Skip to the content

  1324 GA Highway 49 South | Americus Georgia 31719

(229) 924-0391  |  info@koinoniafarm.org
Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Flickr
Visit Store
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Come, Stay Awhile, and Serve
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Prepare to Thrive
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Peacemakers
    • Other Writings
Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Koinonia Today
    • History
      • Clarence Jordan
    • News
      • Publications
      • Media Page
      • Koinonia in Your Inbox
  • Visit
    • Ways to Visit
    • Come, Stay Awhile, and Serve
  • Internship
    • Internship – A Brief Description
  • Support
    • Prepare to Thrive
    • Service To Others
  • Blog
    • Brief Thoughts from Bren
    • Peacemakers
    • Other Writings
Donate
Store
Top ^

Summer Internships Available! Learn More

A Day of Anniversaries

Katie Miles

Katie Miles

All Writings
  • August 20, 2015
  • 9:03 pm
  • No Comments

August 9 is a day of anniversaries. It marks both the day the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and the day Michael Brown was killed. Regardless of political alignments, it cannot be argued this day holds loss of life and lack of peace. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki brought an end to World War II, but they certainly did not bring about world peace. Wars continued after the bombs fell and the half-century following was filled with unease and fear of more bombs.

In the days following Michael Brown’s death in 2014, people were quick to place their own personal politics over the situation, deciding who was right and who was wrong. Social media became a battleground filled with anger and a sense of injustice. Heroes were lauded and villains were maligned. Everyday conversations quickly turned to issues of race and systemic injustice. Peace seemed far from anyone’s words or thoughts.

In the dining hall on Koinonia Farm, the community lights a candle everyday at lunch to remind its members to pray for peace. The candle serves as a concrete symbol for an often abstract and difficult charge: peace through reconciliation. Usually someone reads a biography of a peacemaker to educate and inspire those eating lunch. In a dining hall of anywhere from 20-50 people, one can safely assume not everyone is in agreement across political or religious opinions. But one thing every member of the community commits to is working for peace through reconciliation.

One thing that stood out in the aftermath of the death of Michael Brown was the amount of angry voices and opinions flying around. People were literally and figuratively shouting at one another. Anger certainly has its place and injustice should be called out, fought against, and stopped. But it felt like a whole lot of shouting and talking and opining without any listening. In the face of such big problems as racial tension and loss of life, the solutions must be complicated and nuanced. The only way to work toward peace and reconciliation is to listen: to hear what each side is saying, to understand why people are angry, to realize different people experience life in very different ways.

The problems of injustice and racial tensions in this nation need people willing to sit down with others who do not look like them or think like them to listen.  Just listening will not solve all the problems and this is not a call to sit down and stop talking about uncomfortable issues. Instead, it is an encouragement to begin with listening. The conversation does not need more opinions. It needs more people willing to listen and learn from each other. And maybe this small step- much like the small symbol of lighting a candle- will be a way to begin to reconcile and bring about peace.

Now, a year later, one is tempted to ask if the problems have been solved yet and realize with despair that the world seems no closer to peace than it did a year ago. Christians pray for God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, but this prayer can often be more discouraging than anything. More people have died since Michael Brown. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki did end World War II, but they certainly did not end all war. It is tempting to forget one tragedy in the wake of a new tragedy. Every day is a new anniversary for someone’s death, another injustice, another natural disaster. The work for peace through reconciliation is not for the faint of heart. It is for those who can pray even when it seems nothing will ever change. It is for those who chose to listen day after day even when the angry rhetoric seems never ending. It is for those who understand the power of even the smallest move toward reconciliation.

Peace through reconciliation is not easy, but it is good and necessary work that can be done by anyone anywhere. All it takes is a willingness to show up, offer grace and a listening ear, and have faith that small steps lead to big changes.

Share this with your friends:
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
PrevPreviousPlay Ball!
NextAn OutpouringNext

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More to explore

Charles Bradley Performing
Blog
Steve Krout

The Lamentations of Charles Bradley

I became aware of Charles Bradley in 2015 and instantly took to his music. There was something in him that reminded me of two biblical figures that I’ve long loved: David, the psalmist, and Jeremiah, the weeping prophet. Bradley had both the heart and voice of a poet- prophet. One will hear in many of his songs the spirit of a man trying to stay righteous and honest and decent in a world that is going up in flames.

Read More »
February 16, 2021 No Comments
Blog
Steve Krout

Reflections on Martin Luther King Day

In many of the people I grew up with, I see a Christianity that is not informed by spiritual and civil rights leaders like Sojourner Truth, Martin Luther King, and Cesar Chavez. I wonder how differently our country would have been shaped had we been taught to be open to the Spirit’s moving in and through such prophets.

Read More »
January 18, 2021 No Comments
Blog
Steve Krout

5 Songs for Your Advent to Christmas Playlist

There’s the longing of the Advent season and there’s the excitement that is the Christmas season. I love both of those feelings.

Read More »
December 11, 2020 3 Comments
Blog
Bren Dubay

Leisure

Leisure is an end in itself, a time to dwell on the beauty of creation, to read a challenging book, to be carried away listening to a soaring symphony, to catch one’s breath at a stunning work of art, a time to step back to admire the work that one has done. It is a time to worship and pray, the highest forms of leisure. It is a time to contemplate goodness and allow that goodness and all these meaningful activities to re-create us.

Read More »
October 28, 2020 1 Comment
Springtime Orchard
Blog
Bren Dubay

The Great Divorce

Good art, good literature, helps us imagine what a new normal and a new world can be. It is vital in times like these to seek out that which helps us imagine a better world and encourages us to work together, perhaps in small ways like Sarah Smith, to build this new world now.

Read More »
September 30, 2020 No Comments
Peace Trail Sign
Blog
Bren Dubay

Lessons for Disciples

The father went on directing his remarks to Naomi, “You aren’t one of us. Why would my children play with you?”
Naomi looked at the grown man. She could see kindness in his eyes even though his tone and words did not match it. She said to him, “Aren’t we are all God’s children, sir? That makes us one family … doesn’t it, sir?”

Read More »
August 24, 2020 1 Comment

Contact Us

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Mailing List
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Koinonia Farm

1324 GA Highway 49 South
Americus, Georgia 31719
Tel: (877) 738-1741
Tel: (229) 924-0391

E-mail: info@koinoniafarm.org

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Flickr
Online Store

Looking for something else?
Enter a word or phrase below.

Koinonia In Your Inbox

Please fill out the information below so we can keep you up to date in your email inbox.

"*" indicates required fields

Name*
Type of Updates (check all you would like):
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Designed and maintained by Lowthian Design Works