Practice (DOP #21 2016)

I am very guilty of spending most of the month of December focused on the idea of peace, the processes and details of peace.  To an extent that is the point of this project, to wrestle with a concept that seems so simple, but can end up being so incredibly complex.

Of course learning about peace isn’t the same thing as practicing it.  That is somewhere that I really feel that I fall short of achieving in the month of December.  There is always a lot going on, and this year I have a few more things than usual that I am giving my attention too.

I had hoped to be more socially engaged with the world around me, fighting the good fight and trying to uplift the downtrodden.  I was going to spend time with people who were not like me, and I was going to learn their stories so they could be shared.  Intentions that have not yet become actions.  I feel like I end up in this place each year, never quite happy with the steps I have taken to turn thought into action.

I know a lot of people who turn thought into action, and I introduced you to one of them last year who is buying land to build a home for a Nicaraguan family.  I actually dropped off a bunch of scrap metal to her just a few weeks ago, because she is still working towards her goal, striving to finish strong so that her beloved second family can find peace in a stable living situation.

This year, I want to mention someone else who works to bring peace throughout the year.  Her name is April, and she is a funny, energetic and exciting person!  She nearly always has a smile on her face.  I can think of just a few exceptions that I have personally experienced, and those moments are the ones that I want to tell you about.

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April has been going to Nicaragua with our church for several years now, and during her first trip she decided that she wanted to sponsor a student as he went through school.  April picked a young man named Michael, and started sending a monthly check to NRN, the organization that administrates the sponsorship program.  When April came back the next year, she met Michael, whom they had written to several times, but hadn’t gotten much correspondence back from.  She was worried that Michael didn’t really like them, or wasn’t benefiting from the support she had been sending.  Regardless of the lack of feedback, April had been faithful to continue her support.

Check out the video below and you can see just how much April’s support meant to Michael.

Each check April writes is part of a cosmic re-balancing towards peace.  Those who have, giving freely to those who have not.  April sees the ledger swayed towards injustice for Michael, and puts her time and money into setting the balance aright.

April practices peace.

If you would also like to participate in bringing peace to Nicaragua, you can sponsor a student yourself at http://www.nicaresourcenet.org/