The Peace of God

Thinking (still) about the post below, and responding to may's comment there, I went in search of a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and found, not entirely unexpectedly, more than I'd bargained for. These two speak to the point I was trying to make:

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

And in answer to the question: "Does that mean we do nothing?," I answer, "No." I answer with Dr. King's words: "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

And the one I was looking for:

Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

I think Bush&Co are finding that out.

And, a bit of a lesson from the sermon this morning. Darkness has no existence; it is only the absence of light, just as cold is the absence of heat. We should extend light, not deepen darkness. We should be bearers of heat, not leavers of cold.

To all of this, I would only add the words of the hymn from this morning:

They cast their nets in Galilee just off the hills of brown;
such happy, simple fisherfolk, before the Lord came down.

Contented, peaceful fishermen, before they ever knew
the peace of God that filled their hearts brimful, and broke them too.

Young John who trimmed the flapping sail, homeless in Patmos died,
Peter, who hauled the teeming nets, head down was crucified.

The peace of God, it is no peace, but strife closed in the sod.
Yet let us pray for but one thing--the marvelous peace of God.