Truth, Justice and Mercy Meet
February 15th, 2013
“Truth and Mercy have met together
Justice and Peace have kissed.” (Psalm 84)
“In these two short lines there are four important concepts and two powerful paradoxes. The concepts kept running through my mind as I watched the peace process unfold [in Nicaragua] in its fits and starts. I noticed for the first time that the Psalmist seemed to treat the concepts as if they were alive. I could hear their voices in the war in Nicaragua. In fact, I could hear their voices in any conflict. Truth, Mercy, Justice and Peace were no longer ideas. They became people. And they could talk.”
John Paul Lederach, a Mennonite Christian, is an influential author and practitioner in the fields of conflict transformation and peace building. He has written a little play – “a liturgy of sorts” as Lederach calls it, based on his experiences in working with conciliation groups in Nicaragua who often used Psalm 84 for their biblical reflections. We would like to share it with our readers as a good mediation piece for Lent. (Download the PDF)
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Related keywords: lenten reflections, Peace
