​A PRAYER FOR PEACE

If you have used the north entrance to the church recently, you may have noticed an addition to the perennial garden there. A Peace Pole has been added. In eight languages – English, Spanish, Hebrew, Arabic, Swahili, Meskwaki, Swedish, and Gaelic – the pole offers a prayer: May peace prevail on earth. The pole is a gift from members of the congregation accepted by the Congregation Council.

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Praying for peace can be trivial or trite. I think of the old stereotype of beauty pageant contestants when asked what they wished for most. They respond, “World peace.” We all roll our eyes. This pole represents more than wishful thinking. It is a prayer, a physical manifestation of our hope in a God who promises peace. It is a physical prayer that rises out of our fervent desire for the end of bloodshed, hatred, and violence.

God knows we need that prayer to be heard and answered. We also need to utter it relentlessly so that it burrows into our souls and creates a desire that produces peacemakers. The peace pole is both an expression of our prayer and a reminder to pray for what we so desperately need. Whether it be the ongoing war in Ukraine and the Middle East, the unrest in Syria, Sudan, or the violence in our own streets and conversations, we need peace.

The psalmist cries out:
Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
Depart from evil, and do good;
seek peace, and pursue it. (Psalms 34:11-14)

The prophet casts an image of God’s will for this world:
He shall judge between the nations
and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
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 any more. Isaiah 2:4

There is no room for violence in the reign of God and our prayers are invitations to allow the vision of peace to rule our hearts so that peace dawns over the entire world. The peace pole is a prayer for what we need and a declaration of God’s promise. May Peace Prevail on Earth!

Pax Christi,
Tim Olson – Lead Pastor