Report of the Deputy General Secretary
to the
Women’s Division
October 18, 2002

Peace is defined in the dictionary as:

- a state of tranquility or quiet; freedom from civil disturbance

- security/order in community

- freedom from disquieting thoughts/emotions

- harmony in personal relations

- a pact to end hostilities between groups, individuals or nations

The Hebrew word for peace is shalom. It has many different meanings in the scriptures: rest, ease, wholeness, health, security, prosperity, political and spiritual well-being, quietness, unity. It is much more than "inner serenity" or the absence of war or hostilities.

Jesus gave the disciples his peace as a gift: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you." As followers of Jesus, we too are given this gift. This peace is not an existence without tension, conflict, suffering or pain. Instead it is a peace that can come through the suffering we experience; that can help us deal with tensions and stress; that can at times turn tension, conflict and turmoil into a creative means of change. But too often we don’t accept this gift of peace - we don’t get beyond the tensions, we don’t use the conflict creatively and thus we miss the true peace that God has for us.

God’s peace within each of us involves self-acceptance, a love of oneself in order to love another. Rejection or hatred of others, guilt, fears and anxieties makes it hard to feel God’s peace. God’s peace puts an emphasis on trust, blessing and love and is available to us because we are children of God. Such peace is not produced overnight; instead it is a learned process brought about by prayer, spiritual disciplines, self-knowledge and understanding, and developing a deep and abiding relationship with God.

Peace in the Biblical understanding is often tied to God’s covenant and God’s promises of a "new heaven and a new earth." Over 100 times in the Bible peace is related to justice or righteousness. We read:

"And a harvest of righteousness (of justice) is sown in peace for those who make peace." James 3:18

"Steadfast love and faithfulness will meet; righteousness (justice) and peace will kiss each other."

Psalm 85:10

"We have God’s promise, and look forward to new heavens and a new earth, the home of justice. With this to look forward to, do your utmost to be found at peace..."

2 Peter 3:13-14

Now, let’s put the concept of the gift of peace with the concept of justice. This creates in my understanding a cycle which starts with the gift of peace; moves to the work of justice; which in turns creates peace in the world. The cycle of peace involves acceptance of Jesus’ gift, responding to the call to be peacemakers or to do justice and then peace will be the consequence of justice in God’s time. There can be no inner peace without doing justice as commanded by God nor can there by peace (shalom) in the world without justice for the world and its people.

Peacemaking is the justice work that God calls us to do. Jesus faced the injustices of his world:

He attacked racism in the story of the Good Samaritan;

He attacked sexism in his encounter with the woman at the well;

He challenged the improper use of wealth in the story of the rich young ruler;

He pressed for healing and health when he healed on the Sabbath;

He charged the Pharisees with manipulating the laws for their own benefit;

He chased the money changers and merchants from the temple.

And he also said: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

Peacemakers are much more than the keepers of the peace. Many a person has assumed the role of peace keeper in a family by ignoring problems, not talking about difficulties or certain issues, and/or doing all the chores instead of trying to enlist help. The United Nations or individual countries have become peace keepers in order to bring stability and order to conflicted situations by using force to keep the peace. Such actions by individuals or nations may maintain a semblance of peace, but the cause for the conflict or political unrest is still there and has not been truly addressed.

Peacemakers have different responsibilities from peacekeepers. Muriel Lester in her book "Peacemaking and the Community of Faith" said "the job of the peacemaker is to stop war, to purify the world, to get it saved from poverty and riches, to heal the sick, to comfort the sad, to wake up those who have not yet found God, to create joy and beauty wherever you go, to find God in everything and in everyone." Robert McAfee Brown put it another way: "Concern for peacemaking doesn’t just involve keeping us out of war (though it obviously includes that); it also involves seeing to it that people have enough to eat; that they are not undernourished or malnourished; that they can go to bed at night without fear that someone will spirit them off to prison; that the society will be so planned that there is food enough to go around; that the politics of the country and of the world are so arranged that everybody’s basic needs are met. Otherwise, no shalom." And he ends by saying: "There’s still plenty of work to keep peacemakers busy."

The Women’s Division has been involved in peacemaking for the last 135 years, for we started as an organization with a specific purpose of meeting the physical and spiritual needs of women and children and we continue to do that. We work with women around the world, advocating for them and their concerns; standing in solidarity with them; providing financial and technical assistance as requested; and offering the good news of the gospel in a variety of ways.

But we also have been concerned about the issues of war, civil unrest, and the violation of human rights at many points along our journey. We were strong supporters of the establishment of the United Nations; we thanked God that a snow storm prevented a seller of War Bonds to make it to an Assembly during WWII; we opposed the Vietnam War in several different ways; we worked with many other groups for the elimination of apartheid; we were active participants in the struggle against slavery, lynching, segregation; .... The list goes on up to today, for we are once again attempting to speak and stand against the current push for war against Iraq.

For the last year there has been in our country a hesitancy to speak out against the so called war on terrorism, suppression of civil rights, and the continued war on Iraq. Such speaking out was seen by some to be an un-American activity. But the tide is beginning to turn. The Roman Catholic Bishops, the United Methodist Bishops, various mainline Protestant denominations, students and other concerned citizens are once again becoming proponents of peace and non-violence. There may be some public demonstration in the parks and on college campuses, but its the debate around the need for war that is picking up steam among the American public. The general population do not want war because they have not heard a convincing argument for such action now; because they do not want to go it alone without allies involvement; because the outcomes of such a war are so uncertain; and because we don’t know the financial or human cost on all sides of such a conflict. There is also anger being expressed at the neglect of the domestic issues. Voters are threatening to take their concerns to the ballot box in November. But there is still in some communities fear of speaking out on this issue, for fear of being labeled unpatriotic.

At the beginning of World War II, Dietrich Bonhoeffer raised some hard questions about peace. He wrote: "How does peace come about? Through a system of political treatises? Through the investment of international capital in different countries? Or through universal, peaceful rearmament in order to guarantee peace?" His answer was: "Through none of these for the single reason that all of them confuse peace with safety. There is no way to peace along the way of safety. For peace must be dared. Peace is the great venture. It can never be safe. Peace is the opposite of security. Peace must be dared."

Are we individually and collectively ready to be daring peacemakers? Are we willing to counter terrorism, violence and war with the tools of peacemaking as did Jesus the Christ? It is appropriate that at this meeting we celebrate the life of Hazel Decker, a daring peacemaker during the Vietnam War and the integration struggles within the United States. Hazel was a woman of great faith; a woman who believed God’s promise of shalom; and a woman who traveled to Paris and Vietnam with her message of peace during those difficult years.

Hopefully each of us will find our place as peacemakers. It doesn’t have to be a dramatic action, but it does need to be a decisive action. Letters need to be written, resolutions need to be adopted, government officials and leaders need to be called; voting needs to be done; leaders need to be called to account; protests need to take place; the debate needs to continue; personal fears need to be overcome. Our peacemaking efforts must be courageous and aggressive, but not violent. The force/impact of nonviolent resistance to evil can and does change the world.

Last week I learned of Marian Solomon, a 72 year old United Methodist Woman from Iowa. Marion plans to go to Iraq as part of a Christian Peace Making Mission on October 23 (Wednesday). She says she is ready to die for peace in Iraq, if that is what it is going to cost her. She feels that she has lived a good life and now must answer the call of peacemaking. Let us keep Marian in our prayers as she makes this daring journey on behalf of peace. She is a daring peacemaker.

Jesus said: "My peace I leave with you." "Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God." Let us accept Jesus’ gift of peace. Let us continue to be daring peacemakers. Let us claim God’s promise of shalom for God’s world.