In 1517, the Goddess Peace was fed up. She’d travelled across Europe and everywhere there was war, pride, ambition and selfishness. Human beings seemed to have lost their reason; they were so busy fighting each other that they had forgotten how good it was to welcome her blessings. But Peace did not despair. Through her spokesman, the great Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus, she called on human beings to return to love and concord, remembering that nature made them interdependent and Christ called them to be friends. In her famous speech, the ‘Complaint of Peace’ she urged her audience to work together for the common good, to find real fulfilment in shared purpose and mutual affection.

Much has changed since 1517, of course, but I wonder how Goddess Peace would feel if she paid us a visit today. Thankfully we are spared military conflict in Europe, but she has higher ideals than the mere absence of war. In a world where division and discord are still far too evident, and the common good can seem especially fragile, we need her advice as much as ever. For, Peace argued, all have the ability to work for harmony and make a difference, none of us are insignificant. Even the smallest of acts of kindness can ripple out into more and more goodwill, as love and affection replace greed and mistrust, and the common good is built from the ground upwards. In 1517 Peace was disappointed but she was still hopeful; perhaps we can all share in strengthening that hope.

Dr Sarah Mortimer