Pray for Peace

Together with pity, peace is the most requested gift from God. Does it make sense to pray for peace? Perhaps the efficiency of praying is unmeasurably low, but our aversion of war and our longing for peace is so strong that we can't stop praying, even if our own homes are safely far from the fighting front lines.

More worldly solutions to motivate war lords in making peace are embargos, exclusions from international events and travel limitations. The problem is that these predominantly affect the ordinary people. Apart from weaponry embargos and confiscation of high capital, they don't affect the decision makers that much. Economic embargos and exclusions could even have an adverse effect. People feel excluded by the rest of the world and start adhering even more to their war lords who give them a feeling of protection against the rest of the world.

What we can do, is stop voting for belligerent politicians and refrain from our own war propaganda. Stop demonization of other people and maintain cultural connections with the people we tend to call our enemies. The world religions can play a positive role in the required diplomacy, in peace preaching and in praying for peace. Let us keep Jesus’ name clean. “Peace be with you!” was his most quoted wish and let us repeat it as if it were our own.

I refer to my last post on De Zwijger: Oorlog, hoelang nog?

Picture: Saint Michael’s peace church, one of the marvels of my home town Leuven 2023 ©Wim Lahaye