Message: Shalom and Pax Vobiscum
I remember hearing Act 1, scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet, where Benvolio and Tybalt have a war of words and of swords amid the conflict between the warring families of Montagues and Capulets with Benvolio attempting to keep the peace in the public square.
Here is a snapshot of the scene synopsis and the lines in question of the interaction:
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 1. (“Juliet’s short-tempered and impetuous young cousin Tybalt calls Benvolio a coward when he tries to keep the peace between the Capulets and Montagues – "I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword, Or manage it to part these men with me." Fiery Tybalt expresses total hatred for all Montagues, illustrating the extent of the bad blood between the two houses. His rash and impulsive behaviour helps stir up a big brawl on the streets, causing damage and disturbances and angering Verona’s ruling Prince.” – not my words but synopsis found online)
[Enter BENVOLIO]
Benvolio. Part, fools!
Put up your swords; you know not what you do.
[Beats down their swords]
[Enter TYBALT]
Tybalt. What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds?
Turn thee, Benvolio, look upon thy death.
Benvolio. I do but keep the peace: put up thy sword,
Or manage it to part these men with me.
Tybalt. What, drawn, and talk of peace! I hate the word,
As I hate hell, all Montagues, and thee:
Have at thee, coward!
[They fight]
– from William Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet, Act 1, scene 1
Quite rightly the question comes of ‘what peace’? Not outwardly fighting is not necessarily peace. A tentative ceasefire is not PEACE. A still, silent midnight is not peace. Peace, true peace, is not held just barely on a knife's edge teetering in case one word or glance slips the conflict over the edge into outright raging and fighting.
The scene descends into fighting and conflict. Throughout the play fighting leads to death and more fighting. Even at the end the tragedy is that even more death and division comes. While it is not outright warring in the moment, the brokenness is not healed and there is not peace on the streets nor in the hearts.
Peace, what do we mean by Peace?
I am not at peace.
All is not well in the world.
There is not peace.
I am not at peace. I sense and see disquiet and tentative holding of not fighting outwardly. I sense and see agitation. And I will even admit to feeling the sense of needing to ‘gird my loins’ for battle knowing conflict is simmering away under the surface.
I am agitated and sense an agitation in the world and even in our communities.
So, what peace do we speak of? Peace in the world of strife and struggle and conflict and political overthrowing. News from around the world where martial law was declared in South Korea and then challenged, political disquiet in France, rebels seemingly overthrowing the government of Syria, continued war in Ukraine, ongoing conflict and terror in Gaza and Israel (remember our peace doves and prayers in Kippen last year). Peace in a world of conflict challenges us to wonder who this Prince of Peace is, the one who will show us the path or way or road of peace.
I remember having my attention drawn to the carving on the side of Church House at Kippen Kirk of Pax Vobiscum – Latin for ‘peace be with you’ – just before March 2020.
Peace be with you, Jesus’s words to his followers when he appears to them after his death and resurrection. Peace be with you… What does that mean?
Peace be with you. And also, with you.
A greeting a message but also a way of life.
The Hebrew word for peace found in the ancient Hebrew texts is shalom (or a form of that root word) which comes from the root holding the meaning of wholeness or completeness related often to the well-being and welfare of the people and the world. And the Greek rendering of the Hebrew is the word eirēnē which also has that sense of tranquillity and completeness where there is harmony and wholeness.
I sense it and know it in my heart that this disquiet within me keeps me from wholeness and God’s peace, that peace that passes all understanding.
All is not well with my soul, yet.
All is not at rest or silent.
All is at times on edge and agitated.
The storms of life rage.
Life is broken and needing mending.
My ways and words have at times been wielded to wound.
I know this. I feel this. I see this all around me and within.
I am not alone and the bible reminds me others have been troubled with the world and not at peace or walking in the way of peace.
The prophecy of Zechariah, the old priest, father of John the Baptist, met by an angel and silenced for the term of his wife’s pregnancy, speaks to the lack of wholeness, well-being, welfare, harmony and tranquillity in life as they knew it. He praised God in the birth of his son John who would be the one to point toward the Messiah, the one coming to save the people from the tumult of the world.
Why was Zechariah silenced?
Was he at peace in the silence?
Did God still Zechariah amid the business of his priestly duties to show him the ‘way of peace’ amid life?
I wonder if Zechariah with his doubts and questions on his lips that were then silenced found that comfort, that calm in his heart over the course of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Did Zechariah find shalom, peace, the way through with understanding? What a gift it is that we hear Zechariah’s story and song knowing the time it took him, nearly a whole lifetime and then his wife’s whole pregnancy to glimpse the way of peace with God’s chosen one who was coming into the world. Good news for us today seeking peace, seeking shalom, walking amid the struggle and strife, are the promises Zechariah bore witness to long ago in his twilight years: ‘By the tender mercy of our God, the dawn from on high will break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.’
Good news the way of peace is a journey and the invitation comes from the guide – the Prince of Peace himself – who speaks a word of ‘peace be with you’ and gives peace which passes all understanding right in the middle of the muck and mess of life. Through the valleys, the crevices, the shadows, Jesus shows us the way, the truth and the life, even when we are troubled and broken. When our spirits are disquieted, unnerved, dissatisfied with the world as we see it and know it to be, the Christ-child is born that we may know God’s preace, God’s love, God’s hope and promise, God’s joy and comfort that our way leads us toward God’s wholeness and healing through the restoration.
Isaiah’s words of comfort reminded the people of God’s presence while they were not in a good place. The image of the shepherd tending the flock, carrying the lambs and gently leading, gives us an image of being shown a way through the rough and rocky patches.
In the world filled with division and hatred, God seeks us to walk in the way of peace which brings wholeness and righteousness. In a world of warring and conflict, remember the words of the prophet to seek God’s ways, God’s strength to stand resolute in faith knowing the light that shines in the dark will not be snuffed out as God’s love endures, God’s light shines on and God’s way shows us life.
When our spirits are without peace, may we pray for God’s Spirit to fill us like Zechariah that we may praise God’s faithfulness in a world of challenges, seek God’s way when the world calls us hither and thither, and be guided to seek justice, love, kindness, and walk humbly with God.
So, speak, Lord, your servant is listening.
Pax Vobiscum
Peace be with you.
May we find this way to life.
Shalom.
Wholeness and healing.
Be still. Cease striving.
Pause and pay attention.
Lord, guide our feet into the way of peace.
Following the Prince of Peace.
Peace be with you.
Prayer by Pádraig Ó Tuama
https://www.
God of time;
Time came from the words shaped by your mouth
and then you came into time
in the body of a child:
with a mouth, ears, eyes, legs, arms,
a heart beating,
a stomach aching for food,
and a brain aching for integrity.
In our own time, give us the wisdom to discern
the signs of the times,
so that we can respond to the things that will make
life flourish
more and more.
Because you are the one
from whom all life comes
and with whom all life flourishes
more and more. Amen.