‘Peace I give you’

As our JUST LENT course reaches the final session this evening (March 29), we’re exploring PEACE!

There’s a gentle smile from the face of this painting, a mural which celebrates the multicultural and inclusive Cardiff. Perhaps, in gazing at the smiling face, we smile too. St Teresa of Calcutta said that ‘Peace begins with a smile.’ Really, is that possible? Is that the seed of peace? Can a smile silence gunfire, can it render rockets and missiles speechless, can it disengage tanks and disarm soldiers? Can a smile do all that?

Peace is the cornerstone of our faith. Jesus is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6) Jesus was the one who said, ‘Peace I leave you, my own peace I give, a peace the world cannot give, this is my gift to you’ (John 14:27). It is God’s desire, as shown in the life of Jesus, for there to be peace. Scripture tells us that he ‘brought peace by his blood on the cross’ (Colossians 1:20). And so peace, the reality of peace, the need for peace is at the heart of the Christian Faith. So, how does a smile get elbowed into all of that?

Perhaps the same emotions and motives which begin war within and between nations are the emotions and motives which exist in every human heart. Jealousy, greed, anger, hatred, cynicism, the need to retaliate, to take what is not ours, to feel more powerful in the face of someone weaker than us, insecurities, the inability of being able to sit down and talk about disagreement. And yet the antidote to
war also exists in the hearts of all – the capacity to love, to empathise and sympathise, to be compassionate and forgiving, to know what is right, to want peace.

A smile, a true smile, rather than a shallow and fake smile, comes from the heart. It begins to break down barriers, brings delight to others, causes others to smile too, begins to create friendships, veers us away from anger. A smile can so easily reflect a smile in the face of another. Yes, there are challenges in the world – there is war and violence and division and so many atrocities, but how can we begin to extend that peace if it doesn’t exist in our own hearts and in our own lives? Where is the need for peace today – in the world, in our own country, in our communities, in our family, amongst our friends, in our street, in our home, in our own lives? Where do we start?