If you are older than fifty (and I am by a wee bit) you recognize that title as the lead in for the chorus of a John Lennon song. Give peace a chance.
Peace is not just absence of conflict. Peace is, in the Christian understanding, a deep, abiding love. It is the desire to do God’s will, no matter what the consequences. It is Christian communion in the fullest sense.
Peace is following Christ – “Love one another as I have loved you.” And that means the people we don’t like, who seek our harm, who have offended us. They especially are included.
Peace-seeking Christians oppose the use of violence, whether it is war or capital punishment or abortion. We accept the consequences of following Christ, even unto death, because our death, as Christians, is in the hope of the resurrection.
