PROMOTING PEACE

It's Christmas, and here we are, still at war. Many of us didn't want it, didn't believe it was right, and would like to see it come to an end. Many times in life, we have to ask ourselves what we as individuals can do when things around us seem to be wrong in so many ways. What can one person do? We feel helpless and ineffectual.

I meditated, and asked how to promote peace. This was the answer that came.

Be peaceful.
Think peacefully, speak peacefully, act peacefully, respond peacefully, relate to others
peacefully.
If anger should arise, use the energy of the anger to accomplish peaceful ends, to bring
about the best for all concerned.
Peace begins in one's own heart, and if it isn't there, it won't be in your life, nor can you
pass it on to others.
If you want to promote peace in the world, it must begin with you, in your own heart, in
your own life.

Here is a poem on the same subject from my book, "The White Tree."

PEACE

No matter what appears
Around us in the world
Injustice
Wounds
Wars
Peace is the answer
Individual peace

Peace in our thoughts
Our minds
Our hearts
Our actions
Can change the world
Nothing else can

There is no way to peace
Peace is the way