Blessed are the Peacemakers

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise God you beings here below.
Praise God you spirits from above. Praise God, the Son and Holy One.”

My simple prayer as I walk in the early morning hours. Sometimes I make up verses for different thoughts of praise going back to this as a refrain.

As I was praying this morning at 6am on my way by the bus station I became aware of a man (I’m going to call him Isaac) dressed in a vibrant printed outfit of perhaps one of the African cultures. He was carrying a white hand carved delicate stick. I’m not exactly sure when I became aware of his presence though I know I was in the middle of my prayer refrain. This man was about 20 feet in front of me having just crossed the bus station parking lot, just continuing his journey south on the side walk. Our peaceful moment was disrupted when a man walking north on the side walk pushed Isaac into the bushes. Isaac quickly scrambled back to feet, trying to straighten his clothing and access what had just happen, saying to the man who knocked him down, “Why’d you do that man?” The man then tried to knock him down again as Isaac repeatedly asked his question. In self defense Isaac ended up swinging his small stick to make the man back off. The man never answered him, only uttered a few obscenities. When Isaac got the man to back off enough to turn, he did and began trying to walk away. I could tell that that man wanted to go after him again. At that moment I decided to walk in between them. The man took a few steps in our direction, Isaac had no idea what was happening as his back was to us. The man met my gaze as I walked. He then changed his direction and left us.

As I continue to walk, I began to reflect on how volatile life is- out of a peaceful morning walk violence crept into our lives. A few blocks later I caught up with Isaac. I noticed his medallion was hanging down his back, misplaced after the assault. I went to pass him and I mentioned it to him. Isaac was visibility still shaken as he assured me it was okay. I stated that I didn’t want him to lose it and wished him a good day as I passed him.

A few steps later, “Blessed are the peacemakers…” came to mind. Did I become a peacemaker in that moment? How fragile life is. How easily peace can be disrupted in an instant. It wasn’t just one man disregarding the peace of another. Anyone whom I share this with is touched.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise all the peacemakers here below. Praise those peacemakers who spirits we love. Praise God, Son and Holy One.”