Blessed are the Peacemakers (Part 1)

Contributed by Dr. Trish Hall, Center for Spiritual Living, Metro

The International Day of UN Peacekeepers is May 29.  In this two-part series, Dr. Trish Hall explores the concepts of peacekeeping and peacemaking, and the importance of “being peace” in our world.

Do you have the courage to live your values even when confronted by powerful opposing views?  Are you willing to stand with the oppressed, those who may have been treated unjustly?  Do you have what it takes to sit in the fire of heated conversations to reveal harmonious solutions? If you answered, ‘yes’ to these questions, you may be a “peacemaker”.

In the early 1990’s I met a woman who was home on respite.  She was a peacekeeper in Palestine.  Hearing her stories of life in the occupied Gaza Strip were very different from the perspective I had accepted from the media.  She was a Methodist serving Muslims, there to escort children to school and accompany adults to work.  Faith traditions were irrelevant, only her commitment to be a presence for Peace mattered.  She showed us pictures of spectacular scenery and beautiful olive groves and told of guns fired through the trees not aimed specifically at the men picking olives but instead to impose economic harm by scaring them from harvesting their crop. She told about walking the children to school and being stopped on the street by armed military personnel.  We learned that she prayed every day for safe passage for the children and their families.  Peacekeepers, whether serving as escorts, negotiating disarmament agreements, or removing landmines and explosives abandoned after wars, are clear about who they are and why they do what they do.

Peacekeepers are committed to moving world populations to safer ways of being … to peace with one another and within themselves.  Peacekeepers come from all walks of life, in all sizes, ages and ethnicities, and play all roles in family and community (locally and internationally). For some it is a passion, a spiritual calling, a career, and for many a synthesis that shows up in every aspect of their lives.  Years ago, we were called “peace-nics.” 

Every May 29th, the United Nations celebrates International Peacekeepers Day.  The day honors the more than 115,000 current members of the UN Peacekeeping Force and pays tribute to those who have lost their lives trying to make the world a better place.  Since its creation 76 years ago, more than a million civilians and law enforcement personnel from 125 countries have served.

The UN Peacekeepers “wage a war against war.”  There to protect and care for civilians, disarm ex-combatants, ensure ceasefires are kept and rules of law are observed, they support free and fair democracy with special emphasis on protecting human rights and particularly the rights and voices of women.

Gratefully, we join in this honoring, and we know that peacemaking and peacekeeping are the responsibility of each and every one of us! 

This blog post is the expressed opinion of its writers and does not necessarily reflect the views of Tysons Interfaith or its members.