Blessed are the Peacemakers

On the subway this morning, I half-listened as two complete strangers began to argue intently over a misunderstanding involving a bag that had been sitting in the seat.  Apparently, woman A had unknowingly knocked woman B's bag to the ground, resulting in the type of awkward exchange that always seems way too intense for the moment.  Neither woman appeared to be backing down, their trades of insults and threats getting louder and more out of hand.  Had this been the bus, I am almost certain the driver would have asked them both to get off at the next stop.  Luckily, someone intervened.  A third, much younger woman, calmly removed her headphones and asked a simple question.

"Is it really that serious to be arguing over?"

Most of the people around, who had been deeply enthralled in what felt like it would soon be a physical altercation, immediately slumped their heads or averted their eyes back to their own personal matters.  No doubt, they all felt just as silly for getting so mixed up in the ordeal.  The looks that fell across the faces of the two women could be categorized as both fitting and surprising.  I expected them to unleash their anger onto this other woman, but instead they were silent.  They both looked guilty and childish at the same time.  I remember wishing I could hear what they were thinking.

Then my attention refocused on the peacemaker.  As I said, she was younger than both the other ladies.  An average young woman on any other subway train.  I was impressed that she didn't seek any kind of gratification from calming their quarrel.  She simply returned her headphones to her ears and continued waiting for her stop.  Long after she'd gotten off the train, my mind was still working over her.  Who was she?  And just what separated her from all the other onlookers, including myself, who were unwilling to intervene.  It made me think of the Beatitudes, from growing up as the son of a minister.  I've heard them many times throughout my life, but never really was able to apply real life meaning to them.  Until today.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God

As I think of all the people throughout history who can easily be called peacemakers, I release a smile.  Mohandas Gandhi.  Martin Luther King Jr.  Mother Theresa.  The Dalai Lama.  As well as the many others before and yet to come.   In spite of their differences in faith, all of these great people held something within them that reminds us of our respective versions of Heaven.  And that says something about the beauty of the human spirit and those who are willing to stand against conflict.

I'm not sure the young lady on the subway is aware, but I see a bit of this in her too.  Maybe, the beautiful truth that we all need to discover, is that there is a bit of peacemaker in us all.  Imagine how our world would be, on the day we all embrace it.

Marcus Jamison, the Rare Poet