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The order of peace
I believe that all the world’s religions can get behind peace on earth. It’s just that their scripture doesn’t always address it directly. Consider this quote from Confucius.
To put the world in order, we must first put the nation in order; to put the nation in order, we must put the family in order; to put the family in order, we must cultivate our personal life; and to cultivate our personal life, we must first set our hearts right.
Now consider my paraphrase:
To put the world at peace, we must first put the nation at peace; to put the nation at peace, we must put the family at peace; to put the family at peace, we must cultivate our personal peace; and to cultivate our personal peace, we must first set our hearts at peace.
See what I mean?
Unless and until, individual hearts are at peace, we cannot hope to create world peace. The path to peace on our planet is a simple one, not always easy, but always simple. It starts right where you are and right where I am. Every time.
Peace is a choice we can make in any circumstance, no matter how unsettling. It boils down to the individual. Think of it! Every single time you choose peace over any other value, a little more peace seeps into the world.
Won’t you choose peace with me?
Do you suppose there is a number out there somewhere or some kind of configuration where "X" number of individuals are required with their hearts at peace for the scales to really tip and thus establish enough inertia to overcome anything that would oppose peace? Now there's something to contemplate... a state or action that is passive and constructive, yet overcomes and subdues a state that is violent and destructive.
posted by mdt1960 on 1/22/2008 12:20 pm