From The Innkeepers

Blessed are the Peacemakers- April 2022

The war in Ukraine has been raging for over a month now. The images on the daily news feeds are enough to rend one’s heart in two especially when you see bodies of children maimed and torn by the shelling of rocket fire. The long lines of the millions of Ukrainian citizens forced to flee their homeland in an attempt to remain safe, creates a curtain of sadness over our days. My pride in the Polish people, the people of my ancestral lineage, gives us some hope that peace can indeed begin by extending open arms to someone in need of a safe place to be.

Recalling philosophy classes in college, there is a principle in Western thought that “the end justifies the means”. It struck me that perhaps Putin’s aggression in his attempt to take over Ukraine is rooted in that principle. Mahatma Ghandi, one of the greatest peacemakers of all times, in his philosophy of nonviolence did a reversal on Western philosophical thinking when he said that “the end is inherent in the means”. I puzzled over that turn of the phrase for a while until I saw the beauty of it. To me it meant that focus is not only about what we set out to do, but rather on how we do it that is important. For Ghandi, means and end were about the same thing-there was no separation between the two. Outcomes are inevitably determined by how we accomplish our aims. If goodness, compassion, and love are at the root of how we do things, then ultimately the end result of our actions nudge the world in that direction. The mystery of it is we may never live long enough to see the conclusion of our outcomes, so at times we may become discouraged.

Thinking about the need for peace in the world and how it has been disrupted in so many ways recently, also made me think about people closer to home who are peacemakers. Julie Thomas Beckett immediately came to mind. Julie comes to the Inn periodically for a retreat with a group of friends. She is one of the most peaceful souls we have been blessed to know as a result of our work at the Inn. Julie is a member of the Meta Peace Team here in Michigan. One of the distinctions that she makes both in her blog and her recent book is the difference between a “circle of concern” and a “circle of influence”. Our circles of concern can be casting a wide net for example, like to the people of Ukraine. But our circles of influence are what keep us focused to areas where by virtue of where we live or our work in the world, we can in the immediate circumstances of our lives be agents of change, peace, and nonviolence. For example, in addition to working with the Meta Peace Team, Julie saw the need to tell the story of its founders, in the hopes of inspiring others, so that their work may continue on in future generations. Reverend Peter Dougherty and Jasiu Malinowski, inspired by the work and teachings of Ghandi and having worked in many arenas where their paths crossed, whether it be at a rally or in a jail cell, got together and eventually formed what was then known as the Michigan Peace Team. Julie became part of their organization, works as one of its trainers and eventually undertook the monumental task of documenting and writing a book about the many situations that the trained volunteers have helped transform. If you are interested in exploring this further, the name of her book is “The Work of Nonviolence-Stories from the Front Lines.”

We can be peacemakers wherever life lands us. Certainly, there are many places or situations in our daily lives where a response of loving kindness rather than one forcefulness is the better path. We may not be living on the forefront of the world stage, but we are called to plant seeds of peace in our wake no matter where we live.

I’d like to conclude this month’s musings with a portion of a poem called “Benediction” by Bernadette Miller:

“May the prayers that grow within you
Blow in many lands.
We are woven of connections
And Peace is in our hands.”

As the season turns from lingering winter to the warmth of spring, perhaps you are planting spring flowering bulbs in your yard. Or perhaps you are readying the soil for planting an array of flowering annuals to add splashes of color to your surroundings. As you do so, say a prayer that all the seeds that you plant be sown with the intention of creating a world that works for all.

May peace be what we know in our time.
Marcia, Pat, and Sharon
Keepers of the Rustic Gate