Mom Heart Moments #136

The seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

SLOUCHED DOWN IN MY SEAT in a crowded railway car, I was being gently rocked to sleep by the rhythmic swaying of the old train clattering across the Polish countryside. I was returning from a student conference in the mountains that had left me a bit weary and depleted. I remember riding along in the car, wondering if I would ever not feel lonely.

Suddenly, the train took a small bend, and in front of me were fields of thousands of bright red poppies, gently swaying in the wind. I began to imagine the invisible hand of God intentionally spreading seed generously over the many fields, so that in a country where there had been so much division, war, and darkness for so many generations, there would still be a picture of His beauty, creation, and life to comfort those who would see it.

This has become to me a sort of picture of my place in the world. I desire that there be a harvest of righteousness in and through my life as big and expansive as the poppy fields of my memory. Today’s verse would indicate that righteousness is sown by peacemakers. Jesus’ whole being is focused on redeeming, buying back that which was lost, bringing life where there is death. I am most like Him when I, too, become a peacemaker, a redeemer, establishing peace where there is hostility, life where there is death. But the reason I so like the verse in James is that it gives us a picture of what we must do to bring this harvest of righteousness about —we must sow the seeds of righteousness, seed by seed, so that our harvest will be plentiful.

How can you sow seeds of righteousness and peace in your own home today?