Dag Hammarskjöld, the second Secretary-General of the United Nations, famously said the U.N. “was not created in order to bring us to heaven, but in order to save us from hell.”
United Nations began as a great experiment, a new hope, to save future generations from war and to maintain peace and security, to build a better world and to respect human rights. But Hammarskjöld understood that it would take great effort to overcome human frailty.
“The pursuit of peace and progress cannot end in a few years in either victory or defeat. The pursuit of peace and progress, with its trials and its errors, its successes and its setbacks, can never be relaxed and never abandoned.”
Hammarskjöld lived out his commitment to God through service to the world, who saw his diplomatic mission as a calling. He was a fiercely private man who did not use his public platform to promote his views on religion. It was only after his death that his views were known in his private journal, “Markings.”
Hammarskjöld pioneered quiet diplomacy and preventive diplomacy through his understanding of human nature to overcome biases, egos and public posturing of the world leaders. In this way, he was able to diffuse major crises of his day, such as the 1956 Suez Canal Crisis.
When he was asked to step down by the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, during the Congo Crisis, he refused, stating that the U.N.’s mandate was to protect smaller, more vulnerable countries from the predatory self-interest of the superpowers.
Tragically, Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash on Sept. 18, 1961, on his way to negotiate a ceasefire in what is now Zambia. He was a man of faith who saw his diplomatic mission as a deeply moral and spiritual calling.
“Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build for man a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just. And how can we fight for liberty if we are not free in our own minds? How can we ask others to sacrifice if we are not ready to do so?”
The United Nations will elect its 10th secretary-general this year. May she or he have the courage of conviction and vision to serve the world as our second SG (as we fondly call them).
Sue Rheem, Representative to the U.N.; Manager, Presbyterian Ministry at the U.N.; Presbyterian Life & Witness
Let us join in prayer for:
Barbara Betts, Manager, Presbyterian Distribution Services, Administrative Services Group
Beverly Bewley, Customer Service Representative, Operations, Presbyterian Publishing Corporation
Let us pray:
Dear God, we pray that you may grant the new secretary-general a new vision and to lead the United Nations with wisdom and courage, and may we work for your justice and peace in the world. Amen.
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