November 11 - To Remember is to work for Peace

We didn't hold a Bible study this week, with it being a long weekend, but a few of us met for coffee and a chat anyway.

Following our study on letting love be genuine, word has spread of conflict within our congregation. We heard with dismay of people within the congregation being hurt and hurtful, of the destructive power of gossip, of the growing divisiveness of an "us/them" mentality.  How can we, a few, relatively powerless and insignificant members work for peace in this situation?

It seems so sad that, even as we are reading about having the mind of Christ, people we care about are making accusations of other people we care about.  As we read about overcoming evil with good we find negativity growing and spreading.  What good can we do?  We don't know all the sides of the issue(s) so cannot even judge fairly who is right in each situation - but is that what we are called to do?  Going back to last weeks' lessons and making genuine love our goal - we have concluded that the most powerful actions we have at our disposal are praying and staying positive.  While we struggle with the latter as various stories emerge, we will continue to try to spread affirmation and positive support.  We will continue to try to speak positively of our brothers and sisters, even when we don't agree.  But more importantly we will pray.

Too often we downplay the importance of prayer.  While we are hampered by our human limitations and emotions, God sees the situation clearly.  While we often misread situations and misjudge the right thing to say or do - God knows not only what we should say or do but how it will be received. While we get tired and discouraged - God can strengthen us to carry on. We need to keep praying, to draw on the strength and omniscience of our wonderful, loving God - maybe there will be a solution that we can't see.  Maybe God will work through our meagre attempts to help bring about healing and hope.

And so, on this day when most people focus on the larger issue of world peace - towards which we also need to work and pray - and grandiose attempts to bring it about, we dwelt on working for peace within our troubled selves and our troubled congregation.  May we continue to "pray without ceasing" and somehow be a catalyst for peace within ourselves, our congregation and our world.