Peacemaking

Jesus said: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

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We human beings are fragile creatures. Our desire for safety and security causes us to gravitate towards those who are most like us. We tend to look for a sense of self by identifying with a particular group. My family. My country. My ethnicity, religion or culture. We divide the world according to people who are like us, like what we like, or believe what we believe, and those who don't. We get into a mentality of us versus them, with so much defensive energy.

Pause for a moment and consider:

Who do you tend to put on the other side of us and them? What groups or kinds of people have you made into "the other"?

In this beatitude we are invited to give up the need to be win, and the need to be right; to step out of our echo chambers. It takes tenacity to stay engaged across difference, to focus on commonalities, to be humble and curious, to listen, seeking too understand another person's experience, perspective and animating desires. Where there is conflict, someone has to go first, having the courage to initiate contact and seek reconciliation.

Daily habit: Reach out

Each day this week take a small step to make peace in your relationships. Write, call or text someone you've lost touch with. Follow through on an unfulfilled promise. Or contact and, if possible, meet up with someone you need to apologise to.

Read more: For a "kin-dom" to come: Making peace in a fractured society