Plowshares of Peace

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction
    and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between the nations
    and shall arbitrate for many peoples;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation;
    neither shall they learn war any more.
—Isaiah 2:4

In the fall, Saint Michael’s children’s church ministry rolls in like the evening tides, predictable and expansive. We begin with Blessings of the Animals in October, then the All Saints Parade, Alternative Gift Fair in November, Advent Wreath Making on Advent 1, Gingerbread House decorating, and the closing event of the year, The Children’s Christmas Pageant.

Many years ago, when I was in my mid-20s, Isaiah 2:4 tumbled into my life by a significant other who played the song on his guitar. Since then, when I hear the Bible verse, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks,” I remember the melody, the singer, and the ambitious work of peace.

This year, the verse of peace took center stage in my mind at the end of November, the season of our Alternative Gift Fair. Kati, one of the mothers of our Godly Play children, volunteered to organize the big event. When she sent out the wondering question of how children and youth could be involved, I responded quickly. “The children can paint ornaments during their ‘work time,’ and the Youth Group can harvest the lemons from the citrus trees on the church grounds.” 

With an affirmative “Yes!” from Kati. Santa’s elves got busy!

I purchased 15 plain ceramic ornaments from Michael’s craft store and placed them on the Godly Play room table a week prior to the event. The acrylic paints were ready to go, and the children did their best with heaps of glue and gold glitter sprinkled on the snowflake and Christmas tree ornaments. Howard, a 3^rd grader, out of much zeal, painted his favorite baseball team colors on a dove-shaped ornament. He painted it red and blue, then wrote the word “Cubs.”

I was away from church when the art project was completed. When I returned to the classroom to spray the ornaments with shellac, I was amused to see how the Godly Play teacher chose to dry the ornaments. She hung them on the plastic broadswords of the Christmas Pageant’s Roman Centurion costumes! Isaiah 2:4 rushed into the forefront of my mind when I saw sparkly, joyful Christmas ornaments hanging from these pretend weapons of war. Swords into plowshares, and a creative way to use limited space. 

Alternative Gift Fair Day came, and I received text message requests from families who were away to set their children’s ornaments aside to purchase later. All for a good cause! Proceeds of the Alternative Gift Fair support our congregation’s various mission ministries. 

I stepped away from the gift fair for only a few minutes and found when I returned that the Cubs ornament had been mistakenly sold! One of the vendors, originally from Chicago, purchased it. He said, “My Dad was a devoted Cubs fan! He never saw his team win the pennant, but he always hoped to. I will take this ornament back to Chicago and place it on his grave.” 

At the end of the Alternative Gift Fair, I sheepishly texted Howard’s mother, hoping to make amends. I explained what happened, then offered an olive branch of peace by contributing an Advent Calendar with chocolates. Only to find out, in her reply, that Howard was jubilant that his Cubs ornament was sold.  She said that when he was painting it, he hoped a Cubs fan would show up to buy it!

The serendipitous nature of it all filled me with great joy!  I was reminded of Fredrick Buechner’s words, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Howard had not intended to keep his Cubs’ ornament for himself but rather wanted to have it sold in support of Mission. I was so proud of him! The shuffling of Christmas ornaments and their owners continued when a two-year-old student at the pre-school who meets on campus insisted on having the “pink snowflake” with all the gold glitter that she saw drying outside my office the week before. After the fair, I talked to her mother about our Sunday School program, how Godly Play is an international curriculum, and how after the Bible story is told, everything is hands-on! Free to touch and play with. It was lovely to see how the ornaments children made this year provided opportunities for welcome, connection, and outreach. In our efforts to support Mission, we passed the peace of the Christmas Child, Jesus.