The Legacy of a Peacemaker

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

Matthew 5:9(KJV)

A beautiful Easter morning just a little over 8 years ago, Jesus was reunited with one of His greatest followers. It was April 11th and she was getting ready to leave for church to worship the one she had loved the most her entire life when He called her home. No doubt she ran into her Savior's arms and He whispered into her ears "well done my child. well done." It is no coincidence she died on the very day we celebrated our Jesus' Resurrection. She was gentle, kind, humble, merciful, and only words of love ever left her lips. She was soft spoken and modest, never one to seek attention. She was a quiet servant...the kind I believe Jesus smiles on the most. She had little, but gave all that she had. She called all children angels. Her name was Louise, which means "famous warrior." A warrior she was indeed...a warrior for Christ.

She was my grandmother. You may not see her name in Wikipedia, but no doubt her name was written in God's book of life. She was not famous outside of her small hometown of Georgia, but she was famous in the eyes of her children and grandchildren. 

She would watch over me and my siblings every Monday and Tuesday when I was a young child while my mother went to work. Two things were always guaranteed on those two days: 1. she would always let me win at card games and play them with me all day long and 2. she would always allow me to help her cook scrambled eggs...even though we did once burn a hole in my Strawberry Shortcake robe.

When we weren't making eggs or playing go fish, I got to listen to her amazing fingers glide across the fingers of our old piano. She once won a scholarship to the Boston Conservatory...but, she would never tell you that. She would always humbly proclaim that she could not play that well, but listening to her play the infamously difficult Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy would prove otherwise. "Play it again, Play it again!" we would all plead. I still get tears in my eyes when I hear that song...not because it makes me sad...but, because it reminds me of someone who was Jesus in my life. 

Although she always told our parents that we were "perfect angels" every single week, only she knew that my brother, sister, and I were squawking at each other the entire time. She would always in her sweet and meek way proclaim "be a peacemaker. Just be a peacemaker." Those words have stayed with me all those years because she herself was a peacemaker. 

Maybe it was because the memory of her was fresh on my mind, as I had been thinking of the anniversary of her death just days before. I was washing dishes and my three year old and 19 month old twins were squabbling over a toy. "Be a peacemaker! Be a peacemaker!" I shouted at my older daughter. 

With confused eyes she stopped her squabbling and handed over the toy to her brother and sister and asked "Mommy, what is a peacemaker?" 

(Hmmm...how do I explain this to a 3 year old??) I show her the verse in the Bible and find myself trying to explain the Beatitudes. "It means we are not to be greedy or selfish. It means we share and do not fight with others. It means we always seek to give and love...even if the other person does not deserve it." I try and explain more, but I am not sure I am really getting through to her.

"Oh!" she says "So it means we are supposed to love, share, and take care of each other even if our brother and sister are being mean to us."

I smile. "Yes. exactly." (I am pretty sure at this moment that Jesus has His arm wrapped around Louise and says to her "See my child. See the legacy you have left behind.") Not only has my preschool aged child so perfectly and simply described a peacemaker, but she has also defined grace.

It always goes back to grace. To extend grace is to be a peacemaker. And this is something that only God can provide when he dwells in us. To be a peacemaker is to exemplify Christ. 

The song Clair de lune is french for "moonlight". The light is not actually from the moon itself, but mostly from sunlight. And like the moonlight, our light does not come from us...but from Christ shining and reflecting on us. How beautiful is that?