by Anna Zaros
A second prophet named Isaiah speaks a vision of peace and new life in Sunday’s first reading. This Isaiah lived 200 years after the first prophet who urged us to pound our swords into plowshares. Second Isaiah’s poetic preaching forms chapters 40-55 of the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament.
Second Isaiah lived among the Israelites whom Babylonians took into captivity after defeating the southern kingdom and destroying Jerusalem and its temple in 587 B.C. The exiled people lived in Babylon for 50 years. Then Persian king Cyrus began to win victories against the Babylonian empire.
Second Isaiah saw God at work in these victories. The prophet inspired the exiled people with his message that the same God who once made a dry path through the sea will smooth and straighten a road home across the 1,000 miles of desert wilderness between Babylon and Jerusalem.
Then the eyes of the blind
shall be opened; and the ears
of the deaf unstopped;
then shall the lame leap like a hart;
and the tongues of the dumb sing for joy.
For waters shall break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert.
A highway will be there;
it will be called the Holy Way.
The redeemed will walk there;
the ransomed of the Holy One
shall return and come to Zion with singing.
Isaiah 35.5-6, 8-10
When John the Baptist sends messengers in Sunday’s gospel to ask if Jesus is the one who is to come, he is asking if Jesus is the one who will restore the world as Isaiah envisioned. Jesus doesn’t answer John’s question directly. Instead Jesus names six ways he continues the healing work of the God who led Israel home from exile. He gives sight to the blind, healing to lepers, leaping legs to the lame, hearing to the deaf, life to the dead, good news to the poor.
Jesus calls us who follow him to continue his mission. We can bring peace, healing, and new life to our world by following the example of Jesus, by helping those who are the poor and blind of our time.
We can also continue Jesus’ mission by fostering peace with the people in our lives. As Palestinian and Israeli teens find at Seeds of Peace Camp, many of us can’t talk about rules, politics, religion, grades, dating with friends and family without getting into a fight. Seeds learn to listen to the stories of one another’s lives. How we speak and listen are crucial to forming peaceful relationships.
One way to communicate peacefully is by using a tool called “Nonviolent Communication.” It was developed by a psychologist named Marshall Rosenberg. Nonviolent communication fosters compassion and works to meet everyone’s needs, especially when a conflict arises.
The four steps of nonviolent communication can work in conflicts with friends, families, and teachers. Dr. Rosenberg has used nonviolent communication with people dealing with violent conflict in their lives.
First, observe what is happening. Without awareness most of us see others’ ideas only from our own perspective. We have to work at seeing another person’s point of view. In step one I state what I observe about a disagreement, free of evaluation. For example, if I feel a friend is not listening to me, instead of saying, “You’re a bad listener,” I can say, “When I am having a conversation with you, you often don’t look me in the eye.”
Second, state how I feel. Often when we state how we feel during a disagreement, we place blame on others; for example, we say, “You make me mad.” In step two of nonviolent communication I try to communicate how I feel without upsetting the person that I am in disagreement with. I can say simply, “I am feeling unhappy.”
Third, state what I need. If a person isn’t looking me in the eye when he or she talks to me, I can explain that makes me think he or she isn’t trying to understand what I am saying. I can say, “I am in need of some understanding. I feel unhappy because my need for understanding is not being met right now.”
Fourth, make a request. Requests identify concrete, positive actions I need in a conflict. I can say, “If you can look me in the eye when we have a conversation, that will help me know you are trying to understand me.” Requests help people with whom we disagree understand exactly what they can do to meet our needs.
In this style of communicating each person honestly expresses and truly listens to the observations, feelings, needs, and requests of the other without using judgment or blame. Communicating this way helps us connect to persons we may be disagreeing with and express compassion towards them.
Building peace isn’t easy and neither is communicating with others, let alone communicating peacefully! But if we can take little steps to communicate in more loving and compassionate ways, we can make a big contribution to peace in our lives and in our world.
