In this time of economic uncertainty, the world around us is yearning for messages of peace and hope. Where is the good news?

Not on the evening news, full of scandals and reports about corporate misdeeds and broken trust.

Not from the companies that are closing factories, while unemployment spikes.

On Earth Peace is calling on you to be the bearers of Good News this September 21, as part of the International Day of Prayer for Peace. But don't glaze over yet, good people of peace. We're not talking about just any peace.

Let's clear up something. The real needs of our world are too diverse for us to be confined to a peace tradition focused only on war. A call to love enemies is at the heart of reality ("Father, forgive them. . ."). But if understood as refraining from violence alone, our peace tradition is left too fragile. The Gospel-rooted Word that our times need, now, is broader than many of us have been able to previously articulate. Peace is not just the absence of violence. It is a positive presence, in the face of violence. It's not just about not hitting people --- it's also about employment and paychecks.

Much wider than "Are we doing violence right now or not?," our peace is also about shalom, a full-bodied Jewish concept that means wellbeing - physical and economic, as much as spiritual and relational. For Jesus-followers turning toward the agape love of God, peace/shalom is about a positive sense of abundant life - in all realms of life.

What if our peace vigils for the International Day of Prayer for Peace this September were about shalom? What if we could lift a word of Good News in communities yearning for hope? What if we could lift the hope that a positive sense of "life-giving spirit" (to use Sonja Griffith's term) might change our hearts and also address the concrete realities on our streets - realities like gang violence, hate crimes, foreclosures, and debt?

If you are interested in participating, here's some basic information about this year's campaign. We're asking congregations to consider three possible categories of participation for this year's IDOPP campaign: Observance, Vigil, and Listening Initiative.

An Observance might be good for a congregation that's doing this for the first time. Keep it simple, and plan a special prayer for your congregation.

A Vigil is a public event planned with one or two other congregations or community groups.

A Listening Initiative is an opportunity to walk the streets of your community and listen in new ways to the needs people are feeling, and signs of hope they see. Listen, and then bring this information together to share with the community at a public vigil around September 21.

Let us move forward with a widening circle of peace- and shalom-making - With God's power spiraling through our hearts and intimate relationships, gathering up the hurt and broken on our streets, lifting visions of shalom and abundance -- even in the midst of brokenness and despair. Through observances, vigils, and listening initiatives, this September may we be the angels, trumpeting "On earth peace and goodwill to all."

--Matt Guynn, Program Director, On Earth Peace