Making Peace Led by Rev. Steven Protzman November 9, 2014 November 2014

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1 Making Peace Led by Rev. Steven Protzman November 9, 2014 November 2014 First Reading: Peace Day is for Wimps by Colleen Turner 1 Second Reading: Making Peace by Denise Levertov Sermon Poet Denise Levertov tells us that peace, like a poem, is not there ahead of itself, but must first be imagined and then created. During our annual peace service we will thank and honor our veterans for their service to our country, affirm our Sixth UU Principle, which asks us to work toward the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all, and renew our personal commitment to making peace. In a church bulletin, there is this announcement: the peacemaking seminar scheduled for Monday evening has been cancelled due to a conflict. A perfect, although perhaps unintended, ironic indictment of human nature. The first reading is another brilliant indictment of the United States, satire that I find prophetic and disturbing in its accuracy. Here's an excerpt from what Susan read a few moments ago: "Since International Peace Day was first established by the United Nations in 1981, it has been a constant attempt to undermine the value of war, especially for the extraordinary U.S. Peace on earth needs to stay where it belongs (on holiday cards). Otherwise, Americans might muster the spirit to develop a sustainable, green, peace-based economy, and who wants that when our vibrant military-industrial complex thrives so well on war? As exceptional Americans, it is our patriotic duty to continue to ignore International Peace Day (as we invariably do anyway). Celebrating a day of peace is contrary to our national interests and sends the wrong message about who we are as a nation. This International Peace Day, to avoid being mistaken for a peace wimp [wuss], be sure to greet your fellow citizens with a hearty, "May war be with you!" 2 September 21st of each year is International Peace Day. This year's theme was the "Right of Peoples to Peace", which celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations General Assembly Declaration on the Right of Peoples to Peace. In the original declaration of 1984, it states that people have a sacred right to peace and that it is the will and aspiration of all people to eradicate war from the world. This declaration also brings an urgency to the need for peace by stating that our survival as a species depends on establishing a lasting peace. 3 To bring an end to war in the world is a daunting goal because war has been a reality through most of human history. In the book What Every Person Should Know About War Christopher Hedges writes, Of the past 3,400 years, humans have been entirely at peace for 268 of them, or just 8 percent of recorded history. 4 Hedges says that war is about barbarity, perversion, and pain. Human decency and tenderness are crushed, and people become objects to use or kill. War is one of the ugliest aspects of humanity and it reminds us that we are actually inferior to the other animals on this planet, who at least kill to survive, rather than kill out of a sense of 1

2 superiority, self-righteousness or even sport. Countless lives are lost or damaged beyond repair. War is an enormous waste of money, energy and other resources that conflict consumes, resources that could be used to make life more bearable for the millions of people on this earth who do without life's basics every day. The cry of the widows and orphaned children that war leaves in its wake is a plea to the deaf heavens for mercy that goes unheard. Religion, which should bring beauty, blessing and hope to the world is used to justify the wholesale slaughter of human beings. When will we come to our senses? When will we understand that war is a spiritual sickness that destroys everything it touches? Tuesday is Veterans' Day. We take this time to remember and to honor our veterans, people who were willing to risk their lives to protect the freedoms we enjoy, the privileges we take for granted. I thank our veterans and I honor you this day, but my words, indeed any words, of thanks are not enough. Nor should we mark the day by celebrating with parades or fireworks or festive outings. Veterans' Day and Memorial Day should be days of sorrow and repentance for all the times in human history and in American history when we settled with the sword what should have been settled with words of peace and reconciliation. These should be days to grieve our brutality and evil, our inability to find peaceful means to overcome our differences and to live in harmony with one another. These should be days in which we dare to dream of world peace, even if it seems impossible. These should be days in which we truly thank and honor our veterans by committing our lives to making peace, even if just for a day. There is an article in the newsblog Edge Yellowknife, which comes out of Canada's Northwest Territories. It was meant to be satire after the shooting in Ottawa but ironically, it is a stunning vision of what world peace could be like for one day: "In a surprising anomalous display of statistical improbability, the entire planet experienced a 24-hour period of peace, tranquility and a complete lack of fear in what scientists are calling the perfect day. Humans around the world awoke to perfect weather conditions for their respective locations, imbued with feelings of inner peace, void of any anxiety, anguish and fear that normally inhabit the minds of billions people daily. During the course of the day, 372,466 perfectly healthy babies were born, and the families and people they were born unto faced no difficulties or financial hardships in providing the love, nourishment and shelter required to care for them. Each baby was given a gender neutral temporary name in hopes that their own personal journeys of self discovery would lead to their own true name at the appropriate time in their lives. Young children around the world went to schools feeling confident, aesthetically sound and intelligent, facing no discriminatory actions or behavior that would cause them to question their worth or affect their ability to learn alongside their peers. This universal feeling of perfection meant no one bullied anyone else to overcome their own lack of confidence, nor did anyone feel the need to deny another community acceptance as the definition of community now contained every human being. The religions of the world 2

3 quickly called a global conference with the goal of merging various faiths under the new non-denominational moniker of FAITH. The amalgamation occurred through the process aggregating the common themes and doctrines of every faith, which were surprisingly plentiful, and eliminating those that conflicted, which were few. All places of worship were also authorized to be used as shelter for anyone who needed it. Faith in humanity and faith in God were reassessed to be of equal significance. All wars ceased to be seen as necessary, as many of the feuding political entities no longer viewed themselves as separate, finally realizing the futility of an organism fighting itself. Disease and illness, mental and physical, which had plagued the world for eons, were suddenly attacked with new scientific strength, thanks to unlimited resources as a result of the lack of military spending, along with the combined efforts of all countries, sharing their work and information." 5 If anyone could achieve even a day of peace, it would be the Canadians because they're so... nice. And polite. I was talking with someone the other day about today's topic and he asked: do you mean inner peace or world peace? I said "yes", which points to the complexity of peace. Stereotypes abound. Stereotypes like contestants in beauty pageants answering the question of what one most important thing our society needs with "world peace". People standing in a giant sharing circle holding hands and singing Kumbaya. Men do the fighting and women are the victims or mediators for peace. Peace makers are vegans that drink free trade coffee, wear Birkenstocks, meditate for hours, listen to Public Radio and are bleeding heart left wing liberals with multiple masters degrees who worship the Goddess. Actually, that sounds like a lot of Unitarian Universalists! One writer said that peace would be the end of creativity and that the world would become a giant monolithic culture. Nothing could be further from the truth. Peace will do what war and aggression cannot do, which is to celebrate and make space for diversity. Instead of fear and hatred of those who are different than we are, often because of stereotypes, there will be curiosity, open minds and loving hearts eager for new ways of seeing the world. There will be so many more opportunities for creativity and innovation because valuable energy and resources won't be wasted killing each other and fighting over land and oil and water but instead figuring out how to best use these valuable commodities. Humankind will be able to work together with more cooperation and resources to cure diseases and solve problems like hunger and poverty. Peace won't be the absence of conflict though. Even though we may fear it, distrust it, and try to avoid it whenever we can, conflict is healthy and a necessary part of life. Imagine a movie or story or video game without conflict. There would be no plot, no excitement or tension, no life. What peace will be is the ability to deal with conflict in healthy, creative, life giving ways. Author Peggy Haymes writes: "Avoiding conflict isn t peacemaking. Avoiding conflict means running away from the mess while peacemaking means running into the middle of it. Peacemaking means addressing those issues that caused conflict in the first place. Peacemaking can never be separated from doing justice. They go hand in hand. Peacemaking means having to stir the waters on the way to peace. Peacemaking means speaking the truth in love, but speaking the truth nonetheless." 6 3

4 As Unitarian Universalists, we have a shared dream of peace. Our sixth principle calls us to affirm and promote the goal of world community with peace, liberty and justice for all. You and I are asked to commit both personally and as a community toward this goal. How do we begin the journey toward such peace? Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu says that: If there s to be peace in the world, there must be peace in our communities. If there s to be peace in our communities, there must be peace in our families. If there s to be peace in our families, there must be peace in ourselves. True peace begins with each one of us. In a few moments, we will sing the words Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me. Together we will affirm our willingness to take personal responsibility for peace, for it must begin with each and every one of us. And the only way to know peace is to make peace as Denise Levertov tells us in the second reading. She uses language as her metaphor for this journey: "Peace is not there ahead of itself, can't be imagined before it is made, can't be known except in the words of its making, grammar of justice, syntax of mutual aid. A feeling towards it, dimly sensing a rhythm, is all we have until we begin to utter its metaphors, learning them as we speak. A line of peace might appear if we restructured the sentence our lives are making, revoked its reaffirmation of profit and power, questioned our needs, allowed long pauses...." 7 Levertov's words are paradoxical- how can we know peace unless we're making peace? At least she offers a way to begin the work of peace. We're challenged to take the time to question our needs, examine how we each benefit from privilege and power, and think about how to restructure our lives in a way that takes the needs of others into consideration. Peace is ultimately about entering into a deeper relationship with ourselves, one another, with the world, with life itself. You may leave today not remembering what I've said about peace. But if you've taken this time to reflect on damaged relationships or ways you don't live peace in your own life, this has been time very well spent. If you've spent a few moments reflecting on where your life needs healing, you've done some important spiritual work. If you've thought about how you benefit from privilege and power in your life, your journey toward peace has begun. 4

5 Have we looked in our own hearts? Are we at peace with ourselves? Are we living peace in our relationships? Is our response to conflict a desire to address the issues that created it in the first place? Will you commit your life to making peace? I invite you to join me now in a meditation for making peace. This time is a gift to reflect on how you can make peace or to offer a prayer for peace. To pray for peace in your heart, for peace in this city, for peace in the world. As you feel comfortable, you are also welcome to come forward and light a candle. Come forward and light a candle of hope, a candle of grief, a candle of remembrance, a candle that symbolizes your commitment to make peace, or a candle that is your prayer for peace. Meditation Time References 1 Turner, Colleen, "Peace Day is For Wusses", Article, The World Post, September 2011, 2 Turner, Colleen, Ibid Belote, Thom, "Where Does Peace Begin?", Sermon May 9, 2010, 5 Leonard, Mel, "Imagination is not Satire", Article, EdgeYK, October 2014, 6 Haymes, Peggy, quote from Strugglers, Stragglers and Seekers: Daily Devotions for the Rest of Us, West Summit Publishingm, Levertov, Denise, "Making Peace", Poem, From Breathing the Water, 1987, 5