Topic of the week – Seek peace and pursue it

In recent months, two of the most emotionally charged debates in public life have unfolded: the question of ending life before birth, and the question of ending life at its final stages. Abortion at full term and assisted dying sit at opposite ends of the human journey, yet both force society to confront the same uncomfortable idea – when, and under what conditions, is a life no longer considered valuable?

These debates happen under the vaulted ceilings of parliament, framed by procedure, principle and passion. But outside those walls, the world tells a harsher story. Wars rage in Ukraine and the Middle East. Civilian lives are extinguished not after solemn debate, but in fire and chaos. Families are displaced. Children grow up knowing sirens more intimately than lullabies.

It is hard not to feel the contradiction: how can we speak so intensely about the dignity of life in our chambers, yet tolerate so much destruction in the world beyond them?

There is an ancient line of scripture that echoes here: “Seek peace and pursue it.” Not passively, not occasionally – pursue it. Actively. Relentlessly. Peace is not the absence of conflict; it is the presence of conscience.

Yet too often we collectively slip into “see no evil, hear no evil” – a kind of moral insulation. We debate the nuances of life’s beginning and life’s end while averting our eyes from the vast human suffering unfolding in real time.

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