Peacework

Wendy VanderWal Martin: Welcome to a new episode of Henri’s bookshelf. Today we’re going to be featuring the book Peacework. This was published by Orbis Books back in 2005, so compiled after Henri Nouwen’s death. The subtitle are the three key arenas in which Henri encourages us to be makers of peace: prayer, resistance, and community. And so I’m delighted to have, as a guest today my daughter Renate Gritter. Now, Renate is a student right now in theology and culture at St. Stephen University, a school that has an entire stream related to peace and justice. And so, Renate, tell us a little bit about just what is your connection to the challenging work of peacemaking in a day and age that’s marked by polarity and division, and almost an inability to talk across difference anymore. What are the ways in which you are connecting to the work of making peace?

Renate Carson: Yeah. So I think one of the things that Henri emphasizes in this book, in that I learned in a very experiential way and a very concrete way when I was traveling with  St. Stephen’s University in  Scotland and Northern Ireland last year, is that regardless of your particular vocation, you know, whether you are, you know, you’re in a particular career, whether you are in  a marriage or a family, or you know, your work particularly concerns conflict in some way. Your part of your vocation as a Christian is to be a peacemaker. And one of the things I learned through  my, you know, my studies at SSU  is that peace work can look like a lot of different things. When I was in Northern Ireland, you know, I think I expected most of the people that we met to be, you know, these kind of

Wendy VanderWal Martin: Revolutionaries.

Renate Carson: Yeah. Because like, specifically like, you know mediators, conflict mediators, you know, people who were  on the front lines of, you know  serious  physical conflicts. I think that’s for a long time that’s what I associated with peacemaking. But it was very clear to me through all the different people that we met, that whether you’re a member of the clergy, whether you are a volunteer, whether you are a barista, whether you, or whether you’re a gardener, there are all these different ways that you can create space where people can form genuine relationships. And genuine relationships are one of the most important things that create peace. People who eat together don’t go to war together. People who dance together don’t go to war together. People who share infrastructure, that share resources don’t go to war together.

Renate Carson: And so, how am I connected to peace work? It’s like, well, I cook. I clean my house, I take care of my dog. I engage as intentionally as I can in relationships in my family and in my community that challenge me.  And I find ways to challenge the people that I’m in relationship with in meaningful ways. And so,   and I think that’s one of the things that’s, I think so important about Henri’s words on peace in Peacework is finding ways as a person, regardless of what your vocation is, to incorporate the fundamentals of peacemaking into whatever it is you’re doing.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: And part of the reason I wanted to ask you to be a guest, certainly in dealing with this book, but also we have a challenge as the Henri Nouwen Society in introducing Henri to your generation and younger. I read Henri when I was your age, and it was absolutely, completely transformational for me. But we’re coming up on the 30th anniversary of Henri’s death. And so your generation, he was not alive. He was not actively speaking. And so the challenge for us is once we get Henri into your generation’s hands, I believe that Henri will resonate. But how do we do that? So tell us a little bit about how you encountered Henri Nouwen.

Renate Carson: So, I mean, Henri Nouwen’s name came up here and there when I was, you know, pretty young. It wasn’t, it was, you know, it was a, it was a household name in our family for sure. Like, I believe, like, you know, we read like his advent devotionals during an advent a number of years ago. So I kind of knew that’s where I knew his name from. But I didn’t start reading Henri myself until I was, it was a couple years ago when I was approaching the beginning of my master’s with SSU, and I was like, okay, I’ve got the summertime to kind of like, read whatever I want. I’ll soon, I’ll have a lot of different readings that are not my choice, so let’s pick up some books. And I was living with you at the time, and I think I picked up Reaching Out.

Renate Carson: And I think one of the things that really drew me to Henri was that his books were concise, but like, and, and they were organized in such a way that they were easy to follow. He often has say three distinct parts, you know, and you can kind of say, okay. So Reaching Out in particular, you know, the three parts were meant to be in succession. And that made Reaching Out very easy to read. And his core point, very easy to understand. And, and of all the different books that I read that summer, that one really stuck with me. Partially, and I think too, I think one of the things that Henri does really well is he doesn’t necessarily get too caught up in specific issues. I think a lot of writing, modern writing, you know, it’s like, it’s like this book is about sexuality.

Renate Carson: Or it’s more specifically this book is about, you know, homosexuality, let’s say, or it’s about  gender identity, or it’s like, this book is about polarization, or this book is about  one particular conflict or whatever it is. But Henri tends to write about things that are a lot more broadly applicable to a Christian vocation, which I think can be really useful for people who aren’t trying to figure out where they stand or what their opinion is, but how they want to live and how they want to approach things. And in all the reading of Henri’s in Henri’s books that I’ve done since I found that to be the case there, it’s a, it’s a lot more about how do I want to, what is my vocation as a Christian, and how do I want to live that in a way that is in line with what I can give?

Wendy VanderWal Martin: I think that’s beautiful. And it should be said that you started picking up my Henri Nouwen books long before I was with the Henri Nouwen Society. True. And I think you’ve really honed in on what Henri saw as his vocation. Which was, how are we formed and shaped to be that living reminder of Jesus in the world? And so, as a priest, as a pastor, he wanted people to have a living faith. He wanted that following Jesus to be experienced in step with the Spirit and in step with others. Relationships were always so, so important to him. And in Peacework, Henri says this, “Christians today, if they want to be Christians, have to find the courage to make the word peace as important as the word freedom. There should be no doubt in the minds of the people who inhabit this world, that Christians are peacemakers.”

Wendy VanderWal Martin: And so he offers this vision. “How would the world look if all Christians in Australia, Asia, Europe, Africa, north and South America were to commit themselves without reservation to peace? How would the world look if all Christians young, middle-aged, or old were to say loudly and clearly in words and deeds, we are for peace. And how would the world look if all Christians, Protestants, Catholic Orthodox were to witness together for him, who is the prince of peace, Jesus? What would such a consensus of conscience bring about? Would we still spend billions of dollars every month to build ingenious instruments of death while millions of people are starving?” Now, Henri wrote these words 40 years ago.  And I am not sure we’re any closer to that vision. In fact, in some ways, perhaps we’re being pulled apart even more in the body of Christ in terms of very significant differences of understanding what living as a Christian in our cultural, social, political context actually looks like. And so, as someone who’s studying, who is really leaning into how do I live, what do we do with a big vision like that? What does your generation do with a big vision like that?

Renate Carson: Yeah. I mean, I think, I think that’s, the question, I think is what my generation is asking ourselves. I think, you know, my generation is less religious than yours. And I think part of the reason is that we’re looking back on the church’s legacy up until this point. And many of us are trying to figure out how to reckon with the, what has been like the disasters that have occurred in the name of peacemaking, even of religion, of peacemaking in particular. Even you know, what, like reckon with those mistakes. And so some of us are saying, I think, I don’t want to reckon with that at all. I would rather find a spirituality that is not caught up in the deep well, the, yeah the weaknesses of being an institution. And others of us are taking a different approach and saying, no, I, I think it’s worth grappling with being a part of an institution because of the strengths that that gives us. I mean, I’ve, it took me a few years to figure out where I was at on all that, and I ultimately have chosen to be a Christian and to lean in to the church, not lean out. And I’m finding it easier to articulate why that is. But I’m still asking that question, what do I do with it?

Renate Carson: As a Christian, it’s my, it’s part of my vocation to live as, as Rainer Maria Rilke would say, to live into that question, to ask it as my, as my prayer. To put it forth to, you know, my brothers and sisters and siblings in the body of Christ. What do we do with it? How do we, how do we move it forward? But yeah, do I mean, but yeah, Lord knows my generation doesn’t have the answer. And our parents don’t have it for us either.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: Well, Henri, as you said earlier, really liked to do things in three points. And his work around peacemaking focuses on prayer, resistance and community. And so he says this, “A peacemaker prays. Prayer is the beginning and the end, the source and the fruit, the core and the content, the basis and the goal for all peacemaking. I say this without apology because it allows me to go straight to the heart of the matter, which is that peace is a divine gift, a gift we receive in prayer.” So, Renate, tell us at, you know, your age and stage of life, what does prayer look like for you?

Renate Carson: It takes a lot of different forms. You know, there’s, there are the prayers that are familiar to all of us. You know, my partner and I sat down with breakfast this morning and said Our Father before we ate. And that prayer is bedrock, you know. The breastplate of St. Patrick bedrock, the prayer of St. Brendan bedrock, you know even “Lord have mercy on me, a sinner” bedrock. Those prayers are important to me, and I pray them as much as I can, as much as I do. And  on top of that, you know, I think a sermon that my friend, the Reverend David Moore gave at the St. Croix Church here in St. Stephen  a number of years ago, really impacted me. And that kind of, that sermon centered on the idea that, yes, prayer is when you sit down and you say words in communion with God, but prayer is also the, you know, connecting in the best way you can with God’s dream for the world.

Renate Carson: And living out that dream in what you do. You know, if you can feel in your bones, you know, that, that God’s dream, for example, is for everyone to have good food to eat, waking up and making good food and feeding people is prayer. If God’s dream is that people, all creation walks out of darkness and into light, I, you get up and you take a couple steps out of darkness, that’s prayer. And that’s, I think that for me, in the last season, which has been quite difficult for me personally, has been my daily prayer is, “Keep going.” You know, that’s the prayer that my grandfather has for me. You know, my ancestors have for me. And so I live out that prayer by keeping going. And so it’s a twofold thing. You know, it is something that you’re like, oh, I’ve got to pray, you know? It’s worth doing in and of itself, but I think it’s, but it’s deeper than that. If  you’re paying attention, which on my good days I am.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: It’s interesting that you talk about taking just that step towards the light. Sometimes it’s not even out of darkness, it’s just towards the light. And Henri says this, “I therefore want to say here as clearly as I can, that the first and foremost task of the peacemaker is not to fight death.” And by death we could say war violence, whatever it is says it’s not to fight death, “but to call forth, affirm and nurture the signs of life wherever they become manifest.” I know you have really found yourself grounded and rooted in this art of hospitality through food and cooking. Tell us a little bit about what you call forth and affirm and encourage, as you have found a sense of vocation in making a space for people. Henri and I in Dutch might say, “gezellig.” How is it that you have found yourself affirming life through that part of your vocation?

Renate Carson: I think for me, it starts, I think, so I’ve done quite a bit of work at St. Stephen’s University in food service coordination over the last couple of years. And over the over time I kind of developed two core values with which I provided food service at SSU. And the first, and I think it’s important to me that this is the first, is that all food has dignity. So I start, you know, by taking out my vegetables from the fridge, my non-perishables from the pantry, and just looking at all of these, all of this creation, you know, and doing my best to connect with and understand its identity and dignity in and of itself. If I look at those ingredients and I think first of what my plan is for them, not what their identity is in and of themselves, I lose something.

Renate Carson: If I think about only how I can bend what’s in front of me to my will, and not in what ways we can work together, even just me and the tomatoes before the people even enter the building I’m not affirming the life that has been lived up until this point. And I am only, I’m only in the game of control. And when I relinquish that control in favor of relationship, I can start to make something very special. And so that always comes first. The dignity of the food comes first. And then the other core value by which I operate food service at SSU is that all people deserve good food. And so, when I think about what’s the most important to me? You know, is it that it turns out perfect? No. Because it won’t.

Renate Carson: Is it that, you know, I make something revolutionary, you know, that people, that people will ask, you know, my recipe for? No.  My goal is to nourish people’s, well, to nourish the reason that people are there. Most of the time it’s because we have students. And so I want to nourish their conversations. I want to nourish their education. I want to nourish their formation. And so that the food itself comes first doing right by those tomatoes. And then what comes second is doing right by the vocations of the people that are being fed. And so people will say to me, well, you know, we get people who come in with dietary restrictions all the time, and they often feel shame and guilt about that

Wendy VanderWal Martin: Apologetic.

Renate Carson: Yeah. Oh, a hundred percent. You know, oh, you know, it’s not a big deal. You know, I can just, you know…. No, it’s like, you know, and I do my best. If those people feel like they don’t have to apologize and they can just eat like everybody else, and they can get something that they, that feels good. Yeah. Then I’m doing my job. And so I guess in affirming life, you know, it’s about, it’s about, yeah. It’s not about achievement. It’s not about efficiency. It’s not about success. It’s about the very lives of everyone in the room, myself, the tomatoes, the, you know, and the people,

Wendy VanderWal Martin: You know, Renate, some people might be sort of needing to think through what you’ve just said about letting the tomatoes have their autonomy and being a co-creator with the tomatoes in what we want to offer to people as an expression of hospitality. But it seems to me that that is a form of resisting the plunder of natural resources that has not only been part of our society, but if you think about something like the doctrine of discovery, it’s been part of our church history. That the natural world is there for us to subdue and to use for our purposes. And so I think this attitude that you have developed, coming out of a deep value is a form of resistance to systems that use and often abuse. And I also just can’t help but think about…  Renate has a tattoo on her arm and it’s an onion. And for a lot of folks, they might be like, why on earth does she have an onion on her flesh as a permanent piece of art? But I know that that’s deeply connected for you to that deep value, and I think an ongoing way of trying to resist systems that use and abuse and at best only see things as transactional and moving towards wanting to embody  a mutuality and a transformational experience together.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: Henri says this, “Let it be clear that resistance does not stand in contrast to prayer, but is in fact a form of prayer itself.” It’s hard to overcome our tendency to consider resistance, the active part of peacemaking and prayer is the contemplative part, which is sort of very dualistic. Like this is the passive part, this is the active part. But Henri says, “I am increasingly convinced that we will fully grasp the meaning of peacemaking only when we recognize not only that prayer is a form of resistance, but also that resistance is a form of prayer.” And so the dance that you and the tomatoes do is also prayer. And I love how Henri breaks down the either/or and really invites us into that both/and of understanding that in simple decisions and simple ways that inevitably require intentionality and practice, we can be living lives of resistive prayer and prayerful resistance. And so you described that with the tomatoes. Your life has recently changed. And so, in the reality of your day-to-day life right now, what are some of those ways that you’re living resistive prayer and prayerful resistance?

Renate Carson: Yeah, I mean, I think a, a big change for me that comes to mind, there’s lot. So I’ve moved to, I’ve moved two and a half hours away from where I lived to live with my partner, which has been really wonderful.   And one of the things, you know, that I continue to contemplate deeply is that I’m, you know, wacky as I am Protestant, and he is, and he’s Catholic. And so we’ve been going to his church, the last, you know, number of Sundays. And one of the things that I’m aware of, you know, is that I have the unique experience, well, I mean, unique to a certain extent anyway, of being a Protestant in a Catholic space. And so, one of the ways I think that I am holding prayer and resistance in that space is to show up as I am, you know  to, in the most intentional and sincere way possible, contribute to this church community  and revere my partner’s faith with all my heart.

Renate Carson: And also to hold the tension of what I, what I respect, but do not understand about the Catholic faith, what I, the ways in which I am blessed and excluded and so how do I be? Well, that’s prayerful resistance for me.  You know, singing over the congregation as they go to receive the Eucharist, and I do not. With all my heart, you know, and looking down, looking down the barrel of my life and saying, okay, what’s this? How is this going to develop for me? And I don’t know, being, I’m excited about it and I know it’s going to be an ongoing challenge.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: That’s a beautiful example, Renate. I think it speaks to the reality of both joy and pain in our difference. And  you know, Miroslov Volf wrote a book called Exclusion and Embrace  And  for those of you not familiar with Volf, he wrote that book coming out of  significant conflict in his home country, in Eastern Europe. And I think we need to relearn the art of holding those things in tension in a way that we can offer blessing to the other and truly, in these days of, of not just exclusion, but you know, absolutely silencing anyone who disagrees with you. We need to relearn ways of being peacemakers in offering blessing to those for whom you know, we will never be exactly the same.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: I want to always give Henri the last word, and this little book is so worth your time and attention, your prayerful energy, pick it up, Peace Work by Orbis the publisher. If we ever needed another primer and challenge to grow in our capacity to be peacemakers, it is now. And so let’s give Henri the final word. “Brothers and sisters peacemaking starts every time we move out of the house of fear toward the house of love. You and I will always be scared somehow, somewhere, but if we keep our eyes fixed on the one who says, do not be afraid, it is I, we might slowly be able to let go of that fear and become free enough to live in a world without borders, to see the suffering of others and to bring good news and receive good news.” And he goes on to say that there’s three qualities of living in the house of love.

Wendy VanderWal Martin: And again, that’s prayer, resistance, and community. “The Lord is so good,” says Henri, “brothers and sisters, when you hold onto what you have, it always gets less. When you give away what little you have, it always multiplies, whether it is food or knowledge or affection or love. Peacemakers are those who give away not only from their abundance, but also from the little that they have. And they discover that all people are God’s people and all people belong to the House of Love.” Amen. Thanks for being with us. Thank you, Renate, for sharing from your life and your resonance with Peace Work. And might you never, ever forget that you are the beloved of God.