Jim's Peacemaking

Dear Friends, “I think you are crazy. All the war makers want is oil. You are wasting your time. You don’t have a chance to bring peace in the world.” Thus responded John after he had listened to my sharing about CPT peacemaking in the Jackson subway station here in Chicago. I answered, “I had a fear when I started peacemaking that I would become hopeless and burnt out. But surprisingly I have more hope than I ever have. And these last seven years have been the richest of my life.” I went on to share, “You can be a peacemaker just by being kind and nice to people, especially ones that aren’t nice to you, and it will make you happy.” John answered, “Guess you’re right there.” John went on to say, “I am an agnostic.” I responded, “I was an agnostic for a number of years back in the early 70’s. Then one time, when visiting a pastor friend, I shared that I just could not say with integrity that I believed all that stuff about God. He said to me “Well, don’t try to fool God - you can’t. ...

Racism, misinformation and militarization have hurt Haiti relief effort By Derrick O'Keefe | January 20, 2010 * Print * Write to editor * Support rabble * Corrections * Everyone should check out and share the essential coverage Democracy Now! is providing of the disaster in Haiti. Amy Goodman and others from DN! are reporting from Port-au-Prince. Yesterday, DN! reported that 'Misinformation and Racism Have Frozen Recovery Effort at General Hospital in Port-au-Prince.' This from an interview with Dr. Evan Lyon from Partners In Health (PIH): "This question of security and the rumors of security and the racism behind the idea of security has been our major block to getting aid in. The US military has promised us for several days to bring in—to bring in machinery, but they’ve been listening to this idea that things are insecure, and so we don’t have supplies. I’m living here in the neighborhood with a friend. I’m staying with som...

“Putting disciplined quiet time into your life’s routine” January I, 2010 Dear friends, Here are some suggestions for putting disciplined quiet time into your life’s routine. I wish I had these when I started. 1. Commit yourself to a goal you think you can fairly easily meet. Too many times we set the bar too high and fail to achieve it and then feel guilty, saying “I will never be able to be disciplined,” or “This just doesn’t fit who I am.” And then we give up trying. 2. Choose something that is meaningful to you - read the psalms, a prayer book, another book, some type of meditation, or a combination of things. To begin with, it is best for this to be fairly simple. 3. Be creative. I have heard of people having a regular, disciplined quiet time as they drive or travel on public transportation. I know of one woman who scheduled three hours once a week, sending her small children off on a “date night” with Daddy. Ask God to lead you. 4. Try to keep the same routine for your quiet tim...

Dear Friends, “Give yourself to the gifts God gives you.” (1 Corinthians 14:1 from the Message Bible.) Seems there are million good things a person can dedicate themselves to. But we can only do a few of them. This verse has helped me to set priorities. As we focus in on our gifts, we can do a better job of using them and avoid paralysis from feeling guilty and ashamed for not doing what others are doing. It is in a way learning to be who we are. For example, I have a friend who is a dentist. He used his gift of fixing teeth in places in the world where there is no dentist. People with the gift of making money, might use their gift to share money with others, to teach others how to use money, or to run a business. I use my gift of sharing slide presentations and stories about peacemaking to make people aware of what God is doing through people for peace and justice in the world. What are the gifts God has given you? How are you using your gifts for others? This ...

A Surprising Answer to a Prayer. Dear Friends, I have been trying to contact Lauren Winner about a leading I felt about her book Real Sex for months. So yesterday morning, frustrated I prayed, “if you want me to do this Lord, may Lauren respond today or I quit.” I had been emailing and calling her unsuccessfully. A few hours later I received the below email in response to my email. Dear Lauren, My name is Jim Fitz and for 6 years I have volunteered in Colombia with Christian Peacemaker Teams. We seek to reduce violence in the world. I have found your book Real Sex very helpful for me to see the violence in my sexuality and in our culture and society relationships. Your book has great potential to make people aware of the violence in sexuality we all struggle with daily, but are unaware of, and thus reduce sexual violence in our society. So, I promote your book as a part of other books that have formed me to becoming a peacemaker (see attached book list). O...

Marriages in Stress Hello, Friends, "I left my husband a few days ago. Now he is calling me, saying that things will be different and I should just come back," Lisa shared with a group of us. I pulled her aside and told her, “I will be praying for you both.” She gave me a big hug and said, “Oh thank you!” I gave her the book Desperate Marriages by Gary Chapman. She responded later, “I read it and it was very helpful. Thank you so much.” We have been keeping in touch from time to time ever since. They have two boys. A friend said, “I have something to share with you from your good friends X and Y. Y has been involved sexually with another women. They, together with the church, are working on reconciliation, but it is a hard road. X and Y asked me to tell you so you could be praying for them.” “I haven’t been attending church since the first of the year,” another brother told me. “J and I have been having serious problems relating. And it feels a contradicti...

Hello friends, “I told you I was going to Colombia, didn’t I?” said my friend Paul Alexander, the co-founder of Pentecostals and Charismatics for Peace and Justice . “No, I know nothing about it.” I responded. Paul answered, “Well, next May, Bob Welch, a fellow professor, and I are going to Colombia to interview Colombian church people who are active in peace and justice work. We want to use these interviews for a book we are writing. I was hoping you could help us find people to interview and to come help us with the interviews.” This all happened about 9:30 PM in Los Angeles after I was told by the Presbyterians that morning in New York that they felt I would not work for their Colombian accompaniment program because It meant waiting around for something to happen several days a week and they felt that would not fit who I was. I asked to try it for a month, but they felt it just would not work. What a gift for the Lord to open doors so qu...