I was at the playground with Yohanna the other day and I was watching kids play. I noticed a brother and sister who were going at each other. Teasing and picking on one another and taunting. For a moment I was secretly glad we settled at one.

The teasing and pestering continued until finally out and out war broke out; fur flew, tear fell and shouts rang out and then the UN was brought in, parties were separated and an uneasy truce was called.

While the two sides amused themselves in separate areas of the playground for some time and the little girl discovered a rare treasure in the grass, a plastic sparkly ring. With a big, open and generous smile on her face, she approached her brother, holding out the ring. I wasn’t sure if she was going to give it to him but you got the sense she certainly was willing to share it with him. You know where this story is going…. Well, it turns out he had not quite gotten as calmed down as she and with a fierce vengeance he grabbed the ring, threw it on the ground and stomped it into a hundred little pieces.

My heart sank. You could see the instant pain on the little girl’s face. Her generosity rejected, her vulnerable offering met with violence. We’ve all been there at one time or other, haven’t we? You work your way through all those angry feelings, you finally screw up the courage and reach out for peace but it all seems to go sideways because one of you is not quite ready.

We also have had those times in our lives when we have acted like the little boy. The timing is all off and the anger and frustration just won’t go away as we continue to feel threatened and fearful. Of course when we are like this we are destined to misunderstand and overreact.

(This never happens in your marriages, I am sure.)

Samaritans and Jews in Jesus’ day, were just like this brother and sister. They were at each other. There was a history of constant skirmishes that kept the anger and distrust alive.

They both come from the same religious foundations the Abrahamic faith. At the core of their dispute was that they disagreed about where the true temple was. The Jews believe the holy of holies is in Jerusalem, the Samaritans believe Moses told them it was to be Mount Gerizim. One started to claim the other as ritually unclean and the rest is history.

Jesus made a monumental step forward and offered an olive branch of peace. First of all, he entered into their territory and reached out and engaged with them and then he asked if he could eat with them. This was his sparkly plastic ring. But unfortunately like the little boy in our earlier story they were not quite ready to receive this gesture of good will.

I love the disciple’s reaction! Enough of this nice-stuff! "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" (Luke 9: 54) Jesus turns and rebukes them. Peace is a longer, more patient journey. Later, Jesus continued to reach out as he told a parable about a Good Samaritan.

This morning we will be baptizing three young souls. We will mark them with the sign of the cross and claim them as Christ’s own forever. How will they be different or changed because of this?

Through baptism these children will be aliened with Christ a faith figure who modelled for them peacemaking, healing and reconciliation that takes time, patience and sacrifice of self. They will be rooted and grafted into a community – that’s you, the parents, godparents, family members and members of this community - that are committed to seeing that these children learn to be patient for peace, to be steadfast against further conflict, to turn the other cheek when it feels oh so sweet to hit back.

They, like us, will have been given an opportunity to join a life of faith that says it is never too late to be different. The Christian teachings are really simple. We can "bite and devour one another." But we better be careful because we are likely to be "consumed by one another." Galatians 5:15 Or we can choose to live according to one single commandment, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Galatians 5:14

The life of faith is about letting go of our own selfish preoccupations, asking God to give us insight and patience and then reaching out to the other. The strength to do this does not come from us but comes from a source that is way more powerful than we can imagine. And for that, we say, thanks be to God.