And also with you.

Away with the noise of your songs! 

   I will not listen to the music of your harps. 

But let justice roll on like a river, 

   righteousness like a never-failing stream! -- Amos 5:23-24

Last night I had the gift of an evening listening to Father John Dear, SJ. (Right off the bat, he says, "Just call me 'John.' 'Father Dear' just doesn't sound right.") Thanks to The River's Edge in greater Cleveland for hosting this opportunity to listen to a man who has made a commitment to peace-filled living.

John Dear is a peacenik. He told stories of being part of various peaceful protests and being arrested for his actions. As a convicted felon, he no longer has the right to vote; yet he continues to work for peace in other (perhaps more effective) ways. The company he has kept, in protests and in jail cells, reads like a veritable Who's Who. His talk left me, again, thinking about peace and what it really means.

I think we (or maybe just I) can fall into the trap of thinking of peace as something more passive than active. Peace as an absence of violence, a cessation of war. Peace, in a '60s kind of way, sitting around together-- being peaceful. (Whatever that means.)

But peace is so much more than that. Because really, what happens in the absence of war/ conflict if the only life one has ever known is one of violence-- and conflict?

Defining peace that way makes me think of working with children, having to take away something they were playing with-- and suddenly they don't know what to do with their empty hands.

Or like a man who has worked his whole life and wakes up one day no longer employed. Now what?

This is where we come in. This is where those hands and feet get dirty-- and busy.

Peace may look like medical supplies for those in need after times of violence.

Peace may look like bags of rice, cisterns of fresh water, cans of baby formula-- and loving, caring people to teach how to use all these things.

Peace may look like clothing, or shoes, or glasses-- or crayons and paper.

Peace should look an awful lot like love. Love that starts where hatred left off and moves far, far away from that point.

Here are some of the names from John Dear's list of Peace All-Stars:

• Daniel and Philip Berrigan. 
• Martin Luther King, Jr. 
• Martin Sheen. 
• Dennis Kucinich. 
• Mother Teresa. 
• Mohandas Gandhi. 

Whose name is missing here? Are you on this list? Is this something you aspire to do? Because peace, in my heart, is a verb. It is a way of living. It is a first step and a second and a third. 

Until justice rolls on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream. Peace be with you, work in you, pass through your hands and in to the world. One open mind, one loving heart at a time. Amen.