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Worldly reflections:
Christ the King students put pen to paper for peace
Christ the King School students participated in a school-sponsored Lenten essay contest in which they were asked to submit essays answering the question, “How can I be an instrument of God’s peace and love (in a world of conflict)?”
Sixth-grader Nathan Babcock took first place honors for his essay, “Spreading God’s peace in the world,” and runner-up was Anna Kupitz, a fourth-grade student at the Catholic school, with her essay titled “God’s Peace.”
Spreading God’s peace in the world
By Nathan Babcock, sixth grade
Jesus calls us to be peacemakers. He even makes this call to children. At first a child might think, “What can I do? I’m just a kid!” It is true that we kids are probably the least influential people in the world. If the world was a pond, a kid would only be a drop of rain falling into it. So why should kids even bother to be peacemakers?
Because when a drop of rain falls into a pond, it creates a ripple. When we are kind to the people around us, it puts them in a good mood. It gives them some peace. And then when they go to their house or to a sports practice or to a party, they spread more peace. And then the people around them spread more peace. It’s like a chain reaction. However, it also works in the opposite way. If you are in a horrible mood and you are mean to people around you, that puts the other people in bad moods, and then the mood spreads wider and wider.
To be a peacemaker, you have to have peace and grace in your own heart. How can you spread peace if you don’t even have any? The Church has given us tools to gain inner peace. The first tools are the sacraments. A great way to find peace is to go to Reconciliation or receive the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Another powerful tool is prayer. You can pray the rosary, or even a simple prayer every night that asks for grace. Being at peace is a great feeling; you are completely calm and tranquil. When you have peace in your heart, you will want to share it with others.
Here’s how a kid could share peace with others: A teacher comes to work one morning. She is completely stressed out. She stayed up late last night grading homework and the traffic that morning was terrible. She gets into the classroom, and there are several rowdy kids breaking rules. Another child uses the grace in his heart to persuade the rowdy kids to settle down. This gives the rowdy kids peace, it gives the teacher peace, and even gives the rest of the class peace since their teacher won’t be so grumpy.
Do you see how simple acts of peace can cause a big change? Just like how a single ripple spreads across a pond, one child created peace in an entire classroom. Sure, we are just kids, and we hardly get a say in anything that goes on in the world today, but we can make big changes all the same — all it takes is peace.
God’s Peace
By Anna Kupitz, fourth grade
It may seem as though peace starts in the world, but it really starts at home. If you start your day with whining and fighting, I can almost guarantee you will have a bad day. And it will go from person to person. The domino effect will send your family away in a bad mood also. Domino effect means that your bad mood will spread like a virus and knock down everybody else’s good day, like it would knock down the next domino. If you start your day with love and peace, no matter what happens during the day, you will feel God’s peace. It will have a positive domino effect on your family. Then when you get to school or work, the peace spreads to coworkers or classmates.
When you get older, you can do even more to bring peace to the world. That is because you do more stuff like community service or you may have a job. It is also because you may go to a bigger school. There are many ways you can spread God’s peace throughout the world. You can help spread God’s peace by helping out. You can help out by giving food, shelter, drinks, and clothes to the poor.
It is important to bring peace to the world. It is what Jesus wants us to do.
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