I offer you Peace. I offer you Love.
I offer you Friendship. I see your Beauty.
– Gandhi’s Prayer for Peace

What if we greeted every person we met this way and meant it? The Arabic greeting As Sallam Alaikum means “Peace be unto you” and the response Wa-Alaikum-Sallam, “And unto you peace.” During the Catholic Mass each week, we offer a sign of peace, often accompanied by the words, “Peace be with you.” But when we say these words day after day or week after week, do we forget what we’re really offering? Do the phrases become more rote and less meaningful? How can we keep the words fresh and true every time we say them?

I hear your need. I feel your feelings.
– Ibid.

What if we heard these words and believed them? What if we believed that our needs would be met, or if they could not be met, at least acknowledged, and our feelings honored? Might we breathe easier knowing that someone cared?

My wisdom flows from the Highest Source.
I salute that Source in You.
– Ibid.

What if we trusted our own wisdom and believed in the deep wisdom of others? When I teach, I offer group guidelines and the first one is this:

We acknowledge that every person holds a piece of the truth. We are each other’s teachers.

I believe this assertion sets the tone for the rest of the guidelines and for the class overall, allowing students to speak freely and to listen deeply (which is also an explicitly stated guideline). When we believe that we have something to offer and something to learn, we can approach the world with a sense of both confidence and humility.

In The Joy of the Gospel, Pope Francis wrote that “Even people who can be considered dubious on account of their errors have something to offer which must not be overlooked.” As you consider who you might consider “dubious,” can you make room for the idea that that person has “something to offer which must not be overlooked”? How can that person serve as your teacher? When I consider the question, my mind may immediately turn to “don’t do this” learning, which can be important learning. However, the challenge is to also see what kind of positive message, model, or learning the person may offer.

Let’s work together for unity and love. Amen.
– Ibid.

What if all of us did this? What if every one of us worked together for unity and love? What would our world look like?

It is unlikely that anyone reading this will see the time when all of us are working for unity and love, but what if just a few more of us were very intentional about spreading unity and love? How far might our intention ripple out?

What if we started each morning with Gandhi’s Prayer for Peace? What if we prayed this prayer for people with whom we were in conflict? How would it change our interactions with them? What if we prayed it before we called a congressional office and did so with the member of Congress we hoped to reach in mind? What if we prayed this for all governmental officials and meant the words we prayed?

September 21 is International Day of Peace, a day established by the United Nations by a unanimous resolution in 1981. There are many ways to cultivate peace. Praying Gandhi’s Prayer for Peace may be one small step. But cultivating peace requires many steps by many people on individual and collective levels. We can begin now as adults, but how can we plant the seeds in our children?

Archbishop Bernadito Auza, the Permanent Observer of Holy See to the United Nations said at the High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace that educating children in a “culture of encounter” is a necessary component of cultivating peace and “involves an authentic atmosphere of respect, esteem, sincere listening and solidarity, without the need to blur or lessen one’s identity.” He talked about a “grammar of dialogue” and said that “Such a culture would enable children to respond actively and constructively to the many forms of violence, poverty, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization, and other indignities.”

Praying, working so that children are educated in a “culture of encounter” and creating that culture for ourselves may be steps to fostering peace. Our world gives us many opportunities for practice.

Each year Pace e Bene sponsors Campaign Nonviolence, a week of activities focused on nonviolence and peace. The website explains it this way:

“Campaign Nonviolence is a long-term grassroots movement for a culture of peace and nonviolence free from war, poverty, racism, environmental destruction and the epidemic of violence.”

By the time you read this, the week (September 16 to 24) will have started, but perhaps there are events in your community that you can get involved with. Or perhaps seeing what others are doing might inspire you to plan your own event in the future.

I believe each of us can nurture peace in small and large ways. I know that it is not up to me to tell others how to do so, so I offer a question that comes up often in my heart and my writing and I invite you to ask yourself:

In order to create a more just and peaceful world, what is mine to do?

And I close with the words with which I began:
I offer you Peace. I offer you Love.
I offer you Friendship. I see your Beauty.
I hear your need. I feel your feelings.
My wisdom flows from the Highest Source.
I salute that Source in You.
Let’s work together for unity and love.
Amen.