For Jesus, the word is Shalom. We remember that in Shalom, we are speaking not only of the absence of conflict, but the presence of peace.

The question that bedevils us then is how is peace present?

Often we may feel a sense of relief from our anxiousness that we call peace, for instance. And what we sense is both an absence of anxiety and a presence of calm, satisfaction, or even joy.

It seems that we are invited into a pattern of actively cultivating peace. Something that is present; not just the silencing of conflict.

As followers of the Prince of Peace, we haven’t always put our efforts into a mode of positive creation, however. So perhaps we work to make that happen.