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Poster from Bible Project

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. John 14:27 

Fear, violence, and war are in the headlines and in the air. Yet Peace is a goal of all major world religions. God’s greatest desire for creation is peace. Yet the world is still at war. Today in Jerusalem and in Bethlehem, the places of our Savior’s birth, death, and resurrection, Christians, Muslims and Jews live together – but peace is far away from that holy place. Jerusalem is where three world religions intersect and share worship space: Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. In Hebrew, peace is “Shalom”. In Arabic, peace is “Salaam”. For Christians, it’s “Peace.” Jesus is our Shalom. He is our Salaam. He is our Peace.

Jesus prayed for peace constantly. Yet we’re so busy fighting we are distracted from our peace keeping mission. As we live out our faith, let us work and pray for peace in our lives. Let us work and pray for peace in the world, as we seek to understand our neighbors. I invite you to pray the following prayer with me every day:

 A Daily Prayer of Peace from St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
Where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; It is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.

Shalom Salaam Peace, Pastor Andrea