The Beatitudes Page 10
.
.
Now the day was nearly spent. The sun stood up as a flaming mountain and the hills were blazing with color like a forest afire. The darkness would soon cover the blue Gallilean sky. And now Jesus was ready to speak again: "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." In other words, blessed are those who work for peace. Blessed are those who love even their enemies, for the world will look to them for peace and call them sons of God.
There is no word in the vocabulary of any language that is sweeter or more meaningful than the word 'peace' as used in the Semitic languages. The word peace, 'shalom,' means, "to surrender to God." In the east, when a man says to another, 'shalom,' peace be to you, he means, 'I surrender to you.' When the greeting is accepted, the reply is, 'I surrender to you.' When everyone surrenders there is no one else to yield to but God, who is the Father of all.
When the statesmen of this world understand the inner meaning of true peace as advocated by Jesus the Christ and start to forgive and to give to the world God's peace, then poverty and want will be banished forever. Agreements and treaties will be kept and honored and wars will cease. Instead of asking defeated nations to surrender and sign treaties, the victor will say, "Peace be with you. I, the victor, surrender to you;" not, "You must surrender to me." And the defeated will answer, "I place myself at your feet." At last both the victor and defeated will surrender to God and find the eternal peace for which all souls have been searching.
There is no word in the vocabulary of any language that is sweeter or more meaningful than the word 'peace' as used in the Semitic languages. The word peace, 'shalom,' means, "to surrender to God." In the east, when a man says to another, 'shalom,' peace be to you, he means, 'I surrender to you.' When the greeting is accepted, the reply is, 'I surrender to you.' When everyone surrenders there is no one else to yield to but God, who is the Father of all.
When the statesmen of this world understand the inner meaning of true peace as advocated by Jesus the Christ and start to forgive and to give to the world God's peace, then poverty and want will be banished forever. Agreements and treaties will be kept and honored and wars will cease. Instead of asking defeated nations to surrender and sign treaties, the victor will say, "Peace be with you. I, the victor, surrender to you;" not, "You must surrender to me." And the defeated will answer, "I place myself at your feet." At last both the victor and defeated will surrender to God and find the eternal peace for which all souls have been searching.