The Peaceable Kingdom Within
A recent advertisement in the New York Times Magazine contained a photograph1 of a parched landscape beneath the remains of what looks like a huge greenhouse, with twisted steel cables reminiscent of desiccated grape vines. In the center of the photograph is a massive black hole, large enough to hold 100 people. The sun shines through the open roof like the gaseous glare of the winter sun or the nuclear radiation from an atomic bomb. In the distance is a multistoried building, in mid construction or destruction. Dwarfed by the massive crater, two men stand, seemingly the only living things in the photograph. A closer look reveals chairs strewn about the landscape, an indication that the area was once inhabited. The caption under the picture explained that the open landscape had been a funeral tent in Yemen, and that the bomb that left the crater had killed 100 mourners.
In the presence of ever present images of war—especially those emphasizing the enormity of the violence when compared to the size and strength of humans—how do we maintain the hope to imagine peace? What part do we play in the creation of war, and how do we dismantle the technological war machine, especially as our frail images of peace seem to pale before the images of adrenaline fueled violence? In this era of fear, we have come to question the value of our individual witnesses, and to doubt the efficacy of any change that we can make. The deluge of images that we receive at the speed of light about every new crisis weakens our ability to pause, discern, and find meaning in our actions.
Although the early founders of the Society of Friends (Quakers) had no concept of photography or the internet, they had a deep distrust of images, artistic, commercial or otherwise. Images not only presented an untrue world, but they were also created to arouse passionate responses, and for early Friends, passion was the precursor to violence. Passions were the beginning of local disputes, and by extension, all wars. In their writings, Friends often cited James’ admonition against passion: “Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts” (James 4:2–3).2
One of the earliest expressions of a testimony of Peace by Quakers was in a proclamation presented by George Fox to Charles II in 1611 against the persecution of Quakers. Using the text of the Gospel of James, Fox explains that wars “proceed from the lusts of men,” this being contrary to Quaker principles and practices, which “have always been, to seek peace and ensue it; to follow after righteousness and the knowledge of God; seeking the good and welfare, and doing that which tends to the peace of all.” Fox differentiates the battle within from the battles taking place without, for the denial of outward weapons is only possible after the subjugation of personal desires within, stating that Friends “deny all outward wars and strife, and fightings with outward weapons, for any end, or under any pretense whatsoever”.3
Fox then makes the rather surprising statement that Quakers have been “redeemed from the occasion of war, and war itself” which “arises from lust.” If it is true that humans are controlled by lusts, how have Quakers been redeemed in this lifetime? Following Augustine, the Church had long accepted two levels of peace: “eternal peace” (pax aeterna), which can be realized only in God, and earthly, “temporal peace” (pax temporalis), which might be temporarily achieved by humans.4
It could be argued that for early Friends, the divine and temporal share adjacent spaces, or more accurately, that they both proceed from within individuals, and are revealed in the way that they live and witness the spirit of peace in their lives. From within us comes the very lusts and passions that cause disruption, fighting and wars. But within us is also God, the Christ within, the Light, the Teacher, and the source of all true leadings. The genius of early Friends is not only to recognize God inside of them, but to also recognize God in all human beings. When the light falls on us as human beings and Children of God, we see our shared tendency to be whipped by our passions, and come to realize that we share a greater and gentler teacher within. Fox insinuates that pax aeterna can be realized in pax temporalis. In common language, we do not have to wait for the afterworld; we can overcome lusts and cravings which are the basis of war in the present.
Quaker Testimonies are rooted in James’ concepts of perfection and simplicity,5 and his uncanny understanding that wars of aggression are based upon individual and communal passions and desires. According to Fox, the perfected life of simplicity is displayed in the way we live. “Be patterns, be examples…that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people… [and] walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in everyone.”6 Fox calls us to be “patterns” and “examples,” for our lives to be outward representation of our inner truth, in order that when others meet us they might encounter God within themselves. The way that Friends live is simultaneously a pronouncement and verification of the Good News. The “patterns” and “examples” that we reveal in our walk are responses to the leadings of God within, and the harmony of our walk with God in others is a verification of those leadings.
A friend told me that when he was seven, he saw a group of Quakers standing in silence, holding candles. When he asked his mother what was happening, she replied with disdain that they were Quakers who did not believe in war. It was at that point, he said that he knew that he was a Quaker and would dedicate his life to Quaker peacemaking. It was at this point that the silent patterns and examples of Friends standing vigil for Peace spoke to that same pattern that was within him, and the child was led to become a man of peace.
The decisions we make each day make a difference, for every act is a representation of the Teacher of Peace within. We can follow the leadings of the Spirit or be led by our desires. We can witness the earth by becoming aware of our personal and communal “carbon footprint,” or we can continue utilizing more energy than the planet and its population can sustain. We can speak quietly and sincerely when others are yelling falsehoods, and we can be gracious to others as God has been gracious to us.
Wherever you are is the place that Peace begins: peace in yourself, peace at home, peace at work, so that in all things you may become patterns of peacemakers in the world. We cannot undo the airstrike at Yemen or the host of other atrocities that have been committed over the ages in the name of Peace, but we can begin a new peace with the next thoughtful word we speak or the next mile that we do not drive. We are not alone in our walk of peace: we have communities of Faith, friends, school, and family for whom we may become images of peace in a violent world, and we share equal access to the Teacher, the Christ, the Light, the Seed, the Peaceable Kingdom within.
Notes
1. The image was taken from the video by Tyler Hicks, Veda Shastri, and Kaitlyn Mullin, “In the Rubble of an Airstrike in Yemen,” New York Times , uploaded November 10, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/video/world/middleeast/100000004736495/in-the-rubble-of-an-airstrike-in-yemen.html?playlistId=100000004687548 (accessed November 27, 2016).
2. The King James would have been the Bible translation most often used by early Friends, with its emphasis on “lusts” rather than “cravings.”
3. George Fox, et al, “Declaration from the Harmless People of God…,” http://www.qhpress.org/quakerpages/qwhp/dec1660.htm (accessed November 22, 2016).
4. Thomas Hippler, “Images of Peace,” The New Centennial Review 13, no. 1, (Spring 2013): 45-70, 47.
5. Although Quaker testimonies now include peace, equality, integrity and simplicity, as well as the recently added Witness to the earth, early Friends only directly alluded to a testimony of simplicity from which all other testimonies have derived. See Frederick Barnes Tolles, Quakers and the Atlantic Culture (New York: Macmillan, 1960).
6. George Fox A Journal or Historical Account of the Life, Travels, Sufferings, Christian Experiences and Labour of Love in the Work of the Ministry of That Ancient, Eminent and Faithful Servant of Jesus Christ, George Fox (1831), https://archive.org/details/journalorhis011831foxg (accessed November 25, 2016).
