The Technology of Peace
6. We Must Nurture our Spirits. Waging Peace is exhausting work; violence breeds violence that corrodes and jades the hearts of Peace Makers at home and on the field. For many Peace Making organizations, faith, prayer, and spiritual balance are critical. Arthur Gish tells us that “Times of group prayer and worship each day and personal prayer life are essential. Prayer is a source of strength and courage to act in calmness and love amidst the fog of war. It is essential in discerning how to respond to difficult situations.” We must engage our spiritual traditions in Waging Peace.
Pray for Peace.
Join a Church, Synagogue,
Temple or Mosque in your area that supports peace.
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Most of the concepts presented here can be found in the introduction to Hebron Journal, written by Arthur G. Gish. While not written as a Peace Making treatise, this introduction (and the entire book) is well worth reading. We have paraphrased and quoted Gish often.
Gish concludes by telling us that Peace Makers must make themselves “vulnerable to that evil”; he is asking that Peace Makers risk their lives for Peace the way soldiers have risked their lives in the many Wars to end all Wars. The courage, the training, and the sacrifice remain the same.
From Not in My Name, An Israeli volunteer and a Palestinian farmer working together during the olive harvest.: a statue of Mary damaged by Israeli shells, the peaceful sunset on Long Island Sound.
Pray for Peace...
.....Nurture our Spirits
A basic way of confronting evil and injustice is to make ourselves vulnerable to that evil. This goes to the heart of a Christian understanding of nonviolence, the way of the cross: nonviolent, redemptive, suffering love. It is not through worldly power, but rather through love, weakness, and vulnerability that we overcome evil.
Arthur Gish
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2004 03 Vigil for detainee justice, Karbela CPT.ORG
