Here in my valley, life is low and slow, qualities I appreciate more and more as I accumulate rings on my trunk. My time is measured by the scudding of clouds and the slow growth in the vegetable garden. Peace seems near. I wonder….
Last night I was in a discussion of current events. The first bit of clarity that arose from the give and take of ideas, was the fact that I realized that peace – like love, wisdom and courage – defies definition and when we think we have grasped its meaning, sudden factors make understanding impossible. For some, peace is merely the absence of strife, while others understand peace as a state of being unsoiled by any of life’s ups and downs. However we capture the notion of peace, we are soon aware of its nature which is random, nuanced, and stochastic. What has clarity is the idea that “peace” is always perverted by power. When power is gained the simple idea of peace is polluted by man’s greatest mistake – certainty. All subtlety, nuance and nuance in the understanding of peace dies in the hard light of righteousness.
When we seek peace through the doctrines of the Abrahamic religions, we always find the beautiful message of brotherhood that each contains. Then we are instructed by the great religions to follow the rules, control the appetite and kill the infidel. Soon adherents go forth to “civilize” others at the point of a sword. Peace for many is death. Everywhere that the path to peace is created by power, horror ensues. No less a philosopher than Jimi Hendrix stated the case clearly: “when the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will have peace.” Power abhors complexity and stifles thought in the interest of order.
Admittedly, peace is a rare thing in the world of affairs and I find myself not taking sides in power struggles because the rage to gain territory, status, goods and personal wealth is the death of serenity. In these quests, nobody can be right. As I look at the world I seem to get peace from the profound sadness that all the striving creates. Perhaps we must accept the fact that peace will always elude us. Peace will not thrive in the climate of human nature.
it will take a massive move to the counter-intuitive for peace to exist. I hope that the message of Buddha, Jesus, MLK, Ghandi-and many others, will someday reach us and we will find ourselves in the beautiful world of Anton Chekov: ” We will hear Angels. We shall see the sky sparkling with diamonds.” This vision will only be a reality when we do a mind shift of epic proportions.
I live in the hope that such a transformation is possible.
Olio Folio 