Shalom

By Andy Wade

Right in the middle of Lent, super Tuesday amped up the political rhetoric assaulting our senses. But it’s not just politics stirring up fear and anxiety. We know the world is in turmoil and the more that turmoil swirls around us, the more our own souls get sucked into the vortex as we find our attitudes and thoughts shift toward despair.

In response to one friend’s post about being verbally assaulted on facebook, the prayer below poured out of my mouth. It was a moment of spiritual lucidity.

As I reflect back I wonder how often I allow shallowness, rather than shalom, to influence my life. Then I realized that, to the extent that I allow shallowness to rule, I bring that same shallowness into my interactions with others throughout the day. How different the day is when I search for glimpses of God’s shalom! How different my interactions with other when shalom is my guide.

If I desire to sow seeds of justice, hope, and mercy I must first collect those seeds from the seed vault of shalom. But even more, I must allow Christ to sow those seeds within the soil of my own heart. These are seeds which need to be sown abundantly, crowding out the weeds with shallow roots as shalom takes hold, flourishes, and brings forth fruit.