What I’m Thinking: The Elusive Ways of Peace

In his song celebrating the birth of his son John (who we know better as John the Baptist), Zechariah prayed this prayer: that we might be guided in the ways of peace. Why is it so hard? Yet it is so clearly true: we struggle to follow the ways of peace.

Here’s a transcript:

I’m thinking about the Song of Zechariah in the first chapter of Luke (Luke 1:68-79). Zechariah sang it after the miraculous birth of John, who would become known as John the Baptist. John’s mother Elizabeth had been considered unable to have children. Then suddenly she conceived, and John was born.

Zechariah’s song ends with this prayer: “Guide our feet into the ways of peace.”

It strikes me just how poor we are at following the ways of peace. We lack peace in our hearts, in our souls; we lack peace in our families and our communities; we certainly lack peace among the nations.

We’re not even good at recognizing those individuals who foster peace, who promote peace. One Nobel Peace Prize a year?

And yet how many other heroes of peace might we recognize?

No, I think this is still a matter of urgent prayer and of diligent work on our parts: to identify the ways of peace and to follow them. And to seek from God that we might be guided into these unfamiliar, yet so precious and necessary, ways of peace.

That’s what I’m thinking. I’m curious to hear what you’re thinking. Leave me your thoughts in the comment section below; I’d love to hear from you.