Waging Peace and Planting Olive Trees

Waging Peace and Planting Olive Trees

The word that Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.

In days to come

   the mountain of the Lord’s house

shall be established as the highest of the mountains,

   and shall be raised above the hills;

all the nations shall stream to it.

   Many peoples shall come and say,

‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,

   to the house of the God of Jacob;

that he may teach us his ways

   and that we may walk in his paths.’

For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,

   and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.

He shall judge between the nations,

   and shall arbitrate for many peoples;

they shall beat their swords into ploughshares,

   and their spears into pruning-hooks;

nation shall not lift up sword against nation,

   neither shall they learn war any more.

Isaiah 2:1-5

It’s the year of our Lord, 2024. The nations stream to a weapons expo and military alliances, while missiles promising safety instead create terror. For-profit prisons disproportionately target Aboriginal families, and despite protest from Elders and scientists, we open new mines. Empire survives when we believe there is no alternative.

The prophet Isaiah proclaimed a wild and unthinkable future, where justice rolls down like water and we no longer stockpile weapons but actively wage peace and plant olive trees. 

“...the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established ...all the nations shall stream to it.... They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning- hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” 

Empire will not go quietly into the night; it must be dismantled and metabolised, sword by sword, tank by tank. Most of us do not hold weapons in our hands but we are beholden to them, nonetheless. There is no room for riot gear and tear gas in the world that God is creating. For Isaiah, seeing justice flow was not for the ‘good guys’ to have the weapons, it was for the weapons to be transformed into gardening tools. 

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aunties and Uncles have known this as they’ve faced the end of the world - resistance in the face of Empire, caring for children and culture and Country as they protect and cultivate that world that has no end. The question of this Advent season is for the rest of us - what world am I protecting? What future am I creating? How are we actively unlearning the ways of war, colonisation, and empire? Who is showing us the way? Jesus offers us courage and power to walk Creator’s good road of compassion and peace, and there are many ahead of us on the journey.  

Catholic peace activist Thomas Merton wrote that “Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer has become impossible and our heart has turned to stone.” Regular prayer with Costandi Bastoli, and other Palestinian Christians, has been a refuge for me in terrifying times. As an American, being welcomed in prayer by Palestinians while my nation arms and supports Israel, is deeply humbling. They do not pray for the death of their oppressors, but for God’s kindness to bring repentance and liberation to their beloved Palestine. We cry together for mercy, justice and ceasefire as we imagine that world which has no end.

The political landscape we see now is not so different from the prophet Isaiah, but the stakes are higher, the missiles more far-reaching. May Empire lose its grip on our imagination as we stand in greater solidarity with those who experience us as their enemies. They know the land, and there’s so much gardening to do.

‘Glory be, to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and forever will be. World without end. Amen’.

Becca De Souza lives on Dharawal Country, works as a trauma-informed doula/birth educator and is on staff with Central Church Port Kembla. She was raised on Turtle Island and is a Shawnee descendant.

This devotional is part of a series of daily email devotionals for Advent 2024 reflecting on the life-giving, thirst quenching justice of Jesus we long to see flow across these lands. A justice overflowing with love and compassion, bringing forth hope, healing, nourishment and flourishing for all.

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