— Midweek Meditations:
thoughts, inspiration and encouragement
from ACF community members —
Last time I wrote about PEACE / SHALOM / SALAM / FRIEDEN and my experiences from Israel. I found peace when I visited it, and it was in an unexpected way because I had known about the problems and wasn’t sure how safe it was.
Together with peace I found LOVE. Self-love. I understood that both are related, and I started thinking about it. When I had been diagnosed with tumor, everyone said that I needed to fight.
After reading a book recommended by my cousin (“Radical Remission” by K. Turner) I realized that my entire life seemed to be like a fight. Now, I started changing my perspective. With the feeling of peace, I was able to feel and give love. Self-love. And it changed the way I want to raise my son and all children in my job as a teacher.
Let me tell you the following: My son is a teenager, and teenagers are seeking for fights. This is what I found in books about education and rising children. So, while I was more and more aware of the feelings of love and thinking of how to educate my son, I changed my attitude towards him. Whenever he was seeking for a fight, I answered: “My son, I love you too.” And I kept on telling him that I don’t want to fight but support him with my love. In the beginning it was hard and did not always work out. Fortunately, our relation got better and better.
These were my experiences and I was curious to find out what my students’ thoughts were. So, after Israel was bombed on Jom Kippur which was a big shock for me, I asked my students: “What’s the best way to fight against WAR?” They came up with lots of ideas but we weren’t really satisfied until one student said: “I believe that you can only find peace when you love your enemies because you don’t fight against people you love!” WOW, I was impressed how clever my 6th graders are.
Let my close my thoughts with a quotation from Martin Luther King Jr.:
I have decided to stick with love.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Hate is too great a burden to bear.
The ACF Midweek Meditations
are written by a diverse group of our church members with the intention to seek God’s fingerprints in our lives. They range from somber to humorous and are inspired by all facets of live and faith. Written by ordinary people from all walks of life, they reflect a wide range of Christian backgrounds and spiritualities.
Each week’s text portrays the individual viewpoint of its author. They might not always resonate with everyone, and are not meant to be understood as representing the Anglican Church Freiburg as a whole. Yet, as a church that is aiming to ‘Build a Community of Grace’ we seek to practice learning from and listening to one another.
We pray that these humble ponderings add a small spark of blessing to your week.
Freiburg Anglican Church 