Peace has been on my mind a lot lately.
You cannot simultaneously prevent and prepare for war. Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.~ Albert Einstein
For as long as I can remember, peace has pulled at me like a moth to light. My family role was the elder child attempting to diffuse tense family dynamics by being the good son, good student, good listener, good employee, etc. You get the idea. I even helped broker my parents divorce settlement!
Even though I was too young to join the marches and love-ins, I felt strongly aligned with the 60’s peace movement against the War in Vietnam. I had peace signs and posters around my room and felt like a peacenik. I was a hippie at heart, but too young and conformist to express it completely.
Throughout my life, I’ve aligned with the underdog and abhor violence and conflict. I usually avoid confrontation and have backed down in situations that I might have handled better by standing up for myself.
I am delighted to learn about an organization called The Peace Alliance.
They are working to create a more cohesive and coordinated culture of peace in the United States. They are even promoting a bill to create a US Department of Peacebuilding. I believe this is a huge step and potential game changer to be aligned with peace. Maybe our seeds of peace are starting to sprout in the mass consciousness. I’ve joined this group and encourage you to consider supporting them too.
Take Action! Tell Congress to get behind H.R. 808, legislation to establish a U.S. Dept. of Peacebuilding.
Locally, we even have a local shelter named Peace at Home! It is a shelter for victims of family violence with many services to help support and empower people to create better lives.
Connecting my passions for writing and peace, I recently joined a group called bloggers for peace.
You may have noticed my new blog theme and colors along with their logo. I resonate with this group who are dedicating their blogs to peace as a way to help spread the message of peace around the world.
If you’d like to help spread the word or join, here are their requests:
- Write or blog about peace at least once a month
- Add the Bloggers for Peace badge on your site
- Put instructions for joining and tag your post “B4Peace”
- Link to other Bloggers for Peace
writing to freedom 
Pingback: Peace Post: Sept 18, 2013 | Danielle Hewitt
Thanks Danielle, I appreciate the mention and welcome to the peace bloggers! Brad
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Reblogged this on writing to freedom and commented:
Here is a post with some suggestions for creating peace in your mind, heart and community.
With all the posts about veterans and honoring those who have served today, I can’t help thinking about the terrible costs that we bear to serve the interests of war. I pray for the day when we no longer feel the need to defend, attack, kill or manipulate others in the interest of getting what we want.
Will you join me in creating more peace in the world?
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The quote by Albert Einstein is so incredibly appropriate here. As a human race, we have become much too invested in our own selves and our own views at the expense of understanding and appreciating everyone and everything around us. I will be the first to admit that I place myself firmly in this sinking boat too often. It is only through acceptance of your core values along with the willingness and mental capacity to openly listen to other viewpoints that we can truly cultivate an atmosphere of mutual understanding – and peace. Thank you Brad for bringing this post back to light!
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Thank you Dave, I must admit it’s hard to hold my peace while being flooded with posts on SM about honoring our veterans. The continuation in glorifying war and soldiers bothers me. And yes, much more understanding is needed. I would hope we learn the futility of trying to solve our problems with violence.
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I think in order to have peace, we need to have communication. But, all too often, the communications seem to be insincere, and therefore lack real results. Being genuine in our communications, and genuinely respecting the other side. Easy words to speak, difficult to do, especially when there are hurting people on both sides. Leaders have difficulties with all of these things, because they speak for so many people and so many things are outside of their control. In the end, peace begins with what we say and do to the people right next to us in our daily lives. It may seem naiive, but I think it really is what is truly the most impactful, as how we treat the person next to us will affect how they treat other people, and so on and so on, until it’s felt around the world. It’s how we treat people as we drive, how we treat people as we shop, how we treat people as we conduct difficult business meetings. We don’t think we’re working for world peace during those seemingly unrelated events, but I truly believe we are.
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Thanks Pathfinder for another thoughtful reply. Compassionate listening is a great tool and very hard to do during conflict as you mentioned. I like your reminder that our best tools for peace are how we treat our friends, neighbors and those with whom we directly interact.
blessings, Brad
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Brad why am I not surprised you have projected Peace throughout your life.. I too was the eldest, and yes I know how it feels when parents divorce.. Love this post and Peace always starts at home and within our own thoughts and actions.. Peace at Home sounds a wonderful project.. Its such a shame so many still need to take refuge in them..
Love and Blessings Brad..
Sue
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No wonder we’re both peaceniks Sue! XD Agreed that it’s a shame we need shelters like Peace at Home, but glad we have them. I appreciate your continued love and support. blessings!
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