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Planting Peace
His name is Masahisa Goi (Masa he sa goy) and he was born into a family of nine children, on November 22, 1916, in Tokyo, Japan. Though his family was not wealthy, Masahisa Goi dreamed of becoming an educated man. He had a great love of literature and music, and his dreams centered on becoming a teacher or writer. But the entire direction of his life changed on August 6, 1945. Do any history buffs recognize the date?
According to his biography, “After witnessing the change atomic weapons brought upon his world, Masahisa Goi’s life, took on new meaning and purpose.”
He dedicated himself to serving human beings “the attainment of global peace and harmony.”
Does that goal seem noble…but impractical? Does it seem like a frustrating way to live? But what about this question: What would our lives look like if we embraced Matthew 5:9 and set direct goals based on it?
“Blessed are those who plant peace each season; they shall be named children of God.”
What does a “Planter of Peace” look and act like in 2024? How would our lives change if we focused every day on Jesus’ identity as Prince of Peace?
He felt these words were a gift placed into his heart by the creator of the world. As he continued to meditate on these words, he came to understand that words, thoughts, and intentions carry energy strong enough to influence the destiny of all living things. By speaking, acting, and living in the spirit, the prayer, “May Peace Prevail on Earth,” can transform thought from words on the page to a way of life.
“May Peace Prevail on Earth.”
Words, thoughts and intentions carry energy strong enough to influence the destiny of all living things.
“Masahisa Goi believed that the energy field of love and harmony builds something that can come from inside people and go forth to all of creation “having a positive and purifying effect on the consciousness of humanity.” Does that sound lofty, vague, or nebulous to you? Are we too wounded or jaded by our divided world to embrace and work with this thought? Let me repeat that, “Masahisa Goi believed that the energy field of love and harmony builds something that can come from inside people and go forth to all of creation, “having a positive and purifying effect on the consciousness of humanity.” Lofty, yes. Nebulous, maybe? Impractical, definitely. But doesn’t it also sound a bit like something the child described in Isaiah 9:6 would grow up to teach by saying, “Blessed are those who plant peace each season: Thy shall be named the children of God?”
What does planting peace look like? Jesus’ life on earth and three-year ministry was a process of planting seeds of peace. During Jesus’ peace planting there was Roman occupation, poverty, sickness, and the death penalty of the day was crucifixion. There were also times of joy, comfort, community, and resurrection. But through all of it is the presence of God. If peace is something we create between us and our relationship with God, then it is something no one or life circumstances can take away from us.
The peace of God can prevail while the world around you seems to destroy it. If you have never encountered someone who was working to live out peace in the middle of hell, please read or read Corrie Ten Boom’s “The Hiding Place.” Living in God’s peace in the midst of hell is what she did in Ravensbrück concentration camp.
But often we feel that we are little people who cannot possibly do anything important enough to overcome the disruption to peace around the world. We often feel like peace is “only something we can pray about” and is not something we can do anything about. It feels outside our control.
Do you remember your life on September 11, 2001, at 8 AM? I was commuting to the church where I served as Christian Education Director in Sycamore, IL along with my preschool-age daughter. We were listening to Disney music, not the news. I settled her in preschool and walked to the other end of the building to my office. As I entered my office a co-worker announced, “A plane just hit the World Trade Center tower.”
It was 8:46 AM and the world seemed to change. Do you remember the rest of your day? Were you watching when the plane hit the second tower? I was. I thought it was a replay of the first plane. Didn’t the world feel out of control and that there was nothing you could do? I had a brother-in-law visiting New York City on business and a brother in Washington DC lobbying Congress that day. I could not reach them by phone or email.
The first thing the pastor and I could think to do was to ring the church bells. That is how people communicated important news before the internet and cell phones. We felt if we rang the church bells it would call people to prayer and remind us that God is bigger than terrorists who took over planes. We didn’t realize it at the time, but ringing the bells was planting seeds of peace in the middle of a season of chaos.
After we rang the bells, people started showing up at the church to pray. I noted that the first people there were the veterans. Every 30 minutes the pastor and I took turns in leading times of prayer. Knowing she had to preach on Sunday, the pastor withdrew to her study to watch the footage. I knew if I watched it, I couldn’t do my job of planting any thoughts of Christ in this situation. After I saw the second plane hit, I saw no other television until I arrived home at midnight. I led prayer services all day long. Did the prayer stop the planes? No, that wasn’t the purpose. The purpose of prayer is for the people of God to call out to God to show them how to be people of peace as the world seemed to spin out of our control. The purpose was to create a world atmosphere of prayer that surrounded the people caught in the actual terror with the power of, in the words of Masahisa Goi, “Words, thoughts, and intentions carry energy strong enough to influence the destiny of all living things.” In the words of Jesus Christ the Prince of Peace, “Blessed are those who plant peace each season; they shall be named children of God.”
Often peace feels outside of our ability to take action upon. It isn’t. We need education, community, and God to realize that there are actions people can take to spread peace in the midst of chaos. Today I lift up two: Prayer and Planting a Peace Pole.
Prayer is a concrete action. Too often I hear people say, “All I can do is pray.” Our words to each other and to God have power in the world. Our joining together changes the world. I think about United Flight 93 which crashed outside of Pennsylvania on 9/11. Those people joined together, rushed the cockpit, and took that plane down in a field instead of letting it continue to their target. Before they did, those on the phones with the passengers confirmed they prayed The Lord’s Prayer and the 23rd Psalm. I believe prayer was concrete for them that day and it is for us every day.
Becoming a community that is responsible for the care and ministry of planning a peace pole is an action for peace. It is not about remembering the past like the 9/11 Memorial and Museum. A Peace Pole is an internationally recognized symbol of the hopes and dreams of the entire human family, standing vigil in silent prayer for peace on earth. Each Peace Pole bears the message “May Peace Prevail on Earth” in different languages on each of its four or six sides. There are an estimated 250,000 Peace Poles in every country in the world dedicated to active sites of prayers for peace. The community, family, or individual who plants a peace pole is providing a place for those around them to come together, to join words, thoughts, and actions in prayer for peace. The prayer was created so anyone, of any faith could pray it, thus it unites all religions. Again, we know that religion can be the excuse or reason for war over and over again. A peace pole invites with a prayer that all can pray in as many languages as possible.