Conflict is inevitable and today’s readings - every single one of them - brings that directly to our attention. Conflict is inevitable and apparently nothing new. We seem to be suffering the same challenges and difficulties that people have been navigating for millenia.
Where is the difference between good conflict that brings us to greater wisdom and growth and that which deepens our individual encampments, drains our energy and further darkens our blinders? It seems most conflict these days doesn’t actually move us toward growth and reconciliation. It doesn’t seem to create a path toward a shared commitment to the good of the world. The conflict I see seems to drive clicks and ratings, with the hope to simply make more money. All of this division and conflict creates confusion and ultimately gets in our way. It distracts us from recognizing the humanity in one another.
Conflict and division feel particularly present today, the consequences of individual passions that are held above our common good and the pure desires that God holds for all of humankind. And God truly desires good for all humankind - not just those who look like me, agree with me, speak my language, and make me feel comfortable. Comfort and quiet is not necessarily the same thing as the peace we are invited to cultivate. It’s easy to hear ‘peace’ and imagine a lack of conflict. It’s easy to imagine quiet passivity and easy agreements. Achieving peace takes much greater commitment than each of us individually directing our passions. It invites a real focus to avoid the distractions that most of our conflicts create.
I have to take a moment when I read a tweet about whatever new soundbite there is from a politician or reaction to said soundbite. I have to pause in prayer and remind myself that God loves the people who make me angry just as much as God loves me. I have to take a deep breath and work to recognize what is worth my energy and what is not. It takes a real discernment of spirits to sift through the troubles in the world and identify what God is truly asking of me in the midst of it, where I am being invited to engage so as to cultivate peace and where I am perhaps being invited to step away and not serve my own passions.
Today’s readings are beautifully human. They engage with the best and the worst of who we can be. Amid the multitude of conflicts and challenges we have among ourselves, may we take the moment offered to us each day to step back from the places where our passions cause us to sow divisions.and ask where God is inviting us to use our conflicts to cultivate peace with sincerity.
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