Be the Peace
“There is no road to peace; peace is the road.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
With the fires of contention burning all around us, and those on each side passionately heaping on fuel, it’s difficult not to jump into the fray.
We all want righteousness. We all want justice to prevail. We all want to give ourselves to that which will bring freedom and light to all humankind.
Frankly, we all want passion, too. It’s the lure of passion that urges us to join the battle.
But ponder this. The voices which continue to echo through the centuries—the words that have endured through all the battles, that have crossed all the boundaries that wars have created and changed, the voices whose truth is echoing still–speak to us of peace and of its home within our hearts.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world,” counseled Ghandi. “When confronted with an opponent,” he said, echoing Jesus of Nazareth, “Conquer him with love.”
Jawaharial Nehur explained it this way: “Peace is not a relationship of nations. It is a condition of mind brought about by a serenity of soul.”
A serenity of soul. Go for that. And how do you do that? American psychiatrist Gerald Jampolsky suggests a way: “When I am able to resist the temptation to judge others, I can see them as teachers of forgiveness in my life, reminding me that I can only have peace of mind when I forgive rather than judge.”
And psychotherapist Arnold A. Hutschnecker, offers this as a way to know peace: “Peace comes from feelings of satisfaction when working with joy, living with hope, loving with abandonment.” If you wish to be passionate for peace, find it within you, and let it flow in passionate work, in passionate hope, in passionate, unfettered love.
Finding peace within is an arduous work. It requires focus. It requires dedication. It requires whole-hearted, passionate commitment and relentless re-commitment every time we fail. “Peace is a journey of a thousand miles,” said President Lyndon B. Johnson; “and it must be taken one step at a time.” Nevertheless, until we find it within ourselves, we cannot create it in the world. For the world is but a mirror of our collective souls.
If we wish peace for the world, we must become its embodiment. We must practice it over and over, until its radiance infuses us completely, until we are lost in its dancing beauty and sparkling love.
Let me close as I began, with a quote from Gandhi. May it sing to your heart as it does to mine.
“I offer you peace. I offer you love. I offer you friendship. I see your beauty. I hear your need. I feel your feelings. My wisdom flows from the Highest Source. I salute that Source in you. Let us work together for unity and love.”
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