Peaceful Living

Peace is a way of living.

We cannot Buy peace. We cannot sell peace.

We can choose peace or live in peace.

But we often wrestle with the how to do it part in our every day lives.

We need to find creative ways to share peaceful alternatives with more people.

Like the twin brothers fighting in the classroom, beating each other up over some dumb thing.

Yet, they were so violent they hurt each other. What did they do at home?
What Will they do later? How do they learn to choose another alternative?
Who will show them? What did you do when you saw it happen?
How did I respond?

I recall saying something like. . . good grief. . . if you two boys cannot learn to get along what hope is there for peace in this world?

As I pulled them apart that day I thought, even the preventive measures had to be hands on and physical.

Did they stop fighting? Yes, that day. Yes, in my presence.

But it remains hard to tell if they learned anything really about HOW not to fight with each other.

Their personal wounds ran deep.

I disregarded them as I focused on maintaining peace in THAT room at THAT time.

I was really young then.

How might I handle it today? I really am not sure. I think my initial response would be physical intervention again. And anger that boys are still fighting for no reason at all. (in my mind.)

I hope I have learned more about making peace by now and could be more effective.

Wars are simply boys fighting boys on a bigger scale.

Yes, even with women in the military and in combat, that image is strong.

So, let us work together to prevent more wars.

To live with a sense of justice and value the lives around us.

Peace is a choice. And we need to work on it. It "ain't" easy.

It takes persistence and commitment over the long haul.

I think that is a part of what Advent is about.

Waiting and listening and learning as we await the arrival of the

"Prince of Peace'.