February Post For Peace

Every day I am amazed when I sit down at my computer to connect with people from all over this planet in some small way.  They are simple, brilliant, funny, complicated, emotional, practical, talented, angry, happy, bewildered, kind and beautiful.  And so much more.  They are my extended family.  I like to share their joy, sympathize with their problems, marvel at their creations, laugh when they’re funny, shed a tear and send a virtual hug when they’re sad.

I’m trying to be a better blogging friend but because I’ve spread myself so thin and followed so many incredible people, there are days when I don’t have enough intelligent comments in my brain to go around.  I’m lucky to make two or three passably interesting observations a day.  But if I click that LIKE button, I’m not joking, I’ve done it because I LIKE you and I like what you have to say.

The other thing that amazes me is how I can get inside so many heads, and project into the feelings or state of mind of so many people.  And then I think maybe that’s not so amazing after all, because despite all the ways we’re different, we’re also all the same.

We want an end to violence, oppression and injustice.

We want to eradicate ignorance, poverty, intolerance and discrimination.

We don’t want the earth to be destroyed before our children grow up and discover better ways to look after it.

We know (although some of us won’t admit it)  that waging wars will not solve our problems.

We hope and pray that a positive affirmation of peace will start the creative process and that mankind will find solutions leading to peace and prosperity for all.

We hope to build worldwide relationships based on compassion, empathy and love.

We all just want to be happy and stop the insanity.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all these lofty ideals, and to shrug our shoulders and wonder what in the world one person can do when so much needs to be done.  But if it doesn’t start with me and you, where is it going to start?

“Ultimately we have just one moral duty:  to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others.  And the more peace there is in us, the more peace there will also be in our troubled world.” –  Etty Hillesum

“World peace must develop from inner peace.  Peace is not just mere absence of violence.  Peace is, I think, the manifestation of human compassion.” – Dalai Lama XIV

We are all connected, and we are all interdependent.  Our individual survival depends on the survival of this earth and everything on it.  It’s time to stop competing with each other to see who can amass the most money and the most possessions.  It’s time to start co-operating and sharing, being grateful for what we have, learning how to live a simpler more joyful life by celebrating and appreciating each other.

If I am deeply committed to peace, and you are deeply committed to peace, the idea will spread.  I know it already has.  Peace on earth will be more than just a dream, it will be our new reality.

“In the hearts of people today there is a deep longing for peace.  When the true spirit of peace is thoroughly dominant, it becomes an inner experience with unlimited possibilities.  Only when this really happens, when the spirit of peace awakens and takes possession of men’s hearts, can humanity be saved from perishing.”  – Albert Schweitzer

Bloggers for Peace Website