Peace Project, Reflection #3
Here is my third reflection essay about peace...
A COMMUNITY OF PEACE
November 7, 2005
Practicing peace both requires and creates community. Both of these have been evident in this semester’s project. First, regarding the requirement of community, my roommate and fellow group member, Graham, and I realized that without each other to continually remind the other of the project, we would forget that we were supposed to be practicing peace in our lives. We need each other, both as reminders and examples. Often when interacting with each other or with others, if one of us notices the other not exemplifying peaceful speech or actions, we jokingly remind the other of the project by saying, “I’m not at peace with that.”
Peace Requires Community
Beyond this example from our project, a community is necessary for practicing peace because we need support and encouragement from each other to continue living Christ’s peaceful lifestyle in the face of a culture that often does not understand or appreciate our actions and that bombards us with messages espousing peace-less ways of living. To the world, our lifestyles seem weak, make no sense, and embody a critique of the prevailing culture. In community we remind each other of the importance of practicing peace despite persecution and our culture’s violent messages, showing each other that this way is better. We encourage each other by sharing God’s truth from scripture with each other and by living it out in words and actions. In community we treat each other with love, and thus experience the peaceful lifestyle as it is meant to be lived and so are reminded of the goodness of God’s ways. Based on this empowering experience, we are able to live peacefully in the world. Finally, we share with each other our struggles, praying for each other and learning from the examples of others, both by seeing them live and hearing stories of how they have stood up under the violence of the world.
Summary: message to counter messages of world, reminders, examples, sharing struggles, praying, and experiencing peaceful community
Peace Creates Community
In addition to requiring community, the peaceful way of life creates community. Having tasted and seen the goodness of peace and wholeness in God we desire to share it with others. We share the message of the possibility of peace and wholeness and of a new story—a new way to orient and live life—with those around us, hoping that they too will adopt God’s story for harmony in creation. We share this message in our interactions with others by encouraging and serving others, by announcing the message to friends, and by living out the reality of God’s peaceful Kingdom within the Christian community.
In addition to this more evangelistic aspect of creating community through peace, we create community because to be reconciled with God necessitates also being reconciled with others and because to experience God’s love necessitates and motivates sharing it with others. We seek out the brother or sister we have something against or who has something against us and humbly seek reconciliation, thus creating community where there was no community before. Community is further created because we need others to share ourselves with. Words of encouragement and acts of kindness draw people together into a community of love, faithfulness, and worship—because this is the kind of community one wants to be a part of.
Summary:Evangelism: share story, encourage, serve, exemplify in community
Summary:Church: reconciliation, humility, forgiveness, building others up (via loving words and service) builds community, attractiveness of community.
...In my next peace post I'll reflect on the violence inherent in our culture's system.
A COMMUNITY OF PEACE
November 7, 2005
Practicing peace both requires and creates community. Both of these have been evident in this semester’s project. First, regarding the requirement of community, my roommate and fellow group member, Graham, and I realized that without each other to continually remind the other of the project, we would forget that we were supposed to be practicing peace in our lives. We need each other, both as reminders and examples. Often when interacting with each other or with others, if one of us notices the other not exemplifying peaceful speech or actions, we jokingly remind the other of the project by saying, “I’m not at peace with that.”
Peace Requires Community
Beyond this example from our project, a community is necessary for practicing peace because we need support and encouragement from each other to continue living Christ’s peaceful lifestyle in the face of a culture that often does not understand or appreciate our actions and that bombards us with messages espousing peace-less ways of living. To the world, our lifestyles seem weak, make no sense, and embody a critique of the prevailing culture. In community we remind each other of the importance of practicing peace despite persecution and our culture’s violent messages, showing each other that this way is better. We encourage each other by sharing God’s truth from scripture with each other and by living it out in words and actions. In community we treat each other with love, and thus experience the peaceful lifestyle as it is meant to be lived and so are reminded of the goodness of God’s ways. Based on this empowering experience, we are able to live peacefully in the world. Finally, we share with each other our struggles, praying for each other and learning from the examples of others, both by seeing them live and hearing stories of how they have stood up under the violence of the world.
Summary: message to counter messages of world, reminders, examples, sharing struggles, praying, and experiencing peaceful community
Peace Creates Community
In addition to requiring community, the peaceful way of life creates community. Having tasted and seen the goodness of peace and wholeness in God we desire to share it with others. We share the message of the possibility of peace and wholeness and of a new story—a new way to orient and live life—with those around us, hoping that they too will adopt God’s story for harmony in creation. We share this message in our interactions with others by encouraging and serving others, by announcing the message to friends, and by living out the reality of God’s peaceful Kingdom within the Christian community.
In addition to this more evangelistic aspect of creating community through peace, we create community because to be reconciled with God necessitates also being reconciled with others and because to experience God’s love necessitates and motivates sharing it with others. We seek out the brother or sister we have something against or who has something against us and humbly seek reconciliation, thus creating community where there was no community before. Community is further created because we need others to share ourselves with. Words of encouragement and acts of kindness draw people together into a community of love, faithfulness, and worship—because this is the kind of community one wants to be a part of.
Summary:Evangelism: share story, encourage, serve, exemplify in community
Summary:Church: reconciliation, humility, forgiveness, building others up (via loving words and service) builds community, attractiveness of community.
...In my next peace post I'll reflect on the violence inherent in our culture's system.
posted by mitch | 8:32 PM
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