This Week in Peace History

I’m halfway through This Week in [Peace] History and, to be honest, I’m shocked, genuinely shocked, at how little this valuable resource is about peace and how much it is about violence. I’m no stranger to violence. In fact, it was in the midst of a horribly violent domestic abuse situation that I learned that my mission was peace!

At a particularly drastic and dangerous moment, a soft whisper filtered through my mind, “You can have peace in the face of this.” I was struck dumb at the realization. One of the things that I allowed to create great suffering in me during this experience of violence was the silence I kept about it. I thought of it as our dirty little secret.

My friend, Donna Henes, about whom I have written on this blog, wrote recently, “Silence forgives violence.” And I’m here to tell you—she is one hundred percent right! Where there is hidden violence, there is always silence. The amount of courage it takes to speak up in the face of violence is immeasurable, and totally necessary.

At the time, I found comfort in the words of Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, “The God of peace is never glorified by human violence.” Once I understood that I could have peace even in the midst of violence, I began to think about the God of Peace. What God might that be? How might I serve that God? Is the God I know a god of peace?

After many months of choosing peace in the midst of violence, someone sent me this idea from St. Francis of Assisi, “While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.” It simply confirmed what I’d already learned. I could speak peace all I wanted, but unless it was in my heart, I couldn’t live it, and since I wanted to live peace, I had to keep practicing peace in my heart.

After I put down my umbrage at This Week in [Peace] History, I decided that it might be best to write my own. What have I done this week for peace? Could I keep a peace journal wherein I write down my contributions to peace every day? Better, how did I contribute to peace just now? I firmly believe that if we’ll each take a piece of peace every day that a full peace for everyone on the planet is inevitable.

Visit Susan Corso’s spiritual blog or subscribe to Seeds at www.seedsforsanctuary.com.

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