How Can I Make Peace Come Alive in My World?

By Alfred Benedict Bayan
Fourth Year – 1 (St Frances Xavier Cabrini), Saint Augustine’s School, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur

Shalom! Peace! Peace be with you! This is probably the most soothing greeting we can give to someone at all times. It is the greeting we give and receive at Mass before Holy Communion, and it is the same greeting that Jesus gave his apostles when He appeared to them in the Upper Room after His Resurrection. Is peace really that essential to one’s life? Is it necessary among people? Peace. It may be the word that is most spoken, but is it truly being pondered upon and lived out, or is it foreign in our world?

When I was small, my parents used to tell me and my siblings to be peaceful persons, to avoid quarrels whenever and wherever possible, to treat others fairly, to give due respect to and be in good terms with everyone. They reminded us then to reconcile immediately and be at peace with others when conflicts and misunderstanding arose. Now that I am a teenager, I recognize the impact of valuing peace at an early age and living it out at home and outside home. These times, I never encounter problems in dealing with others in my own little world and I feel at home with everyone I meet. Certainly, it is true that when we speak peaceful words which are eventually translated into actions, we broadcast a message of peace that vibrates throughout our minds and bodies. We are sending the message ‘Be at peace’ to ourselves and to everyone around us.

They say peace commences within oneself and its rippling effects will radiate to all concerns of the world. As St Francis of Assisi prayed, we need to be channels of peace. One story in the 1000 Stories divulges, why play war if you can play peace with others? But the only problem in the story is that in the end, the children became silent for they don’t now how to play peace. The world today is in dire need of peace – peace in every family, in workplaces, in small communities and peace with the environment. Undeniably, peace is not merely the absence of war and peace can’t be achieved without justice. The fair treatment and respect for others I was trained to put into practice at my young age must extend beyond just the little friendships I have.

What about my relationship with my country? With the natural world, the environment? My world is not just confined to my family, to school and to my neighborhood. I have to look at my bigger home, the planet earth.

Young as I am, I can contribute to the role of stewardship to preserve the earth from its unmitigated obliteration. I am taught that I am an earthling and thus, I should be an earth keeper. The simple practices of recycling, reducing, reusing and rejecting, if done faithfully, can be of much help in restoring the splendor and tranquility of Mother Earth. The sincere act of conserving water and energy manifests care for the earth.

Be at peace! Let it not remain in words, but let it radiate within and beyond our little worlds – at home, in school, in the community and in our planet earth.

I am and must be an active peacemaker in my own little ways. How? TRANSFORM every act of...

P ride to practicing humility in every way.

E nvy to appreciating and affirming the goodness and greatness of others.

A nger to accepting and forgiving others’ transgressions against me.

C onceit to recognizing the giftedness of each individual especially those considered ‘least’.

E xclusiveness to embracing everyone in my circle of friends and in my world of generous service.

Then and only then can I profess that I am Jesus’ disciple of peace worthy to greet everyone, ‘PEACE’, ‘SHALOM’.