Be Peaceful

“Be peaceful.” In times of war, this phrase makes us think it is being proposed to us imperatively, or perhaps affirmatively, or it could be a cry or a request. The truth is, this issue is not foreign to our circumstances when we observe the global, social, familial, ecclesial, and, in general, all the spheres in which we operate: outbreaks of conflict, divisions and struggles in society, ideological, political, economic, and so on. Murmuring, dissatisfaction, and complaints complement the panorama in many of these settings. To understand this reality, it is pertinent to place ourselves in the Book of Exodus (16:2-15).

The people of Israel, on their journey through the desert on the way to the Promised Land, murmured against Moses and against God. They left with a promise from God: they would go to a land flowing with “milk and honey” (Ex 3:17), which made them children of the promise. The question that arises is what lies behind this murmuring. It is clear that it is insecurity and distrust, produced by circumstances that relativize the promise and cause us to lose sight of God; this disidentifies us, turning us into children of circumstances, of the relative. It is also true that there are many resistances, prejudices, prejudices, and conditionings, motivated by accidents or unforeseen events, that put us in trouble; these realities are embedded in our personal history. Despite all this, the great call is that if we consider ourselves children of the promise, our lives and circumstances are in God's plan and project. That is what makes the difference.

To understand this in its essential context, we must focus on chapter 3 of Genesis, specifically on the disobedience of the first parents, a reality that resulted in the loss of original holiness, and with it, peace, harmony, and unity. What does this mean? That the close relationship between God and man was lost, but also the relationship between men, which was marked by domination and desire. Another very particular and specific consequence, as well as fundamental, is that the spiritual faculties of the soul separate from the body, and it is there that an antagonism arises. This is the greatest and first conflict; it is clearly stated by Saint Paul in one of the texts in a simple way: "I do the evil I do not want, and I stop doing the good I want" (Rom 7:19). A total division.

Another consequent rupture has been the relationship between man and creation, which becomes hostile, aggressive, and marked by domination. It is clear that this reality of conflict, division, or rupture of man as such and of man in relation to his environment has had and has its origin in that great rift of original sin, but it is much more true that "since through man came death, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive" (1 Cor 15:21). That is, Christ has closed that original gap and offers us salvation, which must now be accepted personally. Because "the human heart alone is the furrow created by God for peace."