It took a year to read the Bible, then almost 9 months to read the Apocrypha. Now, I'm going to try to offer reflections on the Narrative Lectionary. But, I won't be posting daily--at least, for a while.

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

JustPeace, a Reflection on Matthew 5:31-37

My take-away from this: The law says something hard. Jesus says something either harder. Or, the law says something necessary, and Jesus emphasizes how necessary.

A current, real-world example of a way to live out the requirements underlying this passage from Matthew is the JustPeace Center.

The mission of the JustPeace Center for Mediation and Conflict Transformation is to prepare and assist United Methodists to engage conflict constructively in ways that strive for justice, reconciliation, resource preservation and restoration of community in the Church and in the world.

Here are their values:
We are created for relationships of interdependence with other human beings and with God—with all Creation.
When relationships are broken, we are called through the Holy Spirit to work toward reconciliation, the creation of new relationships.
Shalom or right relations is God’s vision for humankind and all Creation.
Believing that conflict is opportunity, not just danger, we can engage conflict constructively, growing and learning and even experiencing divine revelation.
The justice we seek is not retributive justice, but restorative justice—a justice that through engagement acknowledges brokenness, affirms accountability, and looks to the future for healing and restoration of community.
The process that serves reconciliation and restorative justice is one of dialogue and mediation, not an adversarial process.
Conflict is both personal and systemic. We must engage people as well as systems, the principalities and the powers.
We are committed to being inclusive and being sensitive to all differences in the ways we engage and transform conflict.
Believing that there are skills that are critical to the process of dialogue and mediation, we are committed to learning, teaching and practicing those skills—skills we practice as spiritual disciplines.
We seek to empower both people who see this work as a career and all of us who see this work as a lifestyle.
We believe that we need to do this work together, for mutual support, spiritual discernment, and the creation of community.
We will work with all others who are committed to these principles, with humility.

No comments: