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On yet another critical day in the history of Ulster, Ian Paisley called upon the help of God. Nothing new in that, you may say, except that this time he was joined in invoking the aid of the Almighty by Gerry Adams, a call echoed in Irish too.

It was indeed a day of unprecedented developments on the long road to a peaceful settlement in Northern Ireland. Of course there are many challenges ahead. We all know that the intervening six weeks before devolution takes effect on 8 May will be fraught. For a start, there is the annual ritual that marks the beginning of the Orange 'marching' season and Republican rallies to mark the Easter Rising. Sensitive eyes and ears in the DUP will be looking for evidence of infringement on the part of Sinn Fein. But we can begin to hope.

Now the real work begins. How do two parties, so opposed to and suspicious of each other, form a meaningful government? Whatever differences on policy lie ahead - and there are areas of common cause also - the sceptics in our midst must take some account that the biggest hurdle facing both parties was always the one they have just begun to jump. However ugly the technique and bumpy the landing on the other side, if they can surmount this then there is hope of real work towards a shared future.

One of the strangest sensations of the last few days has been hearing sentiments echoed from DUP spokespeople that, in the past, earned many peacemakers within the Protestant community a sharp dressing-down from some of the same people. Accused of betraying our community and victims alike, there was little quarter given to those who did the hard moral lifting throughout the nineties in talking to the IRA and Loyalist paramilitaries, while they still had their guns and bombs and were using them. Nobody ever found that easy. The road to peace was littered with moral ambiguities and personal dilemmas.

It would be easy to resent those who belatedly follow down the same path now that it has been cleared of some of its more nasty obstacles. But now is the time for generosity of spirit. It is time to be confident in the risks taken and role played in the past to make the present possible and welcome those who join us on the journey to a better future.

They too now face their critics as political intransigence is once again wrapped up in the language of righteous indignation. Dr Paisley and his colleagues can with confidence turn to God for help, as many of us who have walked this journey before have done. When we lack wisdom, God in his grace gives, 'the wisdom from above [that] is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.' This is what has sustained the hope of peace and the spirit of the peace maker.

Let's be in no doubt about it, in the midst of a broken community where trauma and hurt have been inflicted by the most awful acts of violence and bitter hatred, this is a righteous cause. Faced with the unrighteousness of our world, self-righteous denunciation and separation does not represent the way of Christ. Instead, 'the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.' Of such is the kingdom of God.

David Porter