they sought to give those who were suffering injustice the freedom to work for peace, to love the truth, to not be governed by fear and hate, to love people, and to build community &#8212; to be themselves.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In his 2003 book Finding Peace, Jean Vanier poses\u00a0some rhetorical\u00a0questions that seem especially poignant for readers of this website: &#8220;How can we work for peace when we are faced with authority that does not listen, that cannot accept that it is not always right, and that refuses any form of criticism or dialogue? Do we [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-peace","category-reform"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubfriends.org\/ubfriends2015\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}