Recently, the local PBS station ran a repeat of Ken Burns’ documentary, “Jazz.” And I watched a part of an episode I remembered from the first time I watched the series. The documentary, traces the history of jazz, from its beginnings to the present day. The episode I remember features a modern-day jazz musician talking about a solo heard on one of the classic recordings Louis Armstrong made in the late ‘20’s and early ‘30’s. The musician described the solo as something rising above the fast, hectic music played by the rest of the band.
I’m not a musician, but I do like jazz, and the image of the solo rising above the hectic pace of the rest of the music came to mind when I reflected on the words Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid.”
In the midst of what is going on in the world and in our country, is it possible to not let our “hearts be troubled or afraid?” Is it possible not to be swept up in the chaos that sometimes swirls around us? So I thought about how does the world give peace? What came to me is that the world often offers peace in terms of how much we get what we want. As long as we’re in charge, and everything goes the way we want it to go, we’re at peace. As long as we’ve got ours, we’re at peace. I understand how that feels. When I was pastor, or retreat director, if I knew we had money in the bank to pay the bills, I could relax.
But what happens to that peace when things do not go our way? What happens to that peace when the money runs short, or the plans we made come to naught? Often we can feel anxiety and fear and frustration, and in some cases, great sorrow. Sometimes relationships fall apart.
So, what about the peace that Jesus gives? The peace that Jesus gives does not depend on whether we have what we want. It depends on Jesus being with us. It depends on the love Jesus has for us. Jesus’ love never runs out. Jesus never leaves us. In our reading from Revelation, there is this beautiful vision of a people not needing a temple any longer “for its temple is the Lord God almighty and the Lamb.” In other words, the people would have such an intimate relationship with God that no mediation would be necessary. That’s the kind of relationship to which we aspire.
We receive the peace Jesus offers when we can put our absolute trust in Him. Sometimes that can be difficult, especially when we’re hurting, and Jesus feels far apart from us. But it’s the best way we know to find real peace. The way the world offers peace cannot last, but Jesus’ love for us is everlasting, and we can find peace in Him.
Just as Jesus gives peace not as the world gives it, we are called to make peace, not as the world makes it. Often the world makes peace, again, by getting one’s way. The world’s peace often comes after an enemy is destroyed or completely subjugated. But we know what kind of a false peace that is. Remember how former totalitarian regimes as in Yugoslavia fell during the end of the Cold War, and how after the regime was gone, all of the former sectarian hatreds came to the fore and civil war broke out. That’s because the required justice was not there.
We cannot make peace in the way the world makes it. We have an example of a different way in our first reading from Acts. In the early church a conflict arose between those who said that Christians had to first be circumcised and follow the Mosaic Law, and those who said that no such restrictions were necessary. So people came together, shared their opinions, and prayed for guidance, and the conflict was resolved in favor of those who did not want to place unnecessary burdens on the Gentiles who were coming to Christ. No violence or intimidation was used. Unfortunately that doesn’t mean that we church-going people do not sometimes fall into the trap of trying to have things our way!
Various people have been quoted as saying, “If you want peace, work for justice.” I don’t believe we can achieve real peace without a true love and concern for others, which entails not only charity, but justice. And we can only have that by the grace of God!
May we find peace in Jesus. May we make peace in Him. May the world know peace through us.
In the Risen Christ,
Fr. Phil, CP
