In 1865 General Robert E. Lee and his 26,765 troops surrendered to Union General Grant at the Appomattox Court House in Virginia. This ended the U.S. Civil War.

War is terrible—always. Sometimes wars are necessary, when dictators enslave, despots attack, and nations and terrorists invade. Evil people spreading evil must be stopped. But wars exact an awful price. And this day marks the end of one of our nation’s costliest wars, in which Americans fought each other.

Families and friends can engage in their own “civil wars”—neighborhoods and churches, too. And most of those conflicts begin over unimportant and even silly issues. It’s so sad to see people who should love each other fighting for a petty reason.

The verse for today is found in a familiar part of the Gospels called the Sermon on the Mount. In this sermon, Jesus was teaching his disciples and the gathered crowds what being his follower would mean. Obviously he thought that working for peace is important, and he said that those who do so will be blessed.

Peacemaking means making an effort to get along. It may involve swallowing our pride and keeping silent when we want to yell and scream. It may mean compromising or giving in. It certainly means loving the other person and treating him or her as a special and loved creation of God.

With whom are you “at war” these days? Someone at school? A brother or sister? What will it take to make peace with him or her?

Work for peace.

God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9).

To Do

Make a list of people with whom you often have disagreements, conflicts, or fights. Use that as a prayer list. Ask God to work in their hearts and on your relationships with them.

Also on this day . . .

The annual Rat Race and Parade are held in Louisville, Kentucky.

1833—Peterborough, NH, opened the first municipally supported public library.

1959—NASA announced the selection of America’s first seven astronauts.

From Betsy Schmitt and Dave Veerman, 365 Trivia Twist Devotions: An Almanac of Fun Facts and Spiritual Truth for Every Day of the Year (Cincinnati: Standard, 2005). Scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted.