Pray for peace?

[tomarin]

the one thing i most tangibly, urgently want is peace in the world. it seems nobody wants to be a peacemaker, even our leaders who call themselves christians. perhaps the forces and conditions that lead to war are so intractable and inevitable that it doesn’t matter what religion our leaders profess to follow.

my question is: can i pray for peace? should i pray for peace? i know god is powerful enough to make anything happen, but what difference would it make if god respects the free will of humans so much? is god supposed to turn swords into plowshares or make warlords into peacemakers?

i’m sorry if i sound cynical but it just seems we humans never seem to learn the folly of war.

 

[drafdog]

I don’t think you’re cynical, just realistic. It’s not a very nice world we live in, but it’s still the best of all possible worlds.

Pray for peace, but remember that peace is something which occurs only in the heart of each individual. World peace will occur only when the “peace which passes all understanding” abides in the hearts of all. When you pray for peace, this is what you are asking God to provide. He must work with each one of us individually. Our task is to place ourselves in His hands and at His disposal.

Matthew

 

[tomarin]

remember that peace is something which occurs only in the heart of each individual. World peace will occur only when the “peace which passes all understanding” abides in the hearts of all

or in other words, the kingdom of heaven is not a this-worldly kingdom. is that it?

on a lighter note, the comment about this being the best of all possible worlds never fails to remind me of an exchange between woody allen and diane keaton in his comedy masterpiece “love and death”:

diane: “oh cousin boris, truly this must be the best of all possible worlds!”

woody (boris): “well, it’s certainly the most expensive.”

 

[drafdog]

To hold that this is not the best of all possible worlds is to posit that there is something essentially wrong with creation as God made it. Therefore this is the best of all possible worlds (within God’s design parameters).

My point is that if we truly want peace, we must know first of what that consists. I contend that it is not something “out there” but rather something within the person. Scripture supports this view. cf the quote from Paul in my previous post.

Matthew

 

[tomarin]

sorry i didn’t intend the line from the movie to express a serious point of view, just a light-hearted comment.

i’m sure you’re right about scripture supporting your view (though i didn’t see a quote from paul – can you repost it?). these are complicated issues and i appreciate your willingness to contribute to my understanding of them.

i know objectively there’s nothing wrong with praying for peace, as we do this every sunday at mass. i just wondered how god might respond to the prayers – which i guess is pointless speculation as “man proposes, god disposes”. it seems a prayer for peace is really a prayer for conversion.