Two items in the local news recently made me stop and think. It wasn’t the first time I had heard these things, but for some reason they impacted me in a more reflective way.

A mother who had recently lost her teen son in a senseless shooting responded to a reporter who commented on the gun violence. She pointedly said that guns don’t kill…people kill! The other item, somewhat related to the first, was a yard sign put out by a coalition of Youngstown churches. It simply stated: Stop the violence, Pursue Peace.

Stop the Violence…People kill! most of us haven’t killed anyone—not physically. But what about psychologically, spiritually, mentally? How many times have we harmed someone’s reputation by gossiping about them? How many times have we harmed someone by spreading rumors about someone–even if it was true did not make it okay to tell. Have we responded in anger when someone disagreed with us or put them down for not understanding us? Have we judged someone because of the color of their skin, their religion, their intellectual ability, their disa-bility, their clothing, their decision to wear a mask or get vaccinated, where they live, etc.? Have we been fearful of certain people, certain sides of town, getting involved, certain races, getting to know someone new, stepping outside our comfort zone? Have we refused or held back forgiveness to someone who hurt us in any way? The more I pondered, the more I came to see these things as personal violence that I—we—commit day in and day out. If we are to stop the violence, we have to rid ourselves of our personal violence and pursue true peace.

We call ourselves Christians which means we share in the mission of Jesus. His mission was one of love, peace, inclusion, compassion, caring, and service. We pursue peace when we live our lives following the mission of Jesus. Honor God above all else and love your neigh-bor as yourself. When we strive to be the best version of ourselves that we can be, we are pursuing peace…a peace in our heart, a peace in our soul, a peace in our spirit, the peace of Christ. With the help of Jesus, we can stop our personal violence and pursue a personal peace that will emanate throughout our environment–our family, our neighborhood, our school, our workplace, our church, our community, and even our world. We are all connected–we are in this together—we are stronger together when we are in Christ Jesus!

May you have a prayer filled week of pursuing peace in your life and helping to stop the violence.~~Alvera Bell