“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” Matthew 5:9

The United States opened its Embassy in Jerusalem yesterday. The move may not have risen to the level of notice for many. It is something happening in a far away place that doesn’t affect the daily lives of many here.

For some of the religious persuasion, the move is celebrated—a clear and defining act of the United States validating Israel and perhaps even lending a hand to the restoration of Jerusalem.

For me, the news has been troubling. The move feels as though we, as a country, are taking sides. The move feels provocative—a show of support for only party, done only to please the few.

The problem is, we do not live in a world of some or few…we live in a world of all. We are all here. We share the same home (planet earth), the same air, the same resources, the same humanity. To deny the connection of all is to provoke the worst in humanity as we deny the humanity of others.

Peace is provocative, but not so because it can or should be manipulated or forced by the powerful into being (as though this were possible) or achieved by the denial of some.

Peace is provocative because it is hard. Peace is provocative because it requires humility, patience and love.

Peace is provocative when peoples from both sides of any argument, take the brave step of entering each other’s presence and talking and trying to understand one another.

Yesterday in Gaza, not far from where the opening festivities of the U.S. Embassy were taking place, 59 Palestinians were killed and more than 2,700 were wounded. This. Is Not Peace.

We can do better and I pray that we will.

For Failure

John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us

The will of color loves how light spreads

Through its diffusions, making textures subtle,

Clothing a landscape in concealment

For color to keep its mysteries

Hidden from the unready eye.

But the light that comes after rain

Is always fierce and clear,

And illuminates the face of everything

Through the transparency of rain.

Despite the initial darkening,

This is the light that failure casts.

Beholden no more to the promise

Of what dream and work would bring.

It shows where roots have withered

And where the source has gone dry.

The light of failure has no mercy

On the affections of the heart;

It emerges from beyond the personal,

A wiry, forthright light that likes to see crevices

Open in the shell of a controlled life.

Though cruel now, it serves a deeper kindness,

Wise to the larger call of growth.

It invites us to humility

And the painstaking work of acceptance

So that one day we may look back

In recognition and appreciation

At the disappointment we now endure.