“PEACE BE WITH YOU.” When we say this to those around us in many of our churches each Sunday, we’re following the Biblical command (Matthew 5:24) to “be reconciled with your brother” before approaching the altar. We are told to make peace with people, and to mean it. Let’s expand the circle—stretching out beyond those right next to us at church. Plan ahead and choose a seat close to someone we dislike, find unpleasant, are angry toward, or whose forgiveness we need. At the Sign of Peace, we’ll be close enough to reach out to them, bringing about reconciliation within God’s family. In fact, let’s take this attitude of harmony with us as we exit the church and interact in the rest of the world. Might that not be what the passage calls us to do, to make a world in which we all try to spread peace? If so, it seems like believing in and living out that Biblical ritual is a good place to start.
