Using the Northumbria Community readings and looking for hints and glimpses that pertain to peace has not been easy, not least as we are treated to some that most erotic (or is it metaphorical?) scripture in the Song of Songs. Peace is an elusive quality it seems, and I have found the need to hunt quite hard to get anything more than the most trite or twee of connections. However, here are the three texts that I have found most helpful so far, see what you make of them!
In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. (Mark 1: 35)
"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry... Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. (Ephesians 4: 26; 32)
For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. When I awake, I am still with you. Psalm 139: 13 - 18
What does it mean for us to read scripture through the lens of peace? What does it mean for us to view our world through the same lens?
Give peace in our minds, Oh Lord,
Give peace in our hearts, Oh Lord,
Give peace in our world, Oh Lord,
Amen
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