We all desire peace. We seek it out. But, sadly, we often do not want to do what is required to obtain it; instead, we give in to the temptation offered by a perverse form of pseudo-peace, such the kind of “peace” which is established by treats of violence, that is, by way “of the sword.” What lies behind such a sham is pride and hatred; the fruit of such a false peace will be revealed by the harm which will be done to innocents, innocents who the powers that be said are acceptable losses for the establishment of that pseudo-peace. What is promoted, therefore, is the pseudo-peace of those who are morally reprobate, those who do not know or follow the way of morality; their ideology tends to be that of might makes right and they use their might to create laws and a form of order which go against the common good and the basic moral principles which are needed for the promotion and preservation of that good. Thus, as Didymus the Blind explained in his Lectures on the Psalms, the Psalmist not only warned us against such a pseudo-peace, he told us it is something which we must resist:
He calls them sinners and workers of lawlessness because they seem to speak peaceful and friendly words, but do wicked things in their heart in order to harm those whom they flatter by their peaceful words. Surely this is also said in Jeremiah: “He speaks peaceably to his fellow but inwardly has enmity.” It is the same thing “to speak peaceably with one’s neighbor but inwardly to have enmity” and to speak peace with neighbors while they work evils in their hearts. [1]
True peace is a righteous peace; it has everyone come together to work for the good of all. All those who seek peace must not use the pretense of peace to prepare for or make war against others. True peace, the shalom of God, requires us to cooperate with each other, realizing that we are better together than apart:
The conception of “shalom,” as we all know, involves peace in the sense not merely of the absence of war, but the presence of a whole and complete state of complementarity. Peace is peace when both parties affirm peace, meaning, when each party affirms the other. [2]
It is this peace which Jesus give to us; he has made the realization of the shalom of God possible, even as it will be sustained through the help of the Holy Spirit (for the Holy Spirit not only makes people holy, but through such holiness helps them transcend their petty enmity with each other so that they can come together and be one through bonds of love): “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid” (Jn. 14:27 RSV). It is this peace which we must take seriously if we are to be followers of Christ. We must work for this peace, not only in externals, not only in our relationships with others, but also in ourselves; to do so, we must work to overcome all the bitterness, hatred, and pride which will get in the way of attaining and sustaining it: “One’s mind finds no peace, neither pleasure or delight, nor goes to sleep, nor feels secure while the dart of hatred is stuck in the heart.” [3] It is because Christ seeks to bring everyone together as on that he offers us and promotes is a peace which transcends the peace of the fallen world; it certainly is not the peace of those who seek awards and accolades for brokering so-called peace deals backed by the force of arms. Christ’s followers should deny such pseudo-peace and call it out; they should explain how such deals work against the common good and the shalom of God because such peace is no peace, but rather, it is the continuation of warfare under the guise of peace, and it tries to give the side with power more power so that it can then undermine the dignity and rights of those they hate.
If we seek peace, if we seek the peace of Christ, the shalom of God, the peace which is real, we must begin with ourselves. We must work for peace by rooting out our hatred, all our iniquity, from within, for they create barriers between us and others, barriers which need to be broken down if there is to be peace in the world. Of course, we can work for peace, true peace in the world, while working for inner peace, and indeed, we should do so, but we must realize we will not be able to fully form lasting bonds of peace with others until we find peace within ourselves. Until we have obtained such peace within, until we have overcome the hatred which resides in our heart, we will experience our own private hell:
The best principle for living is to think, and to do your utmost to live in harmony with the mind, for this is to live for ever and to live happily. For it is in the mind that stability and peace are found. The man who falls from the mind sinks into hell. [4]
So long as we continue to find ourselves within our own private hell, we will not be able to attain true peace. Hell is individualistic, and as with such individualism, it denies us access to anything outside of ourselves; it only offers us what we can produce for ourselves, which in the end, is nothing; this is why we will find our sustenance is slowly eaten away from within, our being is corrupted and made low, so long as we hold onto such an individualistic attitude which closes ourselves off from all that is good outside ourselves. When we let it all go, when we break open the barrier hell creates between us and others, we will finally be able to grow, and in that growth, find the Spirit of God is with us, giving us what we need to sustain peace not only within, but establish lasting peace without, and enjoy the fruit of both.
[1] Didymus the Blind, Lectures on the Psalms. Trans. Jonathan Douglas Hicks (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2024), 112-3.
[2] Jacob Neusner, Jews and Christians: The Myth of a Common Tradition (London: SCM Press, 1991), 105.
[3] Śāntideva, The Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra. Trans. Kate Crosby and Andrew Skilton (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995; repr. 1998), 50 [6.3].
[4] Marsilio Ficino, The Letters of Marsilio Ficino. Volume 1. trans. by members of the Language Department of the School of Economic Science, London (London: Shepheard-Walwyn, 1975; repr. 1988), 162 [Letter 108 to Lorenzo Franceschi].
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