Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
MT 5:10-11
The Beatitudes can turn conventional wisdom on its head, but that's ok. It is good for us to "think outside the box" when we read the Gospel today from Matthew in Chapter 5. I lead such a busy life, and I can become so easily distracted by day to day activities. Then I sit back and remember that although I am only a blip on the map of human existence, I am so important to God that he sent his only Son to show me how to live. God is so interested in you and me, that if He "forgot" about us even for a second, we would cease to exist. That makes you and me pretty special.
Let us pray for peace today and ask God for the power to be gentle, and for the strength to be forgiving, and the grace to see where we need to turn conventional wisdom around. The power of love will, and always has overcome the power of hatred.
