PATH TO PEACE – REMEMBRANCE 2021

As we ponder the world that we live in today, I would like to share with you some thoughts from a person known as Jean Vanier. You may remember his father Georges Vanier who was one of our country’s Governor-Generals. You may also know that Jean was the founder of the L’Arche communities. Starting in France, these communities are now found around the world including one in Toronto. These communities address the needs of the severely handicapped by providing them with a stable and caring home – a place where they not only feel safe but are encouraged to engage life to the fullest of their abilities.

What led Jean to take this path in life came from his own experiences of brokenness in body and spirit. At the start of the Second World War, Jean was only 11 years old. By the war’s end he was still a teenager but his life had changed forever. He had experienced hatred and violence beyond what many of us could ever imagine. He knew not only that he could be killed but he learned how to kill. He learned about enemies and came to believe that the only good enemy was a dead enemy. While his childhood was cut short, he still had to live those years. He found his toys replaced by guns; his thoughts of carefree days at play or in school replaced by the need to learn to survive. Unfortunately, the reality that Jean experienced in his youth remains the reality for too many children, youth and adults in many parts of the world.

One of the books that Jean authored is called “The Broken Body”. In it, Jean reflects on how to restore the broken body to wholeness with these words: “My brother, my sister, you who are called to follow Jesus, to become a man or a woman of peace in this divided world of ours, may I give you some words of hope to help you along your journey? From an early age I was involved in the business of war. I learnt how to use guns and machines of destruction, how to be quick and efficient in order to destroy the enemy before we were destroyed. But Jesus called me to leave the things of war for the things of peace and to follow Him.” (The Broken Body, pg. 70)

Jean’s journey led him to dedicate himself not to the destruction of the body and spirit but to the healing and wholeness. He sought to follow the heart and mind of Jesus in seeing the ways in which people were suffering – particularly people who could not advocate for their own healing – and seeking to bring them hope in the midst of their pain. Jean encourages us to take this journey ourselves, inviting us to be agents of healing and wholeness in our communities and with the people we encounter who are experiencing physical, mental and spiritual pain.

Jean continues: “The poor and the weak have revealed to me the great secret of Jesus. If you wish to follow Him you must not try to climb the ladder of success and power, becoming more and more important. Instead, you must walk down the ladder, to meet and walk with people who are broken and in pain. The poor with whom you are called to share your life are perhaps the sick and the old; people out of work, young people caught up in the world of drugs, people angry because they were terribly hurt when they were young, people in far-off lands where there is much hunger and suffering, people who are oppressed because of the colour of their skin or orientation, people who are lonely in overcrowded cities or isolated in rural areas, people in pain.” (The Broken Body, pg. 72-3) For Jean, this is the path to peace.

At an early stage in the history of what has come to be known as Christianity, believers were known as followers of The Way. Faith in God as revealed through Jesus Christ was seen as following the way of Christ.  We need to recapture what it truly means to be disciples of Jesus. We need to get beyond our religious history and forms and see once again the vision of God for a people of faith, a people who follow a way through life and to life. “This way is open to us all,” writes Vanier (The Broken Body, pg. 72). Each of us is called to go deeper and to be compassionate as Jesus was compassionate, wherever we find ourselves, and whatever our circumstances.

Too often religion has been and still is used to justify actions which belie the truths of faith or to affirm the superiority of one faith over another. The opportunity for dialogue is lost in the thunder of rhetoric which too often finds its end in armed aggression. Interestingly, Paul preferred dialogue. When he came to a place where many gods were worshipped and found one called the unknown god, he took the opportunity to tell the people about the God revealed through Jesus Christ. He did not denounce their gods but chose instead to speak of the way he had come to know, the God who had come into his life and let each of them decide for themselves.

Different faiths, different languages, and different cultures – these can be ways to isolate ourselves in this world or ways to expand and grow. When I visit a new country or a new part of Canada; when I meet a people whose language or culture is different from mine, I can choose to do one of two things:  I can either decide to learn about and appreciate the place and the people for who they are, or I can decide to make them like me. I prefer to learn and appreciate. I will inevitably be invited to share my culture with them, but I will have learned to value them for who they are and appreciate the fact that they have let me be part of their lives. The path to peace is about seeing the humanity we share in spite of the many things that can divide us – language, colour, political, cultural and religious differences, just to name a few.

Just to show you that as much as things change, they stay the same, hear these words of Jean Vanier written in 1988:

“Now, as never before, we must try to bridge the gap that separates people, cultures, races, religions, rich and poor. Conflict is too dangerous a game; war can lead to annihilation. Jesus calls us to follow Him to help bridge the gap – especially the great chasm of fear – and so become peace-makers like Him.” (The Broken Body, pg. 75)

For decades, our military was known for being peacekeepers. In recent conflicts – even though they were called to take up arms in a different way – many of them sought to be peacemakers. Some of their efforts were successful, others were not. But it never stopped them from trying. For peace to be kept, peace has to be made. And if we cannot make peace with our neighbours, with those whose language, culture or religion is different from our own, we will never be able to keep peace. That is the challenge we face:  to see in the other our own self.

One of the last things our Lord did after His resurrection and before His ascension was to give the disciples the Spirit of God. He breathed on them a new breath. He also shared with them his peace. It was not a peace that would guarantee an absence of conflict or suffering, it was a peace that would surpass anything they might experience and fill them with the hope that whatever might happen to them in this life, they would know that they were loved by God and that ultimately their lives were in God’s hands.

Near the end of his book, Jean puts forth this question, a plea for the world to see its inhumanity and seek wholeness and healing of the people and the nations. “Can we not bridge the gap and discover Jesus, Prince of Peace, calling us each one of us to be peace-makers, bringing together in love people with all their differences?” (The Broken Body, pg. 76)

We have been granted the freedom to choose the path of Jesus – a choice that commits us to be peacemakers, but we cannot forget that we live in a world where others choose to walk a different path.   As far as it is within us, as far as it is within our sphere of influence, we can make a difference when we seek to take the path of Jesus knowing that the Spirit of God has been given to guide us and the peace of Christ has been given to us – a peace not as the world gives but a peace that can heal us in our inmost places and make us whole.

AMEN.