CLINTON MARSH BENEDICTION

CLINTON MARSH BENEDICTION

 

Rev. Clinton Marsh, a patriarch of the Presbyterian church who served as moderartor of the old United Presbyterian Church in the USA in 1973, died in Blaksburg, VA in 1986.  He is the brother of the late Mayor Henry Marsh, the first black mayor in the great city of Saginaw, Michigan

Go in Peace

And now, I am supposed to say to you, "Go in peace." But how can I say, "Go in peace," when you are going out into a world where you are insecure, whether at home or on your neighborhood street?

n     Out into a world where race is set against race and ethnic cleansing is a name for genocide?

n     Out into a world where people are hungry and homeless, while their governments squander billions of dollars on instruments of destruction that they dare not use?

n     Out into a world where every night millions of mothers watch their children sink into a hungry slumber, only to awaken (if they awaken) to another hungry tomorrow?

With a world like that out there, how can I say to you, "Go in peace?"

But I dare to say, "Go in peace," because Jesus says "I give you my peace."

But - remember - he who says, "I give you my peace" also says, "If you would be my disciple and [thereby] have my peace, take up your cross and follow me!"

So I dare to say, "Go in peace!" -- if you dare!

Clinton Marsh