This Advent we have been reflecting on the theme of peace. In our Advent course we’re exploring the witness of people who have worked towards a just peace in many different contexts, including some of our global partnerships. Although our focus has been global, peace-making is something we are all called to practice in our local communities, churches, workplaces, friendships and families.
Often as Christians we can assume that peace-making requires us not only to refrain from violence (in any form) but also to forgive others for the harm that they do to us. Forgiveness is something which Jesus taught us to ask for from God in the Lord’s Prayer, and it is a process which happens within ourselves, through God’s grace. I once heard forgiveness eloquently described as ‘letting go of the wish for a better past’; it is a process that loosens our unhealthy ties to the pain of the past, enabling us to live in the present and to embrace the future with hope. However, forgiveness cannot lead us to peace in its own right, because it does not restore us to right relationship with one another.
Here I want to consider another word: reconciliation. This word is often used interchangeably with ‘forgiveness’, but it actually refers to something quite different. Reconciliation is the process by which justice is restored between people who have been torn apart by violence. It involves telling untold stories, listening to unheard voices, expressing remorse if we are the perpetrator, and taking action to restore right relationship. Sometimes forgiveness without true reconciliation can lead to a kind of false harmony, an avoidance of the conflict stemming from ruptured relationships, a smoothing over of the cracks. This may look like peace, but it is in fact a perpetuation of violence. The only way to peace, in our own lives as well as on the world stage, is with restorative justice which brings true equity to all people and the wider earth.
Revd Angela Sheard
