Almost daily, I drive the same way to and from work. Sometimes, I switch it up just because. On my typical route, I’ve become familiar with when there will be little or a lot of traffic, and when there are many bikers or just a few. It’s a pretty familiar route by now.
I’m sure you have your familiar routes in life too. The same running or walking route? Maybe you follow the same path through the grocery store? What about the same route you take to friends’ or family members’ homes? Your routes are familiar too.
But what about the routes of your heart? Are they always the same and familiar, or do you leave room for new ones?
There’s nothing wrong with familiar routes in your life. You form routines and go with what you know, over and over. However, if those routes come at the expense of someone else’s well-being, integrity, or worth, then it’s time for a new route. As the prophet Isaiah reminds us, “Learn to do good; seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow” (Isaiah 1:17). If my familiar route to and from work became filled with potholes and dangerous for my car to travel, I wouldn’t keep going that way.
When we live in ways that harm our neighbors and impede their well-being, we need a new route.
The work of peace takes and demands a lot. It requires sacrifice of your familiarities for the sake of the oppressed. It means listening before acting. You might lose some friends, but you’ll gain just as many. As Dorothy Day once said, “People say, what is the sense of our small effort? They cannot see that we must lay one brick at a time, take one step at a time.”
Friends, let’s find ourselves on more routes of peace. Let’s commit to working as hard as possible for the equitable treatment of all people. You’ll get worn out and tired, but know that you’re not alone on the journey—you’ll have neighbors to lean on.