Hope for Peace

Keep faith in our hearts for forgiveness

By The Revd Canon Andrew Wright

In one of the Bible’s most moving passages, Jesus approaches Jerusalem. “And when he drew near and saw the city he wept over it, saying “would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace.” There has always been war and violence between and within nations.

However, these last 50 years seemed to offer some hope of stability and mutual understanding. Sadly, recent times have once again seen a growth in conflict, some of which seemed unthinkable, most recently in Israel and Gaza.

The level of horror and savagery which human beings seem capable of inflicting on one another, even on children, is terrible indeed. And such savagery breeds further hate, ensuring the cycle of bitterness remains unbroken. Where, we might well ask, is God in all this?

There are never easy answers. With Jesus we weep over what we see. That same Jesus himself suffered the most dreadful cruelties. He knew there were no easy answers. We hear his cry, “My God my God why have you forsaken me”. And yet he held his course, knowing that in amongst the pain and the suffering his loving Father somehow remained present.

And that loving Father shows us, in Jesus, the things that make for peace – to love, even our enemies, to be able to forgive just as we need to be forgiven, to do all we can to build God’s kingdom of peace and justice for which we all long.

That kingdom is in the hands of all of us, wherever we are and however powerless we may feel.

The Revd Canon Andrew Wright is secretary general of The Mission to Seafarers.

A prayer for seafarers

Lead me from death to life, from falsehood to truth; Lead me from despair to hope, from fear to trust; Lead me from hate to love, from war to peace, Let peace fill our heart, our world, our universe.

Amen