“How to Fight” by The Rev. Kaji Douša

I was thinking today, as, in this week I wound up in a very tense situation where things may have come to blows. And I wondered how, as a spiritual leader, I have been preparing my congregation, and others who look to us for help in interpreting the scriptures, for how we engage conflict. And when things will come to blows – hopefully verbally and certainly not physically – how do we know what to do so that peace can be achieved? Because people is not the absence of conflict. Peace is finding ways to be together where no one is being more violently abused than anyone else. That peace takes that violence away. And what I want to say to you is that the scriptures engage conflict so much. And Jesus was always in a point of conflict. And what did he do? He spoke clearly and plainly and he never gave up. When Jesus says, “Turn the other cheek,” he’s not saying, “Be afraid of those who oppress you.” What he’s doing is he’s saying, “Stay standing.” And if you can’t figure what to do, if you want to get to peace, you stand up, you don’t walk away. God intends for us to experience peace that doesn’t mean that our pain is erased, but it means that we see each other, and even through that conflict, we decide that we are going to live in a spirit of love instead. That is how we head to peace. May you in all your fights, find integrity and the protection of the lord. Amen