Peace in Our Times

As we raised our sons, a number of parent-speak phrases frequented our lips. “Because I said so.” “One day you’ll thank me for this.” If your friends jumped off a bridge, would you?” “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about.” “Don’t make me pull this car over.” Now that our boys are adults, we can chuckle at how often we repeated the same words our parents had said to us (that we swore we wouldn’t use with our kids), and now hear our son repeat as he enjoys life with the lovely Madelyn Simone.

One phrase that we didn’t pick up until late in our parenting career is this, compliments of my friend and former Kroc Center staff member Barb Arnold: “No violence or threats of violence.” Of course, that doesn’t go too well with the “I’ll give you something to cry about” threat, but it sets a standard for behavior within the home, the classroom, and the community center. Translated, it says, “While we’re here, while we’re together, violence is not OK. We will find another way to resolve our differences.”

But is that possible? We’re surrounded by violence and its consequences. My dad served in World War II, and he saw the horrors of the aftermath of war firsthand in the Philippines. I spent much of my childhood entrenched in sibling rivalry with my brother, which often spilled over into a punch or two. My boys turned their Legos into guns and swords. We can’t escape from its pervasive influence. Violence is as ancient as Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. In a world where the violence of ISIS, Boko Haram, and the playground bully continue to dominate their respective domains, is it utter foolishness to think that we can really give peace a chance?  

There are many people in the greater Ashland community who believe that the peaceful resolution to conflicts great and small is possible. Under the banner of the Ashland Center for Nonviolence, like-minded people will gather for the ACN’s first conference a week from today. Their goal is lofty: is to respond seriously to challenges, questions and objections to nonviolence. Helping them do so will be keynote speaker Dr. Robert Brimlow of St. John Fisher College, who is the author of “What About Hitler?” Brimlow and a number of other presenters will encourage the discussion of nonviolence in the face of injustice, certainly a timely subject in the month when we mark the fiftieth anniversary of Selma, the on-going disruptions in Ferguson, and the continuing turmoil in many troubled areas of the world. (Registration is open until March 24, with information at the Ashland University website).

The various presenters at the conference will wrestle with how nonviolence answers the problem of evil in the world, especially in the face of atrocity and horror. Is it viable and/or practical, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. urged so many years ago, to “continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive?” Will justice ever roll down like water?

The question is not only political or theoretical, for we can be faced with the menacing possibility of violence when we least expect it. Blogger Lori Freeland tells of her reaction to an encounter in a movie theatre that threatened to turn ugly: “I tell my kids to find the take-away in any bad situation. We can’t change how people treat us, we can learn something – even if all we learn is how not to treat other people.” She continued: “My take-away from today? Be kind. All the time. No matter what.”

We can make pronouncements to our kids, our community, and our world, such as no violence or threats of violence, or “be kind all the time,” but what do we do when others don’t listen? That’s a tough question, but it’s one the conference presenters will thoughtfully and courageously ponder and debate.

In 1938, John Oxenham penned these words, “Peace in our time, O Lord, to all the peoples – peace.” We seldom sing his hymn in these days, but its echo will be heard on the AU campus on March 28^th. Peace, in our time, in our world. Amen.