If you ask a Presbyterian to define “peace,” you’ll get lots of answers, and they’re mostly all correct. Peace is tranquility and calm and quiet and respect and all those things that we ask of our children, at least for a few blessed moments every now and then. Peace is well-being, wholeness, health, safety, security, civility and all those things we expect from our communities. Peace is diplomatic treaties, international accords, global conventions, mutual aid, disaster relief and all those things that create understanding among nations. Peace finds its expression in many ways, takes on a variety of forms and is evident in both the most intimate and expansive parts of life. And as people of faith, we believe peace — in all its expressions and forms — is a gift from God.
Had he been told in advance about the death and heartache wreaked by the pandemic, the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol and the killings of people of color over the past months, “I’d be tempted to run away, to cower in anxiety and fear,” the Rev. Eugene Cho, president and chief executive officer of Bread for the World, said during a sermon featured in the recent Festival of Homiletics. “I’m grateful that God, out of God’s goodness and grace, has invited all of us to be leaders in a church that serves through humble servant leadership.”
The centuries-old Black struggle for freedom and equality in the creation of a better country, a better world, has erupted in Louisville. The Movement for Black Lives, powerful and undaunted community organizing by young people committed to racial and social justice, came into existence here and everywhere because it had to.
Working with decision makers looks different depending on where you are. Convincing your toddler to brush her teeth looks different from convincing your teenager to write a college admissions essay, which is different still from convincing the school board to keep funding the arts program you care so deeply about.
Five years in the making, the 2018 Book of Common Worship (BCW) for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is now available. There are three new sections in the BCW — on creation and ecology, justice and reconciliation, and interreligious events. Included in these sections are services for:
• Blessings of the Animals
• Resources for prayer and worship after a violent event
• Guidelines for gathering neighbors of other faiths or no faith for times of celebrations, or when there is conflict or crisis
