I was invited to speak at the Christ at the Checkpoint Conference in Bethlehem this year, so I invited my good friend Tim McDonell to join me. We went early to meet with Israelis and Palestinians before the conference. Our natural tendency is to focus on the plight of the Palestinians, so we determined to fight this prejudice by listening to and empathizing with both Palestinians AND Israelis.

When we have been forgiven and covered in God’s grace, we are able to love and forgive those who have missed the mark of God’s perfect love and of faith in their dealings with us. 

Our work is not rocket science. Rather, it’s simply a matter of opening our hearts (and often our homes) to meet people where they are, to build genuine friendship, and to share with these friends the little things in life.

It’s 3:00 in the morning and my baby is crying. After almost an hour of soothing and hushing and comforting, my husband turns her over to me for a try. I’m exhausted after a day of sickness tearing through my body. I have nothing left in my stomach and I’m shaky from dehydration… but I still walk down to her room, hold her, and nurse her back to sleep.

I live in an inner-city neighborhood. Somali refugees, Nepali students, Mexican construction workers, African American neighbors and a few white people all share the same space. Gunshots and sirens are common. There is a house that sells drugs in the next block. Strip joints, liquor stores, check cashing stores, and fast food restaurants compete for our attention.

The heart of peacemaking is the heart! So as we consider Lent and making peace with others, let’s begin by reflecting on Jesus. Notice the first step in peacemaking according to Jesus: get the log out of our own eyes. We need to deal with our own stuff first. We take responsibility for our own actions before we focus on what the other person did. We start with the heart!

Each week for the next 6 weeks we will publish a lenten devotional to give you practical ways to practice peacemaking.

"The more we ponder the various crises threatening humanity, the more firmly we believe that interfaith cooperation is necessary, inevitable and urgent.” The Marrakesh Declaration has the potential to be a milestone in modern peacemaking efforts.

When Muslim peacemakers take bold initiatives to counter violence and work for peace, the world should take note. People of all faiths - and no faith - should do everything they can to support these efforts. Let me tell you why we should celebrate and support the Marrakesh Declaration.