What shall we do now?
S. Bill Jimenez
11 May 2010
THANK GOD, the election is over. Now, what shall we do? Shall we continue the same drama of bickering and politicking? Let’s forget the previous campaign and focus on the future. We can start by pursuing peace and understanding.
The Lord Jesus taught: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called children of God” (Matthew 5:9). This beatitude is a constant reminder for all of us, but is often ignored by many—even some of our political leaders. Leaders who are supposed to act as shepherds behave like cowboys and wolves in handling conflicts.
Thomas Jefferson, writing the Declaration of Independence in 1776, stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness….” These ideals are better enhanced by the pursuit of peace and understanding.
This pursuit is admittedly difficult and seemingly an impossible task. Human efforts may not suffice, that it may take divine intervention to achieve the goal of peace and understanding. So, we can start with prayers for peace. We pray, communicate and work for peace and understanding in our respective communities and in the nation. The apostle Paul exhorts, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercessions and thanksgiving be made for everyone—for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness….I want all men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing” (1Timothy 2:1-2,8).
Jesus, the Prince of peace, taught: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-45). The Bible is full of wise counsel in the pursuit of peace and understanding. Isaiah wrote: “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation” (52:7). “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). “Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness” (James3:18).
In our pursuit of peace and understanding, let’s also listen to the counsel of the secular great and wise. Albert Einstein said, “We must be prepared to make heroic sacrifices for the cause of peace that we make ungrudgingly for the cause of war. There is no task that is more important or closer to my heart.” Benjamin Franklin advised, “I hope… that mankind will at length, as they call themselves reasonable creatures, have reason and sense enough to settle their differences without cutting throats; for in my opinion there never was a good war, or a bad peace.”
Dwight Eisenhower, a great general and wise president who knew more about war, lamented: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.” “We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living,” likewise lamented General Omar Bradley. The Asian proverb correctly advised, “The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.”
“Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble. Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing” (1 Peter 3:8-9). “Let us then pursue what makes for peace and for mutual upbuilding” (Romans 14:19). Amen.
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