Judy Brutz, Statement of Concern
Lake Erie Yearly Meeting

June 23, 1984

The Peace Testimony has spoken to me about the sacredness of life and the imperative of responding to that sacredness in all life situations, including my interpersonal relations within my family. When I became a pacifist at the age of 16, it did not occur to me that the pacifist principles I accepted as guides for international conflicts were also appropriate guides for conflicts within the family. It took over two decades of living to have those kinds of insights, and I am still learning. Today I ask myself and other Friends, what does it mean to be a peacemaker? Is the Peace Testimony also relevant to the home? Have we truly arrived as a nonviolent people?

Out of my struggle over the years with the question of peacemaking and non- violence, I have had increasing concern for the family. During these years my meeting and yearly meeting have supported, encouraged, guided, and listened to me. Recently, the yearly meeting asked me to write down the religious concern from which my research among Friends is prompted. I searched the Peace Testimony and my heart and was able to put into words my own conviction:

In our Peace Testimony we affirm our faith and commit ourselves not to fight with outward weapons. Our faith and our commitment come from the inward experience of Christ's transforming power and love. 

As we witness to the world that it is Christ's love, power, and truth which overcome human conflict in the world, we also witness that it is his love, power, and truth which overcome conflict within the family and which overcome the violence within our hearts.

Christ's truth is consistent over time. We are not led to be peacemakers in one situation and to be violent in the next. The Spirit lays upon us both the burden of being peacemakers in all life situations, and also provides the means to lighten the load. Within our strength and skills we often do not live up to the task set before us. We need to face the discrepancy between the statement of our beliefs and our words and action within the privacy of our homes. We need to learn how to accept and trust God's gracious changing in our lives.