Thursday, April 01, 2004
Six steps for peacemaking
I try to take a bit of time to pray when I get to the office. Brittany is dropped off for school by 8AM, but the parish office doesn't open till 8:30, giving me a bit of time before the phones ring and the people arrive. Not today. Two calls came while I was jotting some notes in my journal. My pencil dropped out of my book and the pages flipped back to where the break in the binding was.
I had read Henri Nouwen's The Road To Daybreak while making these entries, and I had copied down Jean Vanier's six steps for peacemaking. Remember, this is third-hand reporting, so if you want the real thing, read something of Vanier's yourself.
- respect every individual human being
- create space for people to grow and become mature
- always stay in dialogue
- keep adapting mutual expectations
- enjoy the differences among people
- always direct your attentions to those who suffer most
These gave me pause for thought in different ways: first, my family, and how I strive to be a good husband and father and cultivate a household of and with peace. Second, for the blogoverse, especially in the ways that I permit my passions to influence me in negative ways when I confront or am confronted by people who think differently than I. Then I started to think of ways in which pastoral ministry or liturgy could be conducted along these lines ... bulletin collumn, a workshop, an article. Then I realized I had come out of prayer and it's time to get to work.
