INSTRUMENTS OF PEACE

On the possible efficacy of being wrong and thus finding the right way

Many, many, of us were putting hopes this year in an election. We have followed and interpreted the actions of many nation states as being against we the people. We, knowing the overall motivations involved, have had our doubts about any possible integrity of elections. But despite our concerns there are indications many of the people have spoken and spoken accurately and bravely. We must know where and how to look for these.

When a culture has gone so far towards evil, elections are simply going to veer towards a favorable direction for those perpetuating the evil. If we rely on evil people and forces to be our allies then it seems we ourselves have agreed to the evil. Once we have agreed to this in any fashion the next step is to declare ourselves wrong and proceed as quickly as possible in the opposite direction.

We have had more than enough warning. For those who don’t comprehend the magnitude of the evil this article will not convince you. There is an abundance of information available on what is wrong. But as a writer, a Mom and a human being I simply cannot delve more into the things that are wrong. Once we have an idea of how to fix things there’s no point in wallowing  around in the muck any further. 

I’m not going to delve into religion, spirituality, or aspects of moral education because everyone has their own ideas on this. But one thing which helps bridge the gaps between these disciplines is Common Sense. Whereas I could use many different disciplines to try to convince you I won’t.  Because the important overarching concept is to foment peace. Peace must break out and we ourselves must be the instruments of peace. Either we do this well and are very skillful at this or we are all stand to perish from the evil and be lost forever.

We have gone wrong as the human species. We have allowed our nations, our self-appointed elites, our politicians, every facet of our lives to be permeated by this evil and we have met this evil with an anemic and impotent response. The fact we are at an impasse where we must rely on election systems and governments which have proven to be corrupt is evident. We have collectively veered from simple, everyday common sense. We have literally taken leave of our senses. 

So then how do we know who (or what) to rely on, to trust? We know in our deepest selves. But often in history and in our own lives we aren’t ready to get real and effective with ourselves and others until we have become desperate. The old saying that the darkest hour occurs just before the dawn is helpful. Our own darkest moments often occur when we are just on the verge of being humbled enough to see the light in ourselves and in others. 

We know from experience that the evils we see prevailing today didn’t spring from nowhere. Any aware individual understands this. But being surrounded by evil often relegates us feeling weak and helpless. This is the force of evil at work. Evil brings out the very worst in all of us.

But by the time evil has insinuated itself so deeply that we cannot even see it as such we are truly lost we become lost in a fog of war and divisiveness.

“Under god the people rule.” This is far from an American idea but as pointed out by the founding ancestors centuries ago is a human one. And no matter what our individual ideas of religious understanding, the importance of becoming instruments of peace is central to the concept. We will make no progress if we fail to identify potential leaders. They are out there. Our task is to understand and identify the right potential leaders by being ourselves those who are capable of recognizing them.

The new USA and the new world will be led by those who get up everyday and work tirelessly to be peacemakers. Often peacemakers are seen as unrealistic - no, they are the only realistic ones.

We know, we understand - but we must get quiet enough to hear the voice which commands this understanding. The process of becoming instruments of peace is the process we are living through. Voices driven by peace are strong, those that rail against the “devil” and blame others lead us nowhere but to further divisiveness. When we’ve truly careened off the rails only humble, peaceful integrity will serve us.

At the risk of here diluting my own message and alienating some, I will share words which seem to reach beyond the binds of time and space. 

“BE NOT AFRAID”. For fear is our strongest enemy. Walking in peace together is our task. 

In a land of peace the devil has no power. The devil becomes the devil when we fail. When we are truly instruments of peace there is no failure. No fear, no failure,  no devil. The devil is not the other - the devil exists in our own hearts. The devil is a reflection of what we must proactively choose not to be. 

We are the darkness and the light. Embrace both as one cannot exist without the other. The most powerful idea in the universe is that of peace - not war and conflict. To believe in war and conflict and decisiveness is to be universally wrong. Forgiveness and understanding are more powerful than war and conflict.

Perhaps the words of a physicist here may help in understanding that the universe could not exist to support life without the interacting forces of entropy and cohesion.

This post is going to test your patience as it has tested mine. The way to achieve patience is through a process of having it tested. 

There are a multitude of different ways to express these things and as long as we know in our hearts the words are true and lead to a world we and our children choose to live in there is no wrong way to say it.

To err is to be human. Being wrong and admitting it may just lead us to the truth. 

“The Universe is smarter than we are.”

Perhaps like James Joyce we can move away from a “nightmare of history from which we are trying to awake”.

http://m.joyceproject.com/notes/020063nightmare.html

And the words which can lead perhaps to a multinational and multi-religious understanding of “The peace which passeth all understanding”.

https://www.thymindoman.com/the-mystical-messiah-in-the-worlds-traditions/