Peace is God’s gift

73. Most peacemakers in history failed in their central objectives. Peace did not always come in response to their efforts. Not rarely, they lost their lives. Their accounts read like a tragic waste. But nothing is lost in God. Peace comes in His own good time, independently of all that the peacemaker can do. The fighting may end for many reasons: weapons run short; fighters are exhausted; army pressure mounts; good sense comes to prevail. There are many ways in which God makes people beat swords into ploughshares.  

74. The peacemaker’s effort is like the flickering lamp over the high altar, which speaks of a Presence and whispers hope (SL 80). And when His peace comes at last, there is sunshine and joy over every hill and in every valley. It is a sunshine that pierces the secret thoughts of every heart, dispelling gloom and holding out hopes.