Peacemaker or Peacebreaker

 

It was fairly early in the day when a little was brought to my office. He had created quite a nonpeaceful environment for others in the classroom. I continued with my practice of listening to his defense before making a call home or issuing a consequence. It's amazing what you can find out if you take the time to stop, put aside the chaos of the moment, and listen. Truly listen. In a matter of minutes, he poured out the multiple tragedies his family was facing at that very moment. Poverty and cancer were at the top of his list of hurts, and it was easy to see what had robbed this little fellow of security and peace.

Both are something no six-year-old should have to be without. We spent time talking through those things, and he returned to class a little more settled. Yet, I was anything but settled. I wondered what would happen to him and to his family. I thought about the security he lacked in his situation. I hoped, just hoped, I had made some difference by listening and ending it with no consequences other than an apology to the ones he had harmed. I dreaded the criticism for the lightness of his sentence. It was an experiment, I told myself. A risky one that could have had less-than-successful results if he saw my ease with his consequences as weakness, but instead it worked. His behavior improved, and within a few days, my little worried child, so full of fear and acting so out of character, had returned to his normal, sweet self - peaceful and happy. I thought about what had made the difference.

 Sometimes, all people, even little people, need is someone to listen intently. Not just murmuring uh- huh on cue but truly listening to the point that they can feel your sincerity and, in turn, are ready to receive your offer of peace in exchange for their turmoil. That day, I got my chance. I saw the importance of bending the rules sometimes, and in this case in the name of peace and healing that had been needed for a long time. 

So where do we stand. Peacemaker or peacebreaker? I knew the presence of this through the pages of scripture, but that day, I came face to face rather through the desperate eyes of a little boy who didn't even know how to sort through his real problem that day. He lacked peace in his little heart as his world crumbled, and he was unable to find a way to understand all the wrongs in his life. 

I cringe when I think about how I could have followed the traditional protocol for misbehavior that day and missed the opportunity to find something lasting that could truly change the way he saw things, and I underestimated the power of a little hope given. I could have missed the moment to be a peacemaker in his life that day.

We are all called to be lasting peacemakers through the example of our Savior Jesus, who made a way for us to find lasting peace through the cross that still triumphs over the down and out moments of our less-than-perfect selves. 

If nothing else is clear, may we remember that we are called to make peace not break it for those who cross our paths each day.

Matthew 5:9 Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.