I started thinking about peace a longtime ago,in college,preparing my senior thesis on the concept of peace in the time when Rome was being transformed from a republic to an empire. That was a culture in which everything was “zero-sum” – only so much land,so much food,so much money,so much love – a culture in which someone had to lose if someone else gained. “Zero sum”meant you had to fight to get what you wanted, and then you had to fight to keep it. The success of Pax Romana or Roman Peace depended on continued expansion and absorption of the resources of other territories to satisfy the ever-growing demands of the Roman Empire. Those who had power got what they wanted at everyone else’s expense. The historian Tacitus put these words about the Romans into the mouth of the defeated British chieftain Calgacus: “They create desolation and call it peace.” The Romans believed in peace through power and victory.
That was the world into which Jesus was born. John the Baptist, who was probably Jesus’ mentor, saw things as so bad that God could only clean up the mess by destroying the earth and starting over again. However, Jesus had a different idea: he preached that love, kindness, and forgiveness could create a loving, caring community – God’s kingdom on earth – even in the face of Roman greed and brutality. He advocated peace though justice and love.
During our recent Bible study of the Book of Revelation, we read a prediction of horrors God will inflict upon earth and its inhabitants before Jesus comes to defeat his enemies, and the survivors can live with God in the idyllic New Jerusalem. A message of hope for those who believe they will be among the chosen, but desolation for those not so lucky.
Power or love? Which peace do we choose?

Lyn Pickhover, Peace-love