You are the Peace

The terrorist attacks in Paris on November 13 took the breath out of body continually exhausted from worldwide violence. I found myself unwilling or incapable of commenting or responding to the comments of others, however wise and well-informed. Praying was the only thing I could do with a clear conscience, though prayer did not help to make sense, to form the chaos into a recognizable shape.

At Vigil Mass last night, I found sense in the form of the Tabernacle. Not relief, but form. The house of the Lord seemed somehow to dispel the mists from my mind, or at least presented a kind of blank surface on which I could organize my thoughts.

This morning, with news of yet another terrorist attack, this one in Kenya, it occurred to me that humanity has betrayed itself and will continue to do so until it recognizes that it can be saved only with the help of God. This is a defensible statement, but only that: a statement. There is nothing in the statement that suggests anything more than that the writer thinks he knows something that others do not. Even as the statement focuses on God, it is a critique of humanity, and therefore inherently flawed, for I am not qualified to criticize humanity and can only be a hypocrite when I do so.

But before I got to this point, I recalled that Jesus never speaks of humanity. He speaks to individuals. He speaks to you. He speaks of himself, and the Father, and he speaks to persons individually. Even in a group address, He speaks to the individual. The only instances I can recall of group generalization are his condemnation of pharisees, etc., but even there he is addressing individuals in a group that are there before him, and who surely recognize themselves under that title.

Jesus speaks from God, the Father. We are called to do the same. Not to speak merely of God, but from God. This guiding principal should guide all our speech on matters great and small. Certainly it should mark the spot from which we speak on important matters, those which concern life and death.

Now, these statement give the impression that wisdom is simply a matter of switching one's focus from "of God" to "from God" and behold the Truth. If only that were so! We can never be sure from where we speak, and we can not know the wisdom of our words. The heart moves in a distinct yet subtle orbit. What I write here in this blog is after the fact of having offered the only observation I am capable of with respect to the recent terrorist attacks. That observation, which I posted to Facebook, was this:

You are the solution. What you do. What is in your heart. What you give, whom to, and whom for. You are the solution, only you. That has never changed and will never change. That is the gift and the glory. That is the price you must pay for life. The world needs you and you alone, today. We need you now.

 This statement is not one I would be capable of speaking from myself as an observer or critic of the human condition, whatever perspective I might choose or labor under. It is not a clever observation. It is a personal plea and an affirmation of the person to whom I offer the plea.

That person is, of course, you.

That person is the same one we encounter in scripture, especially in the words of Jesus Christ. That encounter made a Christian out of me. I am not particularly concerned, in the statement above, that you be Christian or not. I do not speak to qualifications. I speak, at the reach of  this moment, to solutions in a crisis, as humanity bends to destroy itself, and hate poisons the air.

We all have the experience of crisis in family, of watershed moments after which a general understanding is achieved, and peace reigns. Humanity is in need of such an experience, but it cannot happen unless or until you are open to exactly that experience. This means speaking from your heart to others, sharing your gifts, with faith, hope, and charity. This means abandoning pretense, putting aside mere opinions and theories and
proud metaphors, and making yourself available, now, today, to heal others, one at a time.

To bring someone - anyone - to the point of knowing that that one person is the solution, too.

Peace to all.