Peace That Sticks (Friday Devotional)

 

Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding. 

- Romans 14:19

By the time our first worship service started on Sunday, my Facebook news feed was already full of photos of snow-covered rooftops, lawns, and college campuses. From Lubbock to Waco, my friends couldn’t wait to show the world the snowmen they were building, snowball fights they were having, and Christmas card-worthy blanket of white powder that covered their streets.

So by the time the second worship service ended, I was excited to see that we were getting our own flurries here in Garland, a deluge of soft white flakes that kids were delightedly catching on their tongues in the parking lot. But if my friends around the state were waiting for me to post my own snow day pictures then they were disappointed, because none were forthcoming. With the temperature resting at 37 degrees and the ground even warmer than that, every snowflake melted almost immediately upon landing. No matter how much snow fell, none of it was going to stick until the ground cooled down.

Following the explosive, tragic events at the U.S. Capitol last Wednesday, there have been not just flurries but an avalanche of calls for unity, both from those who sincerely want harmony and those who are trying to change the subject from their own divisive actions. There is a hope that the horror we saw last week can serve as a shock to the system, a wake-up call for a nation that has become increasingly divided over the last several decades.

But if these flurries are going to stick, they need to land on ground that is cool enough for them to do so. Achieving unity takes more than calling for it, it requires being willing to create the conditions where it can prosper. Harmony, in other words, isn’t just something you demand from others, it’s something you extend to others.

There’s not much reason right now to expect calls for unity to stick nationwide—but you can make them stick in your own circle. In your family, you can pursue peace when it would be more self-gratifying to take a cheap shot. In your workplace, you can show kindness when you would rather show hostility. In your church, you can be the voice of calm when others’ voices are raised.

It’s my prayer that unity blankets our land like new fallen snow. But for that to happen, believers in the Prince of Peace will need to follow him by putting down our swords and healing those who are hurting. For it’s through such acts of unwarranted mercy that peace starts to stick.