A few years ago, I participated in a seminar entitled, “Everyday Speech in Service of Peace.”[1]  The speakers, a Jew, a Muslim, and a Christian, addressed how their traditions teach us to speak and listen in ways that help further peace within ourselves, our families and communities, and in the world.  The seminar taught us the powerful lesson, that both what we say AND how we say it can make us and those around us feel more peaceful.  We really can create peace among people, as well as within ourselves.

 

“Are there two kinds of peace?”  Is internal peace different from peace in the world, or peace between people?  One Orthodox Christian view maintains, “The peace of the gospel is internal, a state of serenity and inner stillness, which reigns in the soul of the faithful man, of the man that has friendship and communion with God in Christ Jesus. It is peace between men and God and not among men themselves.”[2]

 

Perhaps that’s true.  I believe internal peace proceeds from acting peaceably toward others, and vice versa.  That feeling of peace can leave me as soon as my feelings are hurt, or I’m deprived of something I desire, or I see forces arrayed against me that I cannot overcome.  At any of those times, saying something peaceful to someone else - wishing peace for them - helps me regain that internal feeling.

 

In my experience, we American Christians seldom greet one another by wishing the other(s) peace.  Not that we’re without feelings for others – we usually say “hello” and ask how they are.  When we leave we wish them to “have a good day,” or a good bye.  People of other cultures often greet one another differently, usually wishing them peace before inquiring about their conditions.

 

Our Jewish friends often greet one another saying Shalom Aleichem, a Hebrew phrase meaning “may peace be upon you.”  The response returns the greeting:  Aleichem Shalom.  Just the word, Shalom, is often used as a closing in written correspondence.  Moreover, a traditional song to mark the beginning of Shabbat (the Jewish Sabbath) translates in part as, “Peace be upon you, ministering angels... Come in peace... Bless me in peace... Depart in peace...”[3]

 

Muslims use a similar greeting from the Arabic , As-Salāmu `Alaykum, with the same meaning.  And this greeting is used in the Middle East by both Muslims and Christians – it seems to have a cultural as well as a religious basis.  However, the Qur’an reports the angels’ greetings to the faithful in Paradise:

 

And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying) Salaamun ‘Alaykum (peace be upon you) for you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!’— (Ar-Ra'ad 13:23-24)[4] 

 

Nowadays, Christians often find, within their worship services, a time to greet one another, offering the peace of Christ.  One pastor sees passing the peace as “a kind of a blessing or prayer. Though speaking to a person, we're really asking God to bless that person with the peace that passes understanding.”[5]  It need not be only within a church service context either.

 

During this Christmas season, try greeting friends with a word of peace, or shalom, or salaam.  Speaking a word of peace, a blessing, might be your first step toward achieving peace within yourself, and creating peace among those around you.  May peace be upon you.


[1] This is one of a series of occasional columns in which the author, raised in the Christian tradition, searches for common ground and common history among the teachings, beliefs and practices of adherents of the Abrahamic faiths --  Islam, Christianity and Judaism.