Daily Thought for Saturday 23rd May 2026
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God”
Matthew 5:9
Blessed
Fiona Burnett
For our Lent studies this year, various groups in our parish spent time looking at the Beatitudes, taking two of them each week. In the group I was in, we started each session by reading the verses in three or four different translations, to get a broader feel of the verse. Some were very similar. The Message translation was always different, and everyone had their favourite. When it came to the seventh Beatitude, however – “Blessed are the peacemakers …” – we all agreed that The Message spoke to us, or challenged us, the most. It reads: “You are blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.”
Lent this year has been coloured by all the happenings in the Middle East, and it seemed right to wrestle with what it means to be a peacemaker today. When we think of peacemakers, do we think of important people sitting in distant places deciding the fate of the world? Or do we think about ourselves and what we can do to defuse problems in our own family or community? The Message translation invites us to think more about the latter and challenges us all to get involved in peace-making.
But how and where can this happen?
My mother had a poster hung up in her kitchen. The top image was of two donkeys tied together with a long rope but straining against each other and failing to get to the piles of hay at either end of the picture. The second image was of them together at one end of the picture happily eating the food together. And the slogan below said, “Cooperation is better than conflict”.
I’m sure we are all aware of tensions and disagreements in our communities. Can we be a listening ear that helps to bring people together and avoids confrontation? Can we encourage cooperation to make our church or community a better place? Peace-making as Jesus taught us is not something distant or indeed reserved for the few, but for all of us to get involved in. And our reward for getting involved? Perhaps a more harmonious community but also confirmation that God is indeed working through and with us to share the Kingdom with everyone.
Shall we pray?
God of community, bless us with peace-making. Amen.
Fiona Burnett is an elder in the parish of Upper Tweeddale and a worship leader in West Tweeddale congregation. She also convenes the Presbytery Mission Committee.