Hope Indeed by N.Gerald Shenk

Shenk, N. Gerald. Hope Indeed: Remarkable Stories of Peacemakers. Intercourse, PA: Good Books, 2008

Peacemaker. It’s an odd word, in a way.

A Shoemaker makes shoes. He gathers the necessary leather, rubber, thread, scissors, tacks, etc., and makes . . . a pair of shoes.

“Making peace” is obviously not a manufacturing enterprise. If it were, we would know with certainty what “materials” to gather, would have the skills and knowledge to turn the materials into a product of value and when we were done, peace—like a shiny pair of new shoes—would be a reality and we would put down our tools and rest.

No one would mistake the product for anything else.

But if peace is something that can be imagined, pursued and realized—subjectively, at least—what does it look like? What is it that the peacemakers in Gerald Shenk’s collection of stories are attempting to “make?” In, for instance, “A Franciscan in the Frey,” did Fra Ivo visualize peace when he walked through battle zones unarmed to rescue a girl being held hostage? Did he know what the “shoes” would look like when he defied the odds against surviving in order to bring combatants in a bloody war to the same table?

As Anabaptists, we carry with us a spiritual legacy of non-resistance, of non-violence, of not returning evil for evil. We have, however, lost our way by admitting into our discourse a disputation between spiritual peace and social peace, as if peace with God or peace with people were alternative choices. We Mennonites have found ourselves pitting soul-winning against bread-delivering, for instance, and through the nurturing of this non-issue have allowed our salt to lose it’s savour, our yeast to go dormant.

Gerald Shenk is well placed to be a storyteller on the subjects of peace and conflict. His many years of work as an educator in the former Yugoslavia and later in the debris of its breakup has meant that his choices of narratives on peacemaking are not primarily theologically nor philosophically generated; the evidence of the living Christ is found here in the “boots on the ground,” face-to-face realities of conflict.

Take Ned. A farmer and pastor in rural Michigan, Ned was driving his truck down a country road when he met a car full of celebrating young people. He waved but they returned an obscene gesture so he stopped to see if there was something wrong. They dragged him from the truck and beat him severely. What would I do in this situation? I wondered as I read. Ned called the police to no avail although there were suspicions of the youths’ identities. It took a few years, but Ned tracked down the names and began to befriend the offenders, mostly members of one family. Apologetic for what they had done, Ned forgave them and continued befriending them actively, officiating at both a funeral and a family wedding eventually.

Hard personalities soften when love persists. There’s never been a more powerful sermon than this.

Shenk taught peace-related classes and students who became convinced of the necessity of peacemaking as a way of life had a critical decision to make when the Serbian military called them into service. Gerald told us the story (Crazy like Jesus) personally over lunch recently and the passion he felt for these students’ well-being was evident in the telling. A Serbian Christian would not be able to find work anymore if it became known that he was a pacifist, a dilemma few of us have faced. Lazar decides to be “a good soldier and a good Christian,” but when ordered to shell Osijek—a city he knew with people he knew—the determination to be a fence-sitter broke down and he refused the order. Again I wondered, what would I have decided under the circumstances? His commander threatened to shoot him but he remained firm. The conclusion of this story I leave to readers.

To be an unwavering nurturer of peaceful solutions is one thing; to be such a person when personal safety, even a threat to life, is involved takes the kind of courage followers of Jesus would be expected to embrace as a way of living. The need for such courage is too remote in Canada today to enter our thoughts, most of the time, but there are abundant conflicts around where relationships, reputations are at risk for those who dare to step up with the persistent-love principle as their guide and mantra.

The degree to which we’ve abandoned the central core of Jesus’ teaching in favour of Lazar’s initial position (good Christians and good soldiers) is astounding. So afraid for our own safety that our selfishness exceeds our generosity, we are willing to turn our backs on refugees with the excuse that there might be threats to our safety embedded there—the soldier position.

It’s time we reviewed our faith in this area: reading and studying Hope Indeed with that objective would be a mighty good start! “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and for the gospel will save it.” (Mark 8:35 NET)

Making Peace is not like making shoes. It’s not a thing we work at for a while before putting down our tools and going on to “regular life.” Peacemaking is the gospel way of life.

Hope Indeed can be purchased by calling 800-762-7171 toll free. Multiple-copy prices are available. Study questions are included.