Blessed Is the Peacemaker

Today, February 18,2025, President Trump spoke about the war between Russia and Ukraine and their absence in a meeting held by Russia and the United States to discuss ending the war. Trump said, “But today I heard, ‘Oh, well we [Ukraine] weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,” Trump continued. “You should’ve ended it in three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.” I just had to write a blog about this.

"Blessed is the peacemaker." If you are not familiar with these words when grouped together, it's okay. If you watched Donald Trump inauguration as the 47th president these words may ring a bell. “My proudest legacy will be that of a peacemaker and unifier,” President Donald Trump promised the American public in his inaugural address. I myself know this grouping of words from the Christian Bible and they are part of the BEATITUDES. It is number seven out of eight.

The Beatitudes are a series of blessings from the Bible that appears in Matthew 5:1-12. Jesus said these blessings during the Sermon on the Mount.

• "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"
• "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted" 
• "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth" 
• "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" 
• "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy" 
• "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God" 
• "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God" 
• "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness"

When reading the words they seem simple and direct; it's a good thing to be a peacemaker with the reward of being called a child of God. People want peace. But what kind of peace? But with most of the Bible there are levels to understanding to what words and verses means. There is the surface meaning and there is a deeper meaning. For those who do a study of the words, more understanding is obtained.

Take the word PEACE in the Bible. In Hebrew, which the Old Testament is written, the root of peace is slm, which means "to be complete" or "to be sound." The verb conveys both a dynamic and a static meaning" to be complete or whole" or "to live well." The noun had many nuances, but can be grouped into four categories: (1) salom as wholeness of life or body (i.e., health); (2) salom as right relationship or harmony between two parties or people, often established by a covenant (see "covenant of peace" in Num 25:12-13; Isa 54:10; Ezek 34:25-26 and, when related to Yahweh, the covenant was renewed or maintained with a "peace offering"; (3) salom as prosperity, success, or fulfillment (see Lev 26:3-9); and (4) salom as victory over one's enemies or absence of war. Salom was used in both greetings and farewells. It was meant to act as a blessing on the one to whom it was spoken: "May your life be filled with health, prosperity, and victory." As an adjective, it expressed completeness and safety.

This is not how peace is interpreted in modern day English. In the New Testament, The Greek word for "peace" is eirēnē (ay-RAY-nay). It can have multiple meanings, including the absence of war, the state of well-being, and tranquil state of the soul. In the Beatitudes, when Jesus says "peace," he is referring to a deeper concept than just the absence of conflict; it means a state of wholeness, completeness, and well-being, often described by the Hebrew word "Shalom," which signifies a positive harmony and right relationship with God and others, going beyond mere tranquility to include prosperity and fulfillment. 

The word PEACE is used and should be understood to mean complete, whole, and well.

Do Trump want people to be complete, whole, and well?

What about the word BLESSED. Has the meaning of this word also changed in our modern language? 

The word BLESSED as it is used in the New Testament, literally means “happy, fortunate, blissful." Surprised? Most people understand the word blessed to mean to GET a blessing. If you are a peacemaker, you will get blessings from heaven. But here the word blessed is not a material blessing but a sense of being, happy.

Of course, the word peacemaker is direct. In the Beatitudes, "peacemakers" refers to people who work to bring peace to OTHERS. The idea of bringing peace to others is not conditional on the person ensuring peace receive a quid pro quo.

After a breakdown of each word's original meaning, we can come to understand the grouping of words to mean, "Happy are those who help to make others complete, whole, and well for they shall be called a child of God." Helping others to be well causes blissfulness.

In our day and age, it would seem the opposite. People seem to get pleasure from causing the misfortunes of others. We live in an era where there are SCAM alerts for almost everything. Scams do not bring or cause well-being. There was even a scam warning for Valentine's Day where promising admirers were out to woo you and your money apart.

In psychology, "being whole" means to be fully integrated and accepting of all aspects of oneself, including thoughts, emotions, experiences, and behaviors, essentially experiencing a sense of completeness and self-awareness without suppressing or disowning any significant part of your identity; it often involves embracing both positive and negative aspects of yourself and having a healthy connection between mind and body. The key word is HEALTHY. A healthy outlook about who you are.

The Bible also tells you to embrace who you are suggesting you should be proud of who you are. The Bible verse "fearfully and wonderfully made" appears in Psalm 139:14. The full verse reads, "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. The Psalmist is saying he knows God made him just the way he should be. His existence, his makeup, was not a mistake. Who he is cannot be not WRONG.

The Bible, it appears, takes into account that we are ALL different but wonderful. That our differences are not to be looked down upon but accepted as a good thing. Each and every person is a work of art and should be treated as such. We ALL are God's handiwork.

I believe it would be a great legacy for Donald Trump to be known as a PEACEMAKER as far as it concerns the Bible. It would be wonderful to see him helping people to become complete, whole, and well in accepting their own uniqueness. For him to be known as a president who made everyone feel their specialness would be a legacy on par with President Jimmy Carter's. He would be helping others to accept themselves and to accept others even if they are different. We would be complete, whole, well, healthy Americans. This in turn would make Donald Trump a happy and blissful president.

Can you imagine, DONALD TRUMP THE PEACEMAKER? From his mouth to God's ear is all I can say.

Russia Ukraine America WAR?

 WILL RUSSIA INVADE UKRAINE?

    My guess is no. Russia enjoys being a threat and could not stand being known for losing a war. While Trump was president, Americans made little noise about Putin. Now with a change in administration, we're ready to fight. I wish it was a law that those elected to Congress, and the presidency had to serve their country in one branch of the Armed Services for one tour of duty.

    America is proud and should be of our large, well-trained military. Men and women across the country enlist voluntarily to defend our shores. But lately they have been paying a cost once they decide to put on their uniform. Families become strained from the absence of the enlistee. PTSD is often the result of being in battle. Even those who do not see battle can be affected being on a high state of alert for months with just the treat of being attacked, killing, or being killed. Then there are those who become physically maimed from combat forever altering their civilian life. And finally, the increase in suicide of military vets once they return home. 

     America enters wars with certainty we will be victorious. But even when we win, we lose. War cripples those who fight for their country and the people who love them. The monetary cost to care for those injured while fighting and suffer long-term health problems is staggering and will increase as we enter more and more wars. 

    There are good reasons to go to war and there are good reasons to avoid war at all costs. If our elected government officials served as soldiers, I believe the call for war will not be thrown around lightly. Other countries have set up that all of its citizens have to give a certain amount of time to be trained in the military (not voluntary). I am also for a mandatory military training period for all Americans so no American will be untrained if a draft is needed again and so civilians won't be rooting for war so quickly. 

    This post is an old post dusted off for this occasion of us being on the ready if Putin invades Ukraine. It was just a day in my life I wanted to share and I'm sharing it again with you today. 

    I was off on another mad adventure. Here I am in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I was returning from Birmingham. I had no idea Birmingham was that urban. The University Hospital block is amazing. I felt smarter just walking past all of those enormous research buildings.

     As always, some vets hanging outside of the VA made my day by wolf howling at me. If you are ever feeling down and a little unattractive, go to a VA hospital, the men love the ladies there. You will feel a boost to your confidence after leaving (those that it does not offend or make feel threatened). 

      Anyway, as I have said, I am a veteran of the first Gulf War. I actually worked on tanks setting the crosshairs ensuring they hit their target. We were traveling one a day when Alabama had a big football game, and the traffic was crazy. I never saw so many dedicated fans in my life. There was maroon and cream everywhere. The vehicles were overwhelmingly red and white with the flags just a-waving. I enjoyed their enthusiasm. I was pumped too.

     If you notice, I am standing with a cup in my hand at the McDonald's President Ronald Reagan ate at when he visited Tuscaloosa, Alabama. A photo of him and a bust representation is in the window behind me. Cool huh? I have dined with a president. 

     The other picture below is a list of fallen war heroes. The idea that my name could have been engraved on a stone slab somewhere commemorating me as a fallen soldier never seems to stop sending chills up and down my spine. I sweated in the hot Saudia desert in the early spring during the first Gulf War with temperatures reaching 117 degrees listening to bombs exploding nightly 45 miles across a border, ready to serve my country. An experience never to be forgotten. 

    It never ceases to amaze me how pro war people are that are not enlisted in any branch of the armed forces. When someone states openly to you in the future the need for war, ask them for me: "So where have you enlisted at?" 

     There will always be wars and thank goodness we have wonderful men and women willing to volunteer to defend our freedoms, but no one should be rooting with zeal and salivating with bated breath for war.

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