In 1998, the World Council of Churches met in Harare, Zimbabwe for its 8th Assembly of the Council. They provided a striking proposal, one that will forever change the face of the earth. They proposed a decade long opposition to violence. The council gave a detailed look at the twentieth century and heralded it as the "single most violent century in human history." While we could make arguments to the contrary, one has to admit that we left the twentieth century as some of the most violent people to ever walk the planet. Our scope of violence ranged from two world wars, to massive genocide in Cambodia, to the Vietnam War, the Iran-Contra affair which killed thousands of innocent people, the first Iraq war, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the Korean War, to name only a few. This does not even account for the genocide in Rwanda, where 800,000 people were killed in a matter of weeks while the world, including the U.S., remained silent. Whether the twentieth century was the most violent century in human history or not, we certainly find ourselves looking back in sadness at the way we have destroyed God's world. Of course, the violence has not stopped and we have September 11th, the invasion of Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the turmoil in Haiti and the situation between Israelis and Palestinians as examples of continuing violence.

The World Council of Churches came together in 1998 in repentance, grief, and yet hope for the world in which we live. They put their minds together and developed an initiative called the "Decade to Overcome Violence." It is a movement to educate and inform people of all faith backgrounds for creating an ethos of peace. Their main objectives are to describe the logic and spirit of violence and how it destroys God's creation. The initiative, then, seeks a spiritual and political base for overcoming violence of any kind in this world so that we may experience God's kingdom "On earth as it is in heaven." This is a challenge to people of faith and non-faith alike to become active in their communities locally, nationally and internationally in creating a movement of peace. It is a call that will change the face of human history if we but listen, a chance for us to see all of humanity as a creation of God and as intertwined with our own lives and history. Lila Watson, an aboriginal Australian, once said, "If you have come to help me you can go home again. But if you see my struggles as part of your own survival, then perhaps we can work together." As citizens of this world, we need to see one another's struggle as essential to our own survival. We need to work together or we will possibly see the twenty first century end in complete annihilation of the earth. Mahatma Gandhi said, "An eye for eye only makes the world blind." Martin Luther King Jr. echoed this sentiment when he said, "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for humanity to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Humankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love." Jesus of Nazareth also reminded us "You have heard it said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say, love your enemies. Love and do not hate." And again Jesus states, "Those who live by the sword shall perish by the sword."

I want to send out a challenge to the community of Sussex County. My challenge is that we would become a part of this worldwide movement to overcome violence between 2001-2010, and beyond. During this time of great turmoil, may we seek peace both in our own lives and in the world. May we challenge our legislative representatives to make foreign policies that deplore violence against other peoples. May we end the occupation of Iraq and Palestine, stand with those standing up for human rights in Colombia while the U.S. government supports its violent leaders, and decry the violent fanaticism of Al Qaeda and its leaders. Most importantly, let us begin in Sussex County. Let us not remain silent in the face of injustice and violence. Whether it is racism, sexism, domestic abuse, child abuse, homophobia, ageism, discrimination of those with disability, or an unneeded war based upon false pretenses of pre-emptive strike, let us deplore violence. Let us join in this world movement believing that all people who inhabit this earth are created by God and are therefore our sisters and brothers. We are all interconnected and if we continue to remain silent in the face of violence, we will only see more and more of our sisters and brothers throughout the world experience loss and pain. I think Chief Seattle said it best, "…All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons and daughters of the earth. Men and women did not weave the web of life; they are merely strands in it. Whatever one does to the web, one does to oneself." May the web that we weave be one of peace.