Peace on earth

Over shopping mall loudspeakers and radio waves the words repeat, song after song, 'Peace on Earth.” Yet for many of its citizens 'peace on earth” contradicts their lived experiences. Children cower under siege in Aleppo, Syria. South Sudan stands at the brink of genocide. In our own country police target African-Americans. Others water cannon and tear gas Standing Rock protesters. This year 80 refugees landed in the Cedar Rapids airport as I looked on. Many of these individuals and families spent years in danger, fearing for their lives. Some saw loved ones killed. Others were separated from family and friends. They longed for peace. For this they have come.

I long for peace, yet I see so little. Our country still reels from a divisive presidential campaign. What can I do in the face of so much division, so much hatred, so much fear? First I recognize the blessing of peace in our country. We live in the age of Pax Americana, the American Peace. Gains have been made. As December dawned Columbia ratified a peace treaty with the FARC, ending 50 years of conflict. From the early 1990s to the present violent crime declined nationwide. Despite the evening news and social media feeds, I am less likely to witness a shooting now than any time in the past 25 years. I do not live fearing a bomb will flatten my house and murder my children. Many fathers in Syria live with this fear daily. In ideology, I disagree with half my country. Yet compared to many, I and my family live in peace.

Will Peace ever come to my neighbor near and far? An old hymn prays, 'Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” Peace requires I recognize the humanity of everyone, even my enemy. On Christmas 1914, British and German troops on the WW1 Western Front laid down their weapons and exchanged greetings and gifts. Peace invaded those foxholes. For a brief time enemy soldiers glimpsed the humanity of those they were sent to kill. The 80 refugees I worked with this year differ from me. The look different, speak a different language, follow different customs, and may practice a different religion. Yet in them I see a common humanity. I see people like me who desire peace and have waited years to experience it. Can you see the humanity of your neighbor who voted differently than you? Can you look beyond the arguments with your relatives over Thanksgiving? As 2016 ends and a new year begins, ask yourself, 'What can I do here in Eastern Iowa to recognize the humanity of those I do not like or care for? What can I do here in Cedar Rapids to elevate those different from me? What can I do in my neighborhood to lift up the marginalized, the oppressed, the downtrodden?”

If you are white, seek out the black. If born in the United States, search for the immigrant and the refugee. If conservative, pass the time with a liberal. If wealthy, buy lunch for and eat with the poor. If young, listen to the old. If well-educated, talk to the illiterate. If healthy, visit the sick. If straight, grab a drink with someone who is gay. If of a sound mind, sit with the mentally disabled. If a homeowner, spend time with the homeless. If Christian go for coffee with a Muslim or an Atheist. If a law-abider, converse with the ex-con. Recognize our common humanity despite our differences. We cannot eliminate all of our differences, nor in many cases should we. Yet our common humanity can allow us to transcend those differences if we only recognize it.

The Hebrew Bible speaks of peace as Shalom. Shalom means more than a cessation of hostilities. Shalom speaks of wholeness, of restoration. In his Nicomachean Ethics Aristotle envisions Eudaimonia - that is human flourishing - as the goal of human life. Shalom and Eudaimonia will only come in the context of relationships. Maybe I can't bring about world peace. But I can bring peace to those around me through acts of kindness. Will you join me?

' Caleb Gates works with refugees in Cedar Rapids. Comments: caleb.s.gates@gmail.com