Peace

*Peace.  We don’t hear much about it these days.  It’s almost as if we talked and fussed and signed about it so much in the 60s & 70s, that it got tired – or we did.  By the 80s a person flashing a peace sign was seen as immature or perhaps desperately clinging to their youth.  Peace became passé.  Which explains 2018.

The thing about Peace is that it can mean so many things.

Are we talkin’ World Peace,  or Peace at the dinner table on Thanksgiving?  A wish of Peace may be one for our injured nation or troubled world.  Peace may mean getting the boss off your back, or just being able to drive to work with no one in your head but you.

Peace.  What does it look like?  What are the requirements?  Would no more killing mean Peace?  What about human rights violations and atrocities – Peace wouldn’t include them, right?  If we somehow put an end to war, would that be Peace?  Or do we need to eliminate fist fights and divorces as well?  Have we achieved Peace if people still curse and insult each other and spread gossip and lies?  What constitutes Peace?

For one thing, Peace is a greeting.  Like Shalom, Namaste or Aloha, Peace can be used in place of hello or  good-bye, and like Shalom, Namaste or Aloha it is also a well-wish, a suggestion, a dream and a common goal.  It acknowledges one’s membership in a brotherhood of a shared ideal, a hope for something higher for each of us and for all of us.

We all need a Peace Zone.”

Peace is a feeling.  It can be found in a special place or time of day or with another soul.  Peace brings a smile.  It is calm.

More than anything, Peace is an attitude.  A way of looking at life and all its bits through love-tinted glasses.  An overt belief that we are inherently good – or at least capable of being good.  A willingness to accept the person standing in front you without judgement or conditions.  A desire to see the good in each person or situation that we face.

Our country is in a terrible place.  It is hard to imagine that it has ever been more divided.  It is upsetting and sad.  However, it is not good for us, as sentient spiritual beings, to spend too much time filled with the hate, disdain, disgust, repulsion and horror that our political adversaries elicit.  It is not good for our personal well-being to get upset every time we allow controversial thoughts of our politicians and political enemies to enter our minds.  Amidst it we must find Peace, spread Peace, be Peace.

We all need a Peace Zone.  A part of the day during which the horribleness is put aside.  Perhaps no politics when the kids are around, or while at work, or before noon or after 8PM.  Something.  A time to remember that we are good and to let our hearts ‘be light’ and not let anger or hatred become our default state of mind and take over our lives as it has theirs and his.

Instead of tweeting hours away venting, take five a minutes every day to write a personal email to one person in your Contacts reminding them to get registered and to vote.  Between now and November that’s a lot of voters and it’s a positive bit to enjoy each day.

We must continue to exercise our First Amendment right to free speech and we must must work diligently to support  candidates who support our beliefs, and those who will work to bring Peace both to America and worldwide.