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28 March 2025 Peace

Opening Prayer

Dear Lord, we pray for peace, for love, for compassion, for forgiveness.

We pray your words:

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the leopard will lie down with the goat,

the calf and the lion and the yearling together;

and a little child will lead them.

The cow will feed with the bear,

their young will lie down together,

and the lion will eat straw like the ox.

The infant will play near the cobra’s den,

and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.(Isaiah 11:6-8)

Lord God we pray for peace, Amen.


Readings

A forest monastery had a visit from some international peacekeepers who had gone to volunteer and live in Vietnam during the war. They were burned out and needed rest, but then they also complained ‘you know there's a war going on and you all are just sitting on your behinds what about taking care of the world, what about compassion in action’. But they stayed and eventually understood that the monastery was an island of peace and sanity, it was a place of peace and love, a living library of what was possible. Wars come and go and we need to show

that there is another way…………. In the hill at the end of the island there were two very tall statues around 40 feet tall – one of Jesus and one of the Buddha. They had their arms around each other's shoulders as if to say yes there's a war happening but there's another way Adapted from Jack Kornfield, Peace is Possible, https://youtu.be/tFRoLOH_4rg?si=rnseRlGbfZwDf-J4

KG We indeed need to show there is another way – a way without war, violence and hated.

‘In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.’ (Genesis 1:1)

These incredible Words from God are probably one of the most well-known of all time, even being said by the Apollo 8 astronauts as they circled the moon. Genesis continues to describe how order is brought from chaos and how God is pleased. What God does not say is, let there be borders for humans to fight over. KarenG


Blessing in the Chaos

To all that is chaotic

in you,

let there come silence.

Let there be

a calming

of the clamoring,

a stilling

of the voices that

have laid their claim

on you,

that have made their

home in you,

that go with you

even to the

holy places

but will not

let you rest,

will not let you

hear your life

with wholeness

or feel the grace

that fashioned you.

Let what distracts you

cease.

Let what divides you

cease.

Let there come an end

to what diminishes

and demeans,

and let depart

all that keeps you

in its cage.

Let there be

an opening

into the quiet

that lies beneath

the chaos,

where you find

the peace

you did not think

possible

and see what shimmers

within the storm.


Introduction to Silence


Blessing

Blessing for Peace

As the fever of day calms towards twilight

May all that is strained in us come to ease.

We pray for all who suffered violence today,

May an unexpected serenity surprise them.

For those who risk their lives each day for peace,

May their hearts glimpse providence at the heart of history.

That those who make riches from violence and war

Might hear in their dreams the cries of the lost.

That we might see through our fear of each other

A new vision to heal our fatal attraction to aggression.

That those who enjoy the privilege of peace

Might not forget their tormented brothers and sisters.

That the wolf might lie down with the lamb,

That our swords be beaten into ploughshares

And no hurt or harm be done

Anywhere along the holy mountain.

O'Donohue, John. Benedictus: A Book Of Blessings (p. 222). Transworld. Kindle Edition.


Thoughts To Ponder

Isaiah 2:4 They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.

Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Romans 8:6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

1 Peter 3:9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

Isaiah 9:6 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

We look forward to the time when the Power of Love will replace the Love of Power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.

It’s true, difficult times call on our best spirit. We must remind ourselves that in uncertain times our own steadiness can become a sanctuary for others. Like the strings of a violin being played will resonate with another nearby on a table, our resonance of peaceful, stillness, and steadiness spreads out in every direction, touching the hearts of all beings near and far, that they might find a deeper quiet, a loving presence.

Mr. Rogers, describes how his mother taught him to see the disasters of the world in a new way. Instead of focusing just on the tragedy and loss, look for the helpers. Expand your gaze to take in all the people who are rushing in from all sides to offer their care, assistance, and support. Amidst the hard times let yourself see the wave of compassion that arises around the suffering—the human heart that cannot be stopped.

There Will Be Peace

There will be peace:

when attitudes change;

when self-interest is seen as part of common interest;

when old wrongs, old scores, old mistakes

are deleted from the account;

when the aim becomes co-operation and mutual benefit

rather than revenge or seizing maximum personal

or group gain;

when justice and equality before the law

become the basis of government;

when basic freedoms exist;

when leaders - political, religious, educational - and

the police and media

wholeheartedly embrace the concepts

of justice, equality, freedom, tolerance, and reconciliation

as a basis for renewal;

when parents teach their children new ways to think

about people.

There will be peace:

when enemies become fellow human beings.

David Roberts November 2003 Based on poem in Kosovo War Poetry https://www.warpoetry.uk/avid-roberts-1

Structure of Kindness … Despite all the darkness, human hope is based on the instinct that at the deepest level of reality some intimate kindness holds sway. This is the heart of blessing.

O’Donohue, John. Benedictus: A Book Of (p. 182). Transworld. Kindle Edition


Peace Is in Our Hands

Where there was no wine

There was you

And you said “drink,”

And there it was startling and sweet.

And where there was no bread

There was you

And you said “touch”

And there we were

Our hands looking like yours.

And where there is no peace

There is you

And you say “Lay down your arms”

And here we are

Holding one another

In loving embrace.

Peace is in our hands.

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