Tuesday, December 12: Peacekeepers, Plowshares, and Sheaves

...and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.--Isaiah 2:4

Blessed are the peacekeepers, for they shall be called the children of God.—Matthew 5:9

Those who go out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, carrying their sheaves.—Psalm 126:5

Let us weep.

But we must not sit down while we weep, burying our face in our hands. We must not hunker down, pull it together, stop crying, go on. We must not build walls to protect ourselves and our children. We must not store up weapons to protect ourselves from the outside world.

Let us instead walk out into the world, bearing the seed for sowing, our tears flowing, light and salt and water the ground needs to nurture the seed. We must not be worried about others seeing our tears. Grief is needed in this time. 

So is hard work. Let us plant the seed out in the open, sun or no sun, wind or no wind. Let us transform weapons into tools we can use. We must not be afraid to push our shovels hard into the cold ground, to invite our neighbors to join us. 

We are peacekeepers. Let us weep—and sing. Let us hold both grief and joy in every moment. Let us know peace, even in the midst of war, and hardship. Let us strive for peace, believing we can influence others by our words and actions even when such a notion seems impossible.

Let us recognize the whole universe as home, so that when we bring our sheaves home, we offer them up feed the hungry, house the homeless, care for the forgotten, love the unlovable.

Let us teach our children to do the same.


Let us live as peacekeepers, peacemakers, children of God, in these times. In all times.

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