Pursue Peace

Not everyone desires peace. All of history is filled with conflict. Even King David wrote I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war (Psalm 120:7 NKJV).

You can find whole books about peace, but I’m offering a few ideas, so let’s get started.

If you think of peace as absence of conflict, you’re on the right track. It could mean not arguing, not fighting back or not demanding your own way. But let’s look at some other options.

Psalm 34:12 (NKJV) asks a question? Who is the (person) who desires life, and loves many days, that (they) may see good?  

The answer is in verses 13 and 14 (NKJV): Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace and pursue it.

You must seek before you pursue. You won’t just drift into peace; it will require some effort. To seek means to focus on a goal and pursue it wholeheartedly.

Before mining was done with heavy equipment, gold miners went out with pans and shovels. Even a little gold was worth the effort. So, let’s consider four seemingly little efforts with peaceful payoffs:

1. Keep your tongue from evil: According to James 3:1-12 the tongue can easily set things on fire. It’s easy to speak without thinking, or to want to prove yourself right. Sometimes the only way to make peace is to agree to disagree.
2. Keep your lips from speaking deceit: Lasting peace never comes through trickery, duplicity, or partial truth. “White lies” are a myth. Truth will out and leave you squirming.
3. Depart from evil: Evil means different things to different people, but here it means avoid words that are harmful, malicious or mean. Dictionaries prove you have plenty of word choices, so don’t limit your mindset or vocabulary.
4. Do good: Use your words to build bridges, not walls. We humans will never agree on everything, but that doesn’t mean we can’t seek peace by being tolerant of, or truly accepting of, another’s point of view. Even a few words, spoken kindly, can have a positive impact.

To pursue peace requires effort. Detectives don’t solve cases by sitting at their desks, staring out the window. They put their feet on the ground and get moving, thinking, analyzing, pursuing their goal.

To pursue peace is such a worthy goal that even God takes notice. Blessed are the peacemakers (Matthew 5:9).    

Pursuing peace will not become a habit overnight, but consistent effort will pay off noticeably in time.

The Importance of Me and You

THE IMPORTANCE of ME and YOU

Positive Communication Is NOT All Me!

These two little words . . . me and you . . . are filled with potential for stress. It used to amuse me when people would say, “It must be so nice to work in a church!” Here’s the truth: Communication skills and a desire for teamwork are important no matter where you work.

In today’s high-tech world, employers are still looking for these “soft skills.”

Put people together and it seems challenges remain the same. Note this fifteenth century comment by *Thomas A Kempis: It is no easy matter to live in a monastery or in any form of community life, to pass your days without bickerings, and to persevere faithfully until death.

What stood out to me was the phrase “any form of community life.” Isn’t that what our lives are? Community? From birth to death? Simply put, community means living with others.

Put Positive Ideas To Work For You

Practical suggestions for community life in Bible times sound like this in today’s English: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand (Philippians 2:2-4, The Message Bible).

Most people desire to create a win-win situation for themselves and others. But sometimes aggressive people bog down the process. To them ME always outranks YOU.

Let’s be positive. Consider the scope of my poem, and draw your own conclusions:

WORDS of LIFE

Darlis Sailors

Words have length and words have power

Say “I” and it marks my place

The world is big, and I am in it

Say “you” and life gets larger

I admit that there are others

I have a place, but so do you

You and I can join as one

Show strength as “we,” a force for change

We, as a team, produce good or evil

Alone I am one, my choice

With you, I must learn to give

Our spaces touch and new vision emerges

How will we live, part you---part me

Our plan is formed with give and take

Small words of life with power

(copyright, 2016)

*The Imitation of Christ: The Inspirational Teachings of Thomas A Kempis, Book 1, Chapter XVII, On The Monastic Life, p. 42, Translated by Stephen MacKenna, 2006, Sacred Wisdom by Watkins Publishing, London.