Let Us Do More Than Pray For Peace

by Eric Elkin

“they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.”

— Micah 4:4

I woke this morning with a song in my head. There was a deep impulse to sing it out loud, but it was too early. My voice and my sleeping wife were not ready for musical performance. So I did the safe thing. I found a rendition on YouTube and listened quietly through my headphones.

The song was one I learned at camp years ago called “Vine and Fig Tree.” It has been ages since I’ve heard or sung it. Listening to it this morning brought me back to a warm summer day on the shores of the Delaware River. I happened to find myself asking permission from a neighboring camp’s director to search for an abandoned canoe on the river. To access the canoe, I had to cross their property.

As we were talking, their camp’s children circled up and started singing a song. It was a song we sang at our camp, “Vine and Fig Tree.” The counselors and campers formed two circles. The inside circle danced to the left, the outside circle to the right. They sang the song in a round.

So as I listened this morning, I closed my eyes, and I was back at that camp watching children sing. The movement, the music, the laughs of children, the warmth of the summer air all made it a special moment. The kind of experience that gets forged into one’s memory.

“And every one ‘neath their vine and fig tree
Shall live in peace and unafraid
And every one ‘neath their vine and fig tree Shall live in peace and unafraid

And into plowshares turn their swords,
Nations shall learn war no more
And into plowshares turn their swords,
Nations shall learn war no more”

— Unknown

What a strange thing that a Christian camp and Jewish camp could sing the same song with such joy and dancing. Yet, centuries of conflict and distrust would make it challenging to sing together. Two people who worship the same God, read the same scripture, and cannot beat their swords into plowshares.

You may be saying to yourself, images in songs are not meant for the real world. I beg to differ. If you have ever watched an episode of Axe Men, you will know they use abandoned World War II-era armored vehicles as bulldozers. Canada even has a Swords and Ploughshares Museum.

Tomorrow is a breathing space from work. Stores will be closed, if even for a brief moment. Families will gather to feast. Even people living on the streets will find a momentary respite from the cold and will be fed. The day will come as close to a time-out as possible in the United States.

I wonder if we can put out swords away and sit beneath a vine and fig tree? Can we live in peace and unafraid? Of course, we will not, but that is not the same as we cannot. What do we gain from our hatred and violence other than anxiety and fear?

While we wait for the Lord to come. Let us do more than pray for peace. Let us become peace-makers. Invite people to sit with you under a vine and fig tree. Perhaps do a craft project like beating your sword into a plowshare.

Click to read Micah 4: 1-5