Peacemaking

I'm angry and anxious.  This is the current state of my soul.  It's not that I live there every waking moment, but it is the gravitational pull in my life.  Without deliberate effort I land in this this dark realm.

 

I am growing weary of the ways sin distorts our lives:  The lack of wisdom that leads people down paths of abuse; adults who are blind to the ways they hurt others by seeking their own agenda and crushing others under the cogs of their desires. 

Deeper still, I have buried my frustrations believing there is nothing I can do.  All these buried wounds are being struck again.  I am hurt and bleeding.   

I'm beginning to realize that I have not practiced the hard work of reconciliation.  I've walked away from conflict, seething, thinking the worst about people and their intentions.  Rather than confront and seek the path of reconciliation, I've embraced the path of bitterness.  It has not worked.  

David Fitch's book Faithful Presence challenged me this afternoon.  He argues that Christians are called to the hard work of reconciliation in the church, in our community, and in our world.   He argues that where there is no reconciliation, there is no gospel.  As Paul says, "God in Christ has reconciled the world unto himself . . . And he has given us the ministry of reconciliation" (2 Corinthians 5).  

I need to do better.  God help me.