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Sabbath Devotional :: Tension and Peacemaking
Philippe Petit is a real-life French highwire artist who I first read about in Colum McCann’s stunning novel Apeirogon. In 1987, Petit performed an act he called “Walking the Harp/A Reach for Peace.” In honor of the Festival of Jerusalem, Petit and his crew stretched a 300-meter-long highwire at an incline across the Hinnom Valley, which lies on the line between East Jerusalem and West, the Arab and Jewish quarters of the city. Dressed in a white costume resembling that of a court jester, Petit slid his white-slippered feet out onto the wire to begin his ascent. Crowds of onlookers watched in awe and cheered as Petit glided through the air, accomplishing the…
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Sabbath Devotional :: “A Genuine, Sacred, Divine Response”
In April of this year, Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke of the two great commandments: “In the twilight of Jesus Christ’s ministry, during what we now call Holy Week, a Pharisee who was a lawyer asked the Savior a question he knew was nearly impossible to answer: ‘Master, which is the great commandment in the law?’ The lawyer, ‘tempting him’ and seeking a legalistic answer, with seemingly deceitful intent, received a genuine, sacred, divine response.” “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Blessed are the Peacemakers
I have been thinking of the Savior’s assurance in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” This is a remarkable promise that we will always have and be able to feel peace, as we draw near to the Savior and His teachings. In the verse prior, the Lord speaks about the Holy Ghost and its influence and this is another way we can experience the Savior’s peace. As I pondered on this verse, I considered what it means for the Savior to give versus…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Fruits of the Spirit
“Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! . . . Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” (2 Nephi 15:20, 23) A speaker recently quoted that passage in my sacrament meeting. I started contemplating how we often extol bad behaviors if we believe it makes us or “our side” achieve something desirable and I was drawn to these verses in Galatians: “Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; . . . Idolatry, . . . hatred,…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Peacemaking Means Elevating, Not Shrinking
I recently gave a lesson on President Nelson’s talk on peacemaking. When I distilled the talk down to its heart, this is what I came up with: The invitation to become a peacemaker is an invitation for us to elevate ourselves, not an invitation to shrink ourselves. It’s an invitation to act courageously and boldly in creating a world where everybody is valued, where unity and justice abound, and love permeates everything and every heart. Being a peacemaker does not require us to hide ourselves or diminish ourselves in any way. Passivity is not a requirement to be a peacemaker, and bold action, when rooted in love, is not the…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Efforts in Peacemaking
The principles that anchor my own efforts and the work all of us do at MWEG are the Six Principles of Peacemaking, each so important and insightful that we probably aren’t supposed to have a favorite one. But over the last few years I’ve developed a love for the Third Principle: “Peacemaking demands great tolerance for people and none for injustice.” Having grown up in a family full of strong-willed relatives, I didn’t always have a “great tolerance for people,” and so I feel drawn to this idea because it has not been one of my strengths. But as I have become more involved in MWEG’s peacemaking efforts and through my…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Forgiveness, Reconciliation, and Peacemaking
I no longer feel overwhelmed with emotion when I think about a particular evening this past year, but I still remember the pain I felt. It was an unfamiliar feeling for me — one of deep betrayal and disappointment. Cruel, untrue things had been said about me because of my work with Mormon Women for Ethical Government. And it stung because the attacks were so personal. My closest friends comforted me, and I tried to shake it off because I had important work to do. But initially, I really struggled to put it in perspective. Through the power of prayer, I was very quickly able to soothe the stinging and…
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Sabbath Devotional :: The Master Peacemaker’s Diverse Responses to Conflict
As a mediator and disciple of Christ, I have often reflected on Jesus Christ’s varied approaches to conflict. He did not merely “turn the other cheek” or “agree with [an] adversary quickly” every time he was faced with disagreement or difference. Sometimes we oversimplify the Savior’s teachings about conflict resolution and miss opportunities to create peace. As “the way, the truth, and the life,” I believe Jesus would like us to learn from all of his life experiences and teachings to create more nuanced and diverse approaches to peacemaking. As Eva Witesman wrote in a 2017 Deseret News op-ed on peacemaking, “When I make peace, I want to build it.…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Love One Another — But How?
Last Sunday, I was re-reading the April 2020 General Conference talks. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has always been one of my favorite speakers. His talk: A Perfect Brightness of Hope was special. This section stood out to me: “We pray for those who have lost loved ones in this modern plague, as well as for those who are currently infected or at risk. We certainly pray for those who are giving such magnificent health care. When we have conquered this — and we will — may we be equally committed to freeing the world from the virus of hunger, freeing neighborhoods and nations from the virus of poverty. May we…
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Sabbath Devotional :: Choose Love
MWEG’s fifth Principle of Peacemaking says, “Peacemaking chooses love instead of hate.” This seems like a fairly easy one in the abstract, the theoretical. I don’t think many people consider themselves hateful or relish or seek out feelings of hatred. Most people want to love and be loved. But it gets more complicated in the concrete, the specific, the up-close-and-personal and daily. So how do we choose love? Chapter 4 in 1 John is a master class on love, and I want to highlight a few verses here: 7. Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.8. He that loveth…
