the mountain of the Lord’s house
shall be established as the highest of the mountains,
and shall be raised up above the hills.
Peoples shall stream to it,
and many nations shall come and say:
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob;
that he may teach us his ways
and that we may walk in his paths.”
For out of Zion shall go forth instruction,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
He shall judge between many peoples,
and shall arbitrate between strong nations far away;
they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more;
but they shall all sit under their own vines and under their own fig trees,
and no one shall make them afraid;
for the mouth of the Lord of hosts has spoken.
Micah 4:1-4 (NRSV)
When the Colombian peace accords were signed in 2016, they included a section on the disarmament of the FARC guerillas. The FARC were given a certain amount of time to make their way to designated areas where they surrendered their weapons and began the reintegration process into society. The weapons surrendered by more than 13,000 guerillas were collected by the UN and melted down. Artist Doris Salcedo was tasked with creating a monument out of the melted down weapons. Employing women who had suffered physical and sexual abuse during the half century long war, she created 1,296 rough tiles, which were laid on the floor of the monument located in Colombia’s capital, Bogota. The monument, titled “Fragmentos” (Fragments), was completed in December 2018. Although the government and the rebels intended for the monument to be a glorious tribute, but Salcedo had a different idea. She wanted people to look down, to stand upon the former weapons, and remember the suffering of the victims. You can read more about the monument and Salcedo’s inspiration here.
Meant to stand as a monument to the peace, “Fragmentos” is left in a strange limbo as the peace has slowly unraveled over the past few years. The peace becomes more and more fragile with every passing day as the government has failed to follow through on its promises and some guerillas have begun to arm themselves once again out of frustration and fear. Yet even as the peace falls apart, the hope that I encountered while living in Colombia in 2016 when the accords were signed stands as strong as ever. The Presbyterian Church of Colombia (IPC), alongside the multitude of other churches and organizations who have already worked for peace for decades and who were instrumental in negotiating the accords, refuse to give up hope that their home will be at peace one day. They continue to advocate and negotiate for peace, advocate for victims, and pressure the government to follow through on the promises made in the accords.
As I read Micah 4 this week, I couldn’t help but think of the peace accords and “Fragmentos.” The IPC took a stand for peace because of scriptures like this one, scriptures that command that we work for peace and envision a future where there is no more war or violence or injustice. Perhaps “Fragmentos” was a bit premature as a monument to the peace accords, but when I see photos of those rough tiles, created by victims of the war out of weapons that were used to terrorize and kill, I remember what my Colombian brothers, sisters, and siblings have suffered, I think of the people who have dedicated their lives to building a just and lasting peace, and I see hope for the future that reflects Micah’s words. “Fragmentos” may not be the grand monument that the government and the FARC had in mind, but those tiles stand as a monument to not only those who have suffered, but also those who refuse to let go of their hope for peace. I hope one day to walk across those tiles for myself, and I pray that on the day I do there truly will be peace for Colombia.
The Presbyterian Peacemaking Program provides a daily lectionary of scriptures based on themes of peace and peacemaking. Over the course of 2019-20 I’ll be basing my blogs on one or more of the scriptures from each week’s lectionary. If you would like to follow along in the lectionary with me, here are next week’s scriptures:
Sunday – Genesis 47:27-31
Monday – Job 42
Tuesday – Daniel 12
Wednesday – Psalm 121
Thursday – John 14:1-7
Friday – Romans 8:31-39
Saturday – Revelation 21:9-27