a soft answer even on Facebook*

The wisdom that comes from God is first utterly pure, then peace-loving, gentle, approachable, full of tolerant thoughts and kindly actions, with no breath of favouritism or hint of hypocrisy. And the wise are peace-makers who go on quietly sowing for a harvest of righteousness—in other people and in themselves. James 3:17-18 

Quietly sowing. This brings to mind a flurry of like-minded verses…be gentle and kind in all that you say and do…do not weary of doing good… speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people… the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness…and of course…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Just thinking, this is one of my student objectives for my next unit in Environmental Science that I am putting together this weekend as we explore “extraction.”  I am structuring a policy debate unit on a local flaming hotspot of contention: the Rosemont Copper Mines and whether it should or shouldn’t be. And sometimes speaking with perfect courtesy and correcting with gentleness is not so much something that is taught or modeled, but I am going to give it a shot, mixed up with of course, development of conceptual skills and depth and focus of knowledge acquired.

And first of all, may the Spirit have His way in me, that I may learn from Him who says, Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

* Somehow this rather mild verse set off a Facebook fuss.

In Arizona, when you google 'Peacemaker' you get gun shows

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Matthew 5:9

Wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. Romans 8:14

What stands out in bold in a brand new way to me is the promise of a harvest of good fruits and righteousness sown in peace.  Pure, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy peace.

Making the internet rounds this week is a Craigslist survey of nonChristians and how they feel about Christians: 

“I have no problem whatsoever with God or Jesus – only Christians. It’s been my experience that most Christians are belligerent, disdainful and pushy.” — D.B., Atlanta

“Whenever I’m approached by an evangelist – by a Christian missionary – I know I’m up against someone so obsessed and narrowly focused that it will do me absolutely no good to try and explain or share my own value system. I never want to be rude to them, of course, but never have any idea how to respond to their attempts to convert me; in short order, I inevitably find myself simply feeling embarrassed–first for them, and then for us both. I’m always grateful when such encounters conclude.” – K.C., Fresno

Somehow, present-day Christians forgot about turning the other cheek, abandoned the notion of treating others like they would like to be treated themselves; they’ve become bent on preaching, judging, and selfishly attempting to save the souls of others by condemning them. What happen to love? To respect?” — S.P., Nashville

And as I prepare for the SALT camping adventure, three days tromping about the mountains with Desert seniors, wearing a t-shirt that states in bold lettering: Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders, make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversations be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone, I am reminded that wisdom from above is not about a list of statistics or archeological discoveries or political finagling, or even wham, bam machine-gun-rapid recited Bible verses.  

To be wise is to be gentle, open to reason, full of mercy.  Peacemakers.  

And to set our confidence it the Peacemaker, the One who makes peace for us with God.  If He is indeed the Love, the Power, the Good Shepherd that we profess with our mouth, we can rest in complete assurance that He is the One Who Brings Forth the harvest, the harvest sown in peace.

And we shall be called sons of God.