God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can, and
the wisdom to know the difference.
Peacemaking is very integral and central to who we are as United Methodists.
In Matthew 5, it says that 'blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.' This is an invitation and a mandate for us to be bearers of peace to our communities and our families and our workplaces and our world.
And it's no easy task. What are those practices and things that we need to examine in our own lives before we can begin to do the work of peacemaking in our communities and in our world?
Peacemaking can look like a lot of different things and can take a lot of different forms.
It can mean you are the layperson at church that youth go to when they are experiencing some sort of conflict or decision-making that needs to happen. It can look like volunteering at your local food bank. It can mean standing in the gap in a time of conflict wherever it is.
It's not a passive action. It's a very intentional action for us to build relationships with one another and, in doing so, really understanding what our neighbor, what our sister, what our friend, what our brother is going through.
We are able to exercise empathy and help not just individuals but communities move to a place where we truly do care about the spiritual, the physical, and the mental health and well-being of the other person.
The practice of peacemaking and bridgemaking really does begin with us.