Shalom
“A
society concerned with shalom will care for the most marginalized among them…how
we treat them reveals our hearts, regardless of the rhetoric we employ to make
ourselves sound just.”
Randy
Woodley (Shalom and the Community of Creation: An Indigenous Vision)
The word
“shalom” is used by Jewish people as a greeting and a salutation—hello and
goodbye. It is a small word that packs many powerful meanings: peace, harmony, wholeness,
completeness, prosperity, well-being, tranquility. In a shalom world, the rule
of law is love and compassion.
In
English, "peace" is defined as the absence of conflict or war, but in Hebrew it
means a great deal more. To greet someone with the word Shalom expresses
concern for their well-being. “Are you well?” might be a good translation. In
the Old Testament book of Exodus (chapters 21-22) the word shalom is used 14
times to mean “make full restoration” or “make it good.” It means essentially, leave
the world better than you found it. Leave it whole.
Shalom also points to an
inner state—that of tranquility or peace of mind. When Jesus said to his disciples,
“Peace be with you,” he most likely used the Hebrew words, “shalom aleichem.” In
urban slang today, it might be, “Peace, brothers!”
It isn’t enough, however,
to say “Shalom!” and keep going. It is important to be an active part of
shalom. We must concern ourselves with what is not complete, not whole, both
within and without. When our society is made up of people at the top who live
excessively, and people at the bottom who literally have nothing, we are not
whole. Did you know that CEO’s of our large companies now make more than 630
times what their employees do? Or that in America, we now have more than half a
million homeless people living on our streets, while there are more than six
hundred billionaires—that is not shalom.
Just as our bodies require
equilibrium to maintain health, our society cannot be healthy when there is no
justice and no concern for inequality. We can say, “Shalom,” but it will mean
little until we live in balance. And when we do live in harmony and wholeness,
there will be “peace on earth, shalom to all people.”
In the Spirit,
Jane
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