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Sowing the Seeds of
Peace
Suggestions for Religious Educators
By
Jim McGinnis
In a time of
terrorism and war, it is especially challenging and urgent to find effective
ways of sowing the seeds of peace. And the Spirit of God is helping us see,
embrace, and plant these seeds. In response to the terrorist bombing in
Oklahoma City in April 1995, the Spirit inspired the Archdiocese of Oklahoma
City to erect a statue of Jesus weeping across from the bomb site. Jesus’ words
in Luke 19: 41-44, as he wept over his beloved city of peace, Jerusalem -
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, if only today you knew the things that make for peace.
But now they are hidden from your eyes. The time will come when your enemies
will build walls around you and attack you from every side. They will smash you
to the ground and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone
upon another within you because you failed to recognize that God had come to
save you" were being address to us - "America, America, if only today you knew
the things that make for peace. But now they are hidden from your eyes…"
  
To remind us of what are the "things that make for peace," God’s Spirit provided
another image in the midst of the horrible terrorist attacks on the World Trade
Center on 9/11. A photographer happened to catch a church cross in the
foreground of the exploding building. The cross of Jesus, sacrificial love, is
the peace-generating kernel of every seed of peace. As we look upon the cross,
we say – "Behold, the lamb of God, the seed of peace." Pray over the following
list of biblical seeds of peace and allow the Spirit of God to plant them more
deeply in your heart (1).
Some Biblical Seeds of Peace (2)
"If a grain
of wheat falls in the ground and dies, it yields a rich harvest" (John 12: 24)
"Love one another as I have loved you… No greater love than to lay down your
life" (John 15: 12-13)
"By the blood of Christ we have been brought close together. He is the peace
between us, breaking down barriers that used to keep us apart,… restoring
peace through the cross." (Ephesians 2: 13-16)
"Those who lose their lives for my sake and for the sake of the Gospel will
find life" (Mark 8:35)
"Love your enemies; do good to those who persecute you" (Luke 6: 27,35; Matt
5: 44)
"Pray for those who persecute you; ask God to bless those who insult you"
(Matt 5: 44; Luke 6:28)
"Seek first the Kingdom of God and then all these other things will be given
you (Matt 6: 33)
"Forgive others and God will forgive you" (Luke 6: 37)
"An eye for an eye? No, don’t try to get even with those who have hurt you"
(Matt 5: 38-39)
"Don’t judge others and God won’t judge you" (Luke 6: 37)
"Take the log out of your own eye…" (Luke 6: 42)
"Turn the other cheek; walk the extra mile" (Luke 6: 29; Matt 5: 40-42)
"Give to everyone who asks and don’t ask people to return what they have taken
from you…
Lend without expecting to be paid back" (Luke 6: 30, 35)
"Blessed are the poor, the meek, the gentle…" (Matt 5: 3-4, 7) "but woe to you
rich and well-fed" (Luke 6: 20-21, 24-25)
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice" (Matt 5: 6)
"Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matt 5: 9)
"Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of right" (Matt 5: 10)
"Integrity will bring peace; justice give lasting security" (Isaiah 32: 17)
The
message of the Scriptures is the same message I received as I prayed for insight
as to how I should respond to the bombing of Iraq on that ironic day in January
1991, the day we celebrated the birthday of Martin Luther King – "in the face of
escalating violence, escalate love." And the Peace Prayer of St. Francis became
even more appropriate: "Lord, make me a means of your peace. Where there’s
hatred grown, let me sow your love. Where there’s injury, Lord, let forgiveness
be my sword. Lord, make me a means of your peace."
How do we concretely do the "things that make for peace" and "escalate love"?
The Pledge of Nonviolence – for children, youth, families, parishes,
workplaces, colleges, prisons (3) – offers us a wonderful tool for doing the
things that make for peace and escalating love "24/7/365." As the list of
biblical passages linked with each component of the Pledge indicates, these
components are core to understanding and practicing the peacemaking ministry of
Jesus. They offer us and our students concrete ways of producing abundant peace
by deeds of sacrificial love – consenting to fall into the ground and die like
Jesus’ abundantly fruitful seed of peace.
Several components of the Pledge clearly call for sacrificing ourselves for
others. When we truly listen to others, we set aside our own agendas and focus
on them and their needs. When we forgive, we set aside our own hurts and give
others a love that goes far beyond the demands of justice. When we stand up
courageously for others who are treated unjustly, we risk being treated that way
ourselves. When we speak out boldly for public policies that truly promote
God’s peace, we risk criticism and rejection, sometimes within our own families.
Other components clearly are ways of loving our neighbors as ourselves, putting
the feelings and needs of others on a par with our own - giving others the same
respect as we ask for ourselves, refusing to disrespect anyone or allow anyone
to disrespect ourselves. When we use helpful words (e.g., "I messages") to
express our anger, we show respect to others while challenging their hurtful
acts or words to us. We can play for mutual fun and not for winning. And when
we do play competitively, we can show good sportsmanship. When we care for
nature by using only what we need and preserving the earth’s resources we best
we can, we make it possible for future generations to enjoy the gifts of God’s
creation. Dr. King’s analysis of his "giant triplets of racism, militarism, and
extreme materialism" makes it clear that the levels of consumption in "the
American way of life" is a primary reason for expanding US military action
around the world, a real challenge to God’s peace (4).
Click here for the Classroom Pledge of Nonviolence in English
Click here for the School Pledge of Nonviolence in English
Click here for the Youth Pledge of Nonviolence in English
Click here for the Youth Group Pledge of Nonviolence in English
Click here for the Youth Group Pledge of Nonviolence in Spanish
Other Seeds of Peace in the Pledge of Nonviolence
RESPECT YOURSELF AND OTHERS
"I
praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Ps 139:14)
"Just like the clay in the Potter’s hand, so are you in My hand" (Jer 18: 6)
"A bruised reed he will not break, nor quench a flickering flame" (Is 42: 3)
"Let the little children come to me" (Luke 18: 16)
"In the one Spirit we were all baptized, Jews and Greeks, slaves and free…" (1
Cor 12: 13)
"How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?" (John 4:
9)
COMMUNICATE BETTER – Find safe ways to express anger & work at solving problems
peacefully
"Let everyone
be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger" (James 1: 19)
"Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger" (Ephesians
4: 26)
"Keep your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit" (Ps 34: 13)
"First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take
the speck out of your neighbor’s eye" (Matt 7:5; Luke 6: 42)
"Do all you can to preserve the unity of the Spirit by the peace that binds
you together" (Eph 4: 3)
LISTEN
CAREFULLY
"The Lord God
has given me a well-trained tongue, that I may know how to sustain the weary
with a word. Morning after morning God wakens my ear to listen" (Is 50: 4)
"I will now lure you into the wilderness where I will speak tenderly to your
heart" (Hosea 2: 14)
"The greatest must become like the youngest; the leader like one who serves"
(Luke 22: 26)
FORGIVE
"Be kind to one another,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you (Ephesians 4: 32)
Parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15: 11-32)
"You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge" (Leviticus 19: 18)
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23: 34)
RESPECT NATURE
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" (Matt 5: 5)
"The heavens are telling the glory of God; and the earth proclaims God’s
handiwork" (Ps 19: 1)
"The earth belongs to God and all that is in it" (Ps 24: 1)
"God put the human in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it" (Gen 2: 15)
PLAY
CREATIVELY – RECREATE NONVIOLENTLY
"A cheerful
heart is good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs
17:22)
"Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy"
(Ps 126: 2)
BE
COURAGEOUS in the face of violence and injustice
"My grace is
sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor 12: 9-10)
"God gives power to the faint… they shall run and not be weary" (Is 40: 29,
31)
"Let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us" (Hebrews 12: 1)
"Whatever you do to the least of these, you do to me" (Matt 25: 40)
"If you want to be my disciples, take up your cross and follow me" (Mark 8:
34)
How do we sow these seeds of
peace in the soil (soul) of those we teach? Peacefully!
Invitationally. In order for our sowing to be done peacefully, reflecting
the nature of the seeds themselves, our teaching must be inviting rather than
imposing. This means several things. We must offer these seeds humbly,
acknowledging that our understanding of what Jesus wants of us is not the whole
truth, that others may and do disagree with our interpretation of Jesus’ words
and deeds. But we must overcome our fear of being challenged by our students
and/or their parents and offer these seeds and invite our students to reflect on
them and put them into practice, sharing when appropriate how we are doing so
ourselves. Finally, it is important to involve the whole class in decisions
about what we and they can do together to put the seeds (Pledge components) into
practice.
By example. We must model the message, walk the walk, not just talk the
talk. We can respect our students in many ways – seeing them as beautiful and
affirming their efforts ("fanning their flickering flames" – Is 42: 3); learning
and using their names with reverence; asking for their opinions. We can
communicate better, by dealing with our own anger constructively, using
"I-messages"; setting up class meetings to solve problems peacefully. We can
work at listening more carefully, regularly using "active listening"
(paraphrasing). We can become more willing to apologize when we make mistakes
and to let go of our own grudges and forgive and pray with our students for the
grace to be able to forgive those who have hurt us individually and have hurt
our country. Our own willingness to reuse and recycle, to bring natural beauty
into our classroom and provide opportunities to point out and savor the beauty
around the school/parish/community encourage greater respect for nature in our
students. Bringing playfulness and laughter into our classroom, playing games
for fun rather than for winning, encouraging outdoor activities instead of
computer play all help our students learn the seed of peaceful play. Telling
students about our own efforts at to challenge violence and injustice, asking
for their suggestions and inviting them to join us when appropriate help to
encourage their own willingness to act. If and when our actions would involve
challenging public policy, it is important to explain to our students our sense
of patriotism – that working bring the policies of one’s government closer to
our national ideals and/or the message of Jesus, is an important way to love
one’s country.
Creatively. The diversity of learning styles and the fact of multiple
intelligences require us to use a wide range of methodologies for sowing these
seeds effectively (5). Using visuals - e.g. photos and slides, student
drawings, clips from videos – is critical. Songs that carry the message of the
seeds appeal to all learners. Children especially love the catchy tunes of Red
Grammer’s TEACHING PEACE CD/cassette. Creative lesson plans on each of the
seven Pledge components for K-12, plus ways of reflecting on biblical images of
peace, are available in the Alternatives to Violence Kits of the Institute for
Peace and Justice. The units in these Kits on "Images of Peace" and "Responding
to the Violence of Terrorism and War" are also available separately under the
titles THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE, for
K-8 and for
High Schools
and Youth Groups.
See IPJ's web site for the most effective
lesson plans for each Pledge component,
generally involving some dramatic element and each adaptable to grades 3-12.
Reflecting and praying on
each of the Pledge components deepens the experience.
A CALL TO PEACE: 52
MEDITATIONS ON THE PLEDGE OF NONVIOLENCE can be used by individual teachers,
whole staffs, and with the students.
How do we cultivate good soil in ourselves to be more receptive to these
seeds of peace?
As Jesus tells us in the parable of
the sower,
many of the seeds we sow are do not bear fruit, for several reasons. "The seeds
that fall along the road are the people who hear the message but don’t
understand it. Then the evil one comes and snatches the message from their
hearts. The seeds that fall on rocky ground are the people who gladly hear the
message and accept it right away. But they don’t have deep roots, and they
don’t last very long. As soon as life gets hard or the message gets them in
trouble, they give up. The seeds that fall among the thorn bushes are also
people who hear the message. But they start worrying about the needs of this
life and are fooled by the desire to get rich. So the message gets choked out,
and they never produce anything. The seeds that fall on good ground are the
people who hear and understand the message. They produce as much as 100 or 60
or 30 times what was planted" (Matthew 13: 18-23.
How good is the soil of our own soul? Have the seeds of peace taken deep root
in us or have we backed off at times, especially when life got hard or the
message of peace got us into trouble? Have the seeds of peace in our souls been
choked by our worries about what we have or need? Have we backed off from the
message of peace, from a life of sacrificial love, because we have been fooled
by the desire to get rich? If so, how can we cultivate more receptive soil in
our soul?
Steeping ourselves in the Word of God, especially the Gospels and the Hebrew
prophets, is a start. Opening ourselves up to this Word in prayerful silence
each day, as well as reflecting on this Word with colleagues and others in our
faith families, make for deeper roots. The biblical passages, prayers and
reflection questions with the 52 meditations on the Pledge in
A CALL TO PEACE
are especially helpful.
Opening ourselves up to the courageous witness of others, both those who are the
victims of violence and injustice and those who are challenging these evils,
helps us with our own fears. Attending talks by such people, reading their
biographies, and viewing videos of their lives are effective steps we can build
into our faith journeys, especially during Lent. Spending time with people who
have been victimized by racism, economic exploitation, violence and war, sexism
and homophobia, and listening to their painful and courageous stories can put
our own pains and fears into better perspective and inspire us to act in
solidarity with them. The more we do this, the more we turn our "hearts of
stone into hearts for You alone," as one hymn puts it.
A sense of community is also essential for cultivating good soil. Knowing that
others are with us in the struggle or race helps us run with perseverance,
whether it’s a spouse, some dear colleagues or friends, a prayer group, our
local faith community, networks near and far that we feel connected to, as well
as that "great cloud of witnesses" that has run the race before us (Hebrews 12:
1).
While Jesus’ parable did not identify worn out soil, there are definitely times
when our soil feels just that – worn out. Just as God intends a sabbatical for
the soil every seven years, teachers also need time for rest, retooling,
rejuvenation, and rekindling of our vision. 1 Kings 19: 4-8 recounts how God
nourished the tired prophet Elijah. Jesus feeds us the "bread of life" in the
Eucharist to nourish us for the long-haul (John 6: 41-51). For teachers, there
are some inspiring video models to help us here – the math teacher for E. Los
Angeles Latino students in STAND AND DELIVER, the music teacher in MR. HOLLAND’S
OPUS, and the violin teacher in MUSIC OF THE HEART.
How do we cultivate good soil in the souls of our students?
Many of the suggestions for us adults can be adapted for our students. We
can bring Jesus alive not only through the Scriptures themselves but also
through popular interpretations such as the JOSHUA books for grades 7-12.
Sharing the stories of peace-filled saints, especially in drama and video,
enlivens the peacemaking message of Jesus. The life of Dorothy Day of the
Catholic Worker in ENTERTAINING ANGELS, Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador
in ROMERO, Mahatma Gandhi in GANDHI, video clips of Dr. King, Francis of Assisi
in BROTHER SUN, SISTER MOON (6). THE STORY OF RUBY BRIDGES by Robert Coles is a
dramatic account of Christian courage and forgiveness by this 6-year-old African
American girl who integrated the New Orleans public schools in 1960. Prayer
services for peace that include the Pledge of Nonviolence are available in IPJ
resources on the Pledge and on the
IPJ website.
Loving and believing in our students in all the ways noted earlier in the Pledge
and in many other ways are very important. It’s much more effective to
encourage our students to take next steps when we notice and affirm the steps
they have already taken. Taking an interest in their interests generally has to
come before we ask them to open themselves to our interests. If our students
are convinced of our love, it is more difficult for them to write off some of
the more challenging things we might say or do.
Helping our students name and resist the "desire to get rich" that Jesus
identified as a major obstacle to good soil is especially challenging. We and
they need to see that the relatively affluent life-style of most Americans is
not the way it is for most of the world. Perhaps the most effective way to help
students recognize their privileges, especially if they are Caucasian, is to
encounter people who live quite differently. Service experiences in our
inner-cities, in many rural areas like Appalachia, on Native American
reservations, across the US-Mexican border, and in other parts of the world can
open our students’ eyes in ways that words and even videos can’t do. And then
to meet people victimized by poverty and racism struggling against these evils
is even more inspiring, asking them how we can be their allies in these
struggles.
To cultivate courage for those times in our students’ lives when "life gets hard
or the message gets us in trouble," there are several helpful strategies.
Drawing on the experience of Gandhian schools in India committed to developing
students as change agents in their society – by daily assemblies where students
engage in various dimension of public performance - we can offer our students a
variety of leadership opportunities and encourage speech and drama and other
forms of public expression and performance. Doing service projects in pairs or
small groups helps to reduce student fears. Opening them up to new experiences
– from learning a new language to visiting new places – also helps.
To cultivate vision and inspire courage, there are other powerful models of
sacrificial love to offer our students. The movie PAY IT FORWARD is the
fictional account of a 7th grade youth who creates a project to change the
world. He does three sacrificial things for others who, instead of paying him
back, "pay it forward" by doing helpful deeds to three others, and so on. The
story climaxes when the hero finds the courage to do the one sacrificial deed
that he had been afraid of, revealing the ultimate power of sacrificial love.
The story of SADAKO AND THE THOUSAND CRANES is also one of sacrificial
love, a story I shared often with students during the war on Iraq (7). Sadako
Sasaki was two years old when the atomic bomb was dropped on her city of
Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945. She wasn’t killed, but more than 100,000
others were. By the time Sadako was in the 6th grade, she was the fastest child
in her class. One day after a race, she collapsed. At the hospital, they
discovered that Sadako had contracted leukemia from the radiation from the
atomic bomb. Her friend Chizuco told her about the Japanese legend of the
thousand paper cranes, how your best wish will come true if you make 1000.
Sadako made her wish (to get well so she could run again) and started making the
cranes. After several hundred, she started to improve, but by the time she had
made 600, she was clearly getting worse. After making crane #643, Sadako
realized that she was dying and would never run again. But in that moment of
despair, she found the love and courage to make a second wish and give her last
ounces of energy to sharing that wish with the world. She made one more crane
and wrote that wish on the wings of her crane – "PEACE" – and prayed that her
crane would fly over the whole world and proclaim: "This is our cry, this is
our prayer: peace for the world."
Concluding Songs, Prayers, and Symbols
The Peace Prayer of St. Francis shows us how to become instruments of God’s
peace through sacrificial love. "Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where
there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness,
light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to
be loved, as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is pardoning that
we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life."
"Rainbow People" is the theme song from Susan Stark’s wonderful cassette tape
RAINBOW PEOPLE (8). This chant articulates a vision of peacemaking from a
Native American perspective, with images fully compatible with our Christian
tradition – "We are a rainbow people. We are beams of golden light. We are the
bridge to the dawning of a new day." God’s vision of SHALOM is one of the whole
human community ("rainbow people") living in harmony with all of creation.
Jesus is the "golden light" and, as beams of his golden light, we are truly
called to be light for the world. We are the bridge by which our students
connect with the wider community, breaking down barriers that keep peoples
apart, as Jesus did on the Cross, advancing the dawning of God’s new day, the
fullness of life.
"Wonderful World" is a more playful expression of peace for grades K-8 from the
same RAINBOW PEOPLE cassette (8), reflecting Dr. King’s vision of the "Beloved
Community" – "If we consider each other a sister, a friend, or a brother; it
would be a wonderful, wonderful world; a wonderful, wonderful world, ah-ha; a
wonderful, wonderful world."
There are several symbols of peace through sacrificial love that could be given
to students and teachers – a cross to wear as a lapel pin or chain around the
neck; a paper crane inscribed with "peace" in its wing; a "seed of hope/peace"
from El Salvador; or a pebble to symbolize the tiny deeds of sacrificial love we
can do every day to challenge the boulders of violence.
Teaching Suggestions, Resources, and Other Notes
1. Either alone or in a group setting, as an alternative to reading these
passages silently or aloud, play the "Sunset" selection of John Michael Talbot
on either his THE QUIET or QUIET REFLECTIONS cassettes where he recites Luke’s
"Sermon on the Plain" (6: 17-31, 35). Play it twice, asking listeners to open
themselves up to one of the "seeds of peace" that especially touched their mind
and heart. As a further step, ask them to pray over the passage and then share
some of their reflection with a person (sitting) close to them. Teachers might
cut up these biblical seeds of peace and roll each one up in the shape of a
seed, then sow (spread) them around the classroom, asking each person to reflect
on the seed they picked up.
2. For a resource filled with biblical seeds of peace for children, see
PEACE
PAPERS, a collection of weekly children’s activities linked to the lectionary
readings for all three liturgical cycles. Each master page can be duplicated
for use in religious education classes for 6 to 10-year-olds, with a "parents
page" for home use as well.
3. Other versions of the Pledge of Nonviolence (for families, pre-schools,
college campuses, parishes and congregations, workplaces and prisons), plus
translations of the Family Pledge in 13 languages, are available on the
Institute for Peace and Justice’s website –
www.ipj-ppj.org.
4. See Dr. King’s "Beyond Vietnam" (also
entitled "When Silence is Betrayal" speech of April 4, 1967 (included in THE
THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE
(K-8 and
High School), from IPJ). For a current biblical and political
reflection on it and the relationship between materialism and militarism, see
Fr. Bryan Massingale’s speech to the Roundtable Symposium of Catholic Peace and
Justice leaders on February 8, 2003.
5. The visuals of the statue of Jesus weeping and the cross at the World Trade
Center are available on the IPJ website:
www.ipj-ppj.org.
For popular videos on each of the components of the Pledge of Nonviolence, see
A
CALL TO PEACE: 52 MEDITATIONS
ON THE PLEDGE OF
NONVIOLENCE (from IPJ), where each meditation lists a popular video reflecting
that theme. Popular songs and religious hymns, plus a children’s book, are also
listed with each meditation. In addition to the whole program for parishes,
elementary schools and religious education K-8, and Catholic high schools and
youth groups, the units on "Images of Peacemaking" and on "Responding to the
Violence of Terrorism And War" are available separately in attractive binders
entitled THE THINGS THAT MAKE FOR PEACE for grades
for
K-8 and
High School.
6. The life
and peacemaking message of Francis of Assisi is dramatically and engagingly
presented by James McGinnis in his persona as "Francis the Clown." For K-8,
"Francis" introduces the seven components of the
Pledge of Nonviolence in
memorable ways. For youth and young adults, McGinnis has a 60-minute
dramatization of "The Life of Francis of Assisi" that he performs in schools,
parishes, and retreat settings.
7. For a fuller version of this story, see I Want LOVE to Win
– an article in the Spring-Summer of the Circles of Peace, Circles of Justice
Newsletter of the Institute for Peace and Justice). For the complete story, see Eleanor Coeur’s SADAKO AND THE THOUSAND PAPER
CRANES (Fellowship of Reconciliation, Nyack, NY:
www.forusa.org)
8. The RAINBOW PEOPLE cassette tape is available from the Institute for Peace
and Justice.
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