Good morning…
At 3:24 am, I finished yesterday’s post and pushed send on our message, A Peacemaker Prays. The Henri Nouwen quote highlighted was sent by Ignatius House Retreat Center earlier in the week, along with the calming song and images. Our blog ended: “We actively pray, ‘Lord, make me a peacemaker.'”
I climbed back into bed for a bit more sleep. Waking for a second time around 7:00 am, I opened the following devotional message, a message which had come in to my inbox at 5:01 am.
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DAILY MEDITATION | JULY 15, 2022 – You do not Belong to the World
I think for peacemaking it is so important that we are home, that we know to whom we belong. Jesus says it very clearly; he says: “You do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Therefore, I am sending you into the world as my Father has sent me into the world.” You have to catch the paradox: that we can really be in the world, involved in the world, and actively engaged in the world precisely because we do not belong to it, precisely because that is not where our dwelling place is. Precisely because our home is in God, we can be in the world, and speak words of healing, of confrontation, of invitation, and of challenge. – Henri J. M. Nouwen
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How does God invite the voice of Henri Nouwen to descend from heaven to gently guide our steps on earth? Without skipping a beat, stepping over time and space, we actively pray, “Lord, make me a peacemaker.” Within the blink of an eternal eye, God responds, “I think for peacemaking it is so important that we are home, that we know to whom we belong . . . you do not belong to the world . . . that is not where our dwelling place is . . . because our home is in God, we can be in the world, and speak words of healing, of confrontation, of invitation, and of challenge.”
As we remain at home in God as God remains at home in us, the Spirit gradually ripens in us. The Spirit . . . produces in human life fruits such as these: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, fidelity, tolerance and self-control—and no law exists against any of them. Those who belong to Christ have crucified their old nature with all that it loved and lusted for. If our lives are centered in the Spirit, let us be guided by the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25, PHILLIPS).
As peacemakers, we do not belong to the world. We belong to Christ.
O Holy One,
I hear and say so many words,
yet yours is the Word I need.
Speak now,
and help me listen;
and if what I hear is silence,
let it quiet me,
let it disturb me,
let it touch my need,
let it break my pride,
let it shrink my certainties,
let it enlarge my wonder. (By Ted Loder)
Amen.
…Sue…
