Make Me a Channel of Your Peace

Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred let me bring your  Love. Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord And where there's doubt, true faith in  You. The header for this blog entry is the opening phrase of a hymn attributed to St. Francis which is not his, but certainly worthwhile. Yesterday I received this year's Global Peace Index, which I always find interesting. And it always prompts me to consider what it means for me as a Christian to actively engage in peacemaking, as a follower of the Prince of Peace who enjoined us to "wage peace" in the world. I am often struck by how fortunate I am to be a Canadian, living in such a peaceful nation. I consider it both a privilege and an obligation as a global citizen. I feel that our sponsorship of a Syrian refugee family and our goal of sponsoring others reflects our commitment to being peacemakers in some small way. Take a look at the information below and please share your thoughts. The tenth edition of the Global Peace Index (GPI) finds that many countries are at record high levels of peacefulness, while the bottom 20 countries have progressively become much less peaceful. This creates increased levels of inequality in global peace, and the gap between the most-peaceful and least-peaceful countries continues to widen.

The Cost of Violence

The world continues to spend enormous amounts on reducing and containing violence, and little on building peace. The economic impact of violence was $13.6 trillion (PPP) in 2015 which is the equivalent to 11 times the size of global foreign direct investment. Since last year commitments to peacekeeping are improving, but global investment in peacebuilding and peacekeeping is less than 2% of the economic impact of armed conflict.

Decline in Peace

The ten year deterioration in peace has been largely driven by intensifying conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa region. Terrorism is at an all-time high, battle deaths from conflict are at a 25 year high, and the number of refugees and displaced people are at a level not seen in 60 years.

The GPI 2016 Video

In the 12 months since the last Global Peace Index, increased conflict, terrorism and the refugee crisis suggests a less peaceful world. However, despite the increasingly unequal gap between peaceful and less peaceful nations, there are positive trends where the data tells a different story.