Rev. Christine Dudley

There were two neighbours, Joe and Sam, who lived side by side in the country. They'd been friends their whole lives and had grown old together. And, now that their children were grown and had moved away and their spouses had died all they had left were their farms and each other.

But, for the first time in their long relationship, they'd had an argument. It was a silly argument over a stray calf that neither of them really needed. The calf was found on Sam's property so he claimed it as his own but Joe insisted that the calf had the same markings as his favourite cow so it must belong to him.

Well, Joe and Sam were a both a bit stubborn and they ended up not speaking to each other. This went on for about a week when early one morning stranger knocked at Joe's door asking for work. The stranger was a young man who said he was a carpenter and could do whatever odd jobs needed to be done. Joe thought about it for a while and then he pointed to Sam's farm and said, "See that farm across the way? That's my neighbour's place. And you see that creek running right down between our property lines? That creek wasn't there last week. My neighbour did that just to spite me. He took his plough and dug a wide furrow up to the upper pond and flooded it. I want you to do one better. Since he wants us divided that way, you go out there and build a tall fence so that I won't even have to see his farm anymore."

Joe had lots of lumber and supplies on hand so the carpenter set off to work while Joe took the long wagon trip into town to buy farm supplies. By the time Joe returned home it was sunset and the carpenter had just finished his work. Joe's eyes opened wide and his mouth dropped in astonishment because there wasn't a fence there at all. Instead of a fence Joe was looking at a bridge, with fine handrails, which spanned the creek between the properties. And, crossing the bridge, with his hand outstretched, was Sam who exclaimed, "Joe you're quite a fellow to build this bridge. I'd never have been able to do that. I'm so glad we're friends again!"

And so, Joe did the only thing he could do, he put his arms around his old friend and told him he was sorry.

As this was happening the carpenter was packing up his tools getting ready to leave. When Joe noticed this he asked young man to stay on and do other odd jobs for him. The carpenter just smiled and said, "I'd like to stay on, Joe, but you see, I can't, I've got more bridges to build." (Peace Tales, pgs. 76-78, by Margaret Read MacDonald, adapted)

Building bridges for peace is what the United for Peace Campaign, is all about. United for Peace, a two year campaign sponsored and promoted by the United Church of Canada, began in November 2007 and is coming to a close at the end of this month. The logo and symbol for the campaign is a dove with an olive branch in its mouth.

Some of you will be well acquainted with the United for Peace campaign whereas some of you may not be familiar with its origins and purpose. On the United Church of Canada website, information about United for Peace explains that:

"Currently the world's peoples are suffering through almost 40 armed conflicts in 27 countries, child soldiers are involved in at least 17 of these conflicts, annual military spending is over $1.1 trillion, and there are over 600 million small arms in circulation around the world - one for every 10 people on this planet. the United for Peace Campaign was approved at the 39th General Council 2006 out of grave concern for the situation in Israel and Palestine. The scope of the campaign has been broadened by the Executive of the General Council to also address conflict and the need to work toward just peace in Canada and other parts of the world."
(About United for Peace)

The United for Peace campaign was designed around a threefold invitation for people of the United Church of Canada to:

•  Learn about the root causes of violence, and about the work of partners in Canada and around the world to prevent conflict and support reconciliation.
•  Act by calling on the Canadian government to take action that promotes peace around the world.
•  Give to support Canadian and global partners as they work for peace with justice for all people.

These goals incorporated both educational, advocacy, and fundraising components. Worship resources and a Study Guide and were designed and available to congregations and the national fundraising goal was set at two million dollars over the course of two years. I recommend you look at the United for Peace website and read the "Grants to Partners" list which gives information about some of the projects and global partners which have received funding from this initiative.)

Responding to this national campaign our Nelson United Church Outreach Committee decided to focus our efforts, particularly in this past year, on United for Peace fundraising and educational events. We set a goal to raise two thousand dollars over two years for United for Peace and very recently we reached our goal. We sold United for Peace olive wood dove pins which were designed and produced by a Palestinian artisan with metal pin backings supplied by an Israeli distributor. (This partnership is significant as is the fact that sixty percent of the wood used to make the pins comes from olive groves uprooted during the construction of the 8 metre high cement wall which divides Bethlehem from Jerusalem.) We also adapted the United for Peace Study Guide and hosted a five week Peace Study last Fall. As a community of faith, we decorated our church Christmas tree last year with dove cookie cutters as a symbol of our hopes and prayers for peace in our families, our community and our world. And, last Spring we hosted Roll 'em for Peace, a film fest with three films highlighting actions for peace.

That is all good news. The challenging part is that the United for Peace campaign has drastically fallen short of its fundraising goal. I couldn't find a current total to give you but I do know that by this time last year less than 10 percent of the two million dollar national goal had been achieved.

This campaign was designed along the same lines as the Beads of Hope campaign, a few years ago, which highlighted HIV/AIDS education, advocacy and action funding. Unlike, United for Peace, The Beads of Hope campaign far surpassed the two million dollar target over a two year time period.

Why the difference? Initial church analysis wonders if this is a reflection of increasing numbers of United Church congregations struggling financially to stay afloat. It has been proposed that this has contributed to a decreasing ability to contribute to special fundraising campaigns which are over and above regular Mission and Service commitments. I think perhaps there is more to it than that. I wonder if the subject of promoting initiatives for peace in our world seems too huge, too overwhelming, and somewhat nebulous in our understanding of how we can contribute to this in meaningful ways. While we, as a congregation, reached our United for Peace fundraising goal, the study sessions and the film fest were very poorly attended. I tell you this, not to make any of you feel guilty for not attending but simply as something to reflect upon.

In this vast and somewhat overwhelming idea of peace in our world it is helpful, I think even imperative, to begin with what we can do in our own lives. I believe when we centre ourselves prayerfully and intentionally, around peace-filled thoughts and actions, that we are able to (as it says in Ephesians) accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine. (Ephesians 3:20)

And that is why the Outreach Committee has asked you, over the past few weeks, to think about what concrete actions you are willing to commit to fulfilling in your own lives. It is with the belief that each effort for peace, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant, when added to the efforts of many others does make a significant difference in our world. Together these individual commitments form a communal covenant for peace which we affirm and bless as people of faith and hope.

We are called to the task of building bridges for peaceful relations, rather than creating barriers and divisions between ourselves and others. And so in our own words, and in our own ways, we commit ourselves to faith-filled action:

Recognizing that some of our hopes and prayers for peace are too deep for words we offer an opportunity to come forward to light a candle while our written commitments to building peace are spoken aloud. I invite you to let these words, and their intention, wash over you as a healing and empowering prayer.