For discussion: 'Peace be with you'

Questions for reflecting on and discussing the feature article, 'Peace be with you,' April 14, 2014 issue 

April 9, 2014 | Feature
By Barb Draper |

1. When you meet friends or family, what form of greeting do you use? Have you ever met anyone who used “peace” as a greeting? Does your congregation use “passing the peace” or some type of peace greeting in worship? What is the meaning of this greeting of peace?

2. Alicia Batten offers two views of peace that she calls negative and positive. When you use the word “peace,” are you using it as an absence of overt violence or as a sense of well-being for all? What is the connection between justice and peace? Are there other words that we could substitute for “peace” to clarify our meaning?

3. Batten says that the risen Jesus extends peace to his followers even though they will face difficult times. She quotes from John O’Donohue: “People who truly follow their gift find that it can strip their lives and yet invest them with a sense of enrichment and fulfillment.” Do you agree? How does this lead to a sense of peace?

4. If peace is seen as providing a sense of well-being for all, how can we work at making our faith communities more peaceful? What is the role of peace in the kingdom of God? If the risen Christ appeared to us today, what would he say to us about the meaning of peace?

--Posted April 9, 2014

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