I Work In A Building Called The Shalom Centre In ...

I work in a building called THE SHALOM CENTRE in Sydney. Recently Kathryn, a Jewish girl said she found it unusual that we would call a building Shalom, since it is a Jewish term for saying HI AND GOODBYE. It literally means "PEACE BE WITH YOU". Shalom is a Biblical word.

This got me thinking and so I did a bit of research into the word Shalom to discover more.

My grandson received a McDonalds toy not long back that came in separate pieces. It was a little super hero but when I put the pieces together, they kept falling apart. But there is always the Super glue and before long, I almost became one of the pieces of this action figure. When we are talking about the word peace in the Bible, it is a little like that glue. In the New Testament the word for Peace comes from a root verb which means "to join or bind together something which has been separated or divided." When we speak of "HAVING IT ALL TOGETHER" we are speaking of PEACE in our life - the sense of inner rest, well being and everything working together in harmony. When we speak of "FALLING APART" we have inward DIVISION OR DISSENSION, but SHALOM speaks of BEING RECONCILED with God and having peace within and without, of being whole and unified.

Acts 10:36 (NLT) says "This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel-that there is PEACE WITH GOD through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all."