The hill

To love our neighbor as ourself can be a great challenge, one that we often need God’s help with, particularly when situations are violent. Sometimes all we can do is pray–that leaders will make right and moral decisions, that a sense of the value of all human life will grow in the minds and hearts of us all, that we move away from the desire for retribution and toward a desire to spread peace and concord both in our personal circles and in the wider world.

I was recently reading Amanda Gorman’s poem, “The Hill We Climb.” I had forgotten that in it there is a prayer about peace, in which she references the prophet Micah, who talks about beating swords into plows and spears into pruning hooks, in effect replacing weapons of war with weapons of peace.

Here’s the part of the poem that struck me: “Scripture tells us to envision that: “Everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree, And no one shall make them afraid.” If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory Won’t lie in the blade, but in all the bridges we’ve made. That is the promised glade, the hill we climb, if only we dare it: Because being American is more than a pride we inherit–It’s the past we step into and how we repair it.”

I thought her comments insightful, because when we pray for peace, we are praying to build new bridges between peoples and cultures, creating new relationships, and growth that takes us beyond past hurts. We deal with the sins of the past in order to move forward. Again, not an easy task, but the God of peace walks with us, and that should give us hope.

“I love you, Lord, my strength, Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold.” (Psalm 18:1-3)