“…and a child shall lead them.” Isaiah 11:6
This passage from Isaiah came to mind immediately as Pope Leo XIV welcomed 164 children and youth from around the world to his summer home July 29, for what was termed a Peace Concert, or a Canticle of Peace. The young people, many whose homes, sense of safety, innocence, hopes and dreams had been ravaged by bombs, drones, power seekers, greed, and aggression, stood tall, sang courageously, and offered hope to a world that seems oblivious to the bleak future they and future generations might inherit.
This prophetic line from Isaiah envisions a day where lions, lambs, wolves, and a host from the wild peacefully coexists, where children are safe, cared for, free from poverty, disasters, disease, and starvation–when we study war no more–a time filled with promise and the laughter of happy children.
The outdoor concert featured renown Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and young singers from the Holy Land, Uganda, Haiti, and Italy, for what the Vatican described as a time to pray and utilize music as a universal language of peace. The diverse art, stories, and music illustrated the power of dialogue, hope, and reconciliation in the struggle for lasting peace, harmony, and cooperation.
The “beautiful music” and multilingual prayers were a welcome respite from the daily news digest of teenage car thieves, school and mall shooters, missing tourists, wildfires, severe weather, climate change, child abuse, neglect, adults behaving badly, war, earthquakes, and destruction.
Understand I’m not advocating Kumbaya, My Lord and Amazing Grace around the campfire to solve the world’s many and complex problems, however, I am praying, hoping, and campaigning for an intentional time of planning and strategizing to find a peaceful way forward for the children in this low-touch, high tech world.
I’m absolutely not asking for bureaucrats, politicians, or power brokers to gather, pontificate, and create policies that collect dust on a shelf. Rather, we should invite grandparents, kindergartners, eternal optimists—folks who always look on the bright side—to put their heads together, and imagine a more peaceful world.
Heck, now that I think about it, we could sing my childhood favorite, the Hokey-Pokey, loudly and enthusiastically. Its step-by-step instructions are perfect, especially if we put our whole selves in and shake them all about. We might understand, feel, and see music do what it does most effectively: soothe the savage beast in, around, and among us.
Seriously, children must be taught hate. They are pure love and they offer it freely to everyone. As communities of faith and goodwill, we must invest in and build strong, healthy families so children can stay home and be safe. Here’s how:
- Mentor, affirm the positive, and strategically pitch in; and, make work worth the effort so parents can be home more instead of working three jobs in search of the elusive “affordability.” Make “living wage” a national issue.
- Redefine crime, punishment, and reform;
- Vote; and hold lawmakers accountable. When leaders brag about their exclusion of folks based on race, gender, and religion, remind them they’re not God. They can’t make more land, they cannot make the sun rise or set, and nobody died and left them boss. Insist they build bridges, not walls that hurt, harm, and divide.
Finally, Pope Leo’s wonderful concert, this “occasion for joy” showed us these amazing young people whose spirits and hearts are strong, pure, and unconquerable. They will lead our world, including tomorrow’s lambs, lions, and wolves with courage, strength, and grace. For their sake, and ours, I pray we have the good sense to follow.
Cynthia A. Bond Hopson, Ph.D.
