FIGHT FOR PEACE

SHOULD YOU FIGHT FOR PEACE?

“Peace” is an oft-misused word, so it depends on the context.

If it is a totalitarian ‘peace’ as in ‘everyone unquestioningly obeying our rules (or else)’, absolutely not.

If the fight is against someone trying to impose the above, absolutely so. But it’s not so simple: to replace totalitarian un(i)thought, reason has to fill the void, and that’s a whole other battle.

Do you believe peace is possible? We do

Together we can make it happen.

In conflict areas worldwide local people are building peace. Stopping violence, saving lives, healing shattered communities.

Thousands of people around the world have chosen to help them – to stand up for peace and show these local heroes they are not alone.

These are the people we stand up for. You can stand up for them too.

What if we feared less? What would the world look like?

Imagine a world where all of humanity feared less. Where we found less of a reason to await potential tragedy of every shape and size. Where we didn’t waste time attempting to protect ourselves against harm caused the human or natural forces that surround us. A world where we didn’t fear the wrath of a loving God and weren’t manipulated by political and religious leaders obsessed with power and greed. A big blue marble where we faced life’s challenges fear-less-ly with peace-filled support of those dear to us.

Raised in the Catholic faith, I experienced my fair share of mixed messages. One contradiction, however, stood head and shoulders above the rest: I should fear a loving God. Why on earth (and in the afterlife, depending on my sin status) should I fear the Creator if He loves me? Fear is a nasty motivator, and not nearly as effective as love. What if we were encouraged to perform good works because we were excited to serve rather than out of fear of God’s wrath if we sinned? What control would religious leaders possess if every peaceful religion were righteous and legitimate paths to God? Without fear, we wouldn’t feel a need to judge those who believed differently or those who didn’t believe at all. Spiritual Inclusionism would be our palatable fare.

In a fearless society, peace would break out all over the globe. There would be no argument over gun control, weapons of mass destruction, the size of one’s military and the like because we wouldn’t have them. Not fearing the loss of their riches, generosity would be the norm for the wealthy and those less fortunate would have what they needed. Community would serve community, regardless of borders. Conflict would be reserved for unsolved math problems and made for TV movies. Tabloid media would be extinct, taking with it Honey Boo Boo and Big Brother.

Alas, we will never find our Eden here on Earth, no matter how much we wish and hope and pray it so. We can, however, attempt to manage the level of fear we allow into our individual lives.

There is an undeniable truth: What you fear owns you.

Living in the present moment is the ultimate reward of a fearing less life. It is impossible, no matter how hard we try, to live in our past or future. By living in our bygones or attempting to micromanage the future, we waste the life we have. If we’re not focused on the moments we get to experience in this life, it’s impossible to live them fully.

Less fear also affords us the opportunity to live with less judgment. We can throw away the measuring sticks we were given. It serves no purpose to judge how better we are than our fellow man or woman, nor is it helpful to keep telling ourselves we’re not enough.

Fearing less doesn’t make us any less susceptible to the bad in the world, it just makes us better equipped to deal with it. Boundary-less people will still try to take what is not theirs and natural tragedies will still occur. Injustice is an unavoidable thread that’s woven into the fabric of life on Earth. Less fear simply gives us the chance to live full lives in spite of it.

We wish for the dead to “Rest In Peace”. Why not tell the breathing to live in it? Peace should be shared generously with those who believe as we do, those who don’t and those we don’t even know.

The absence of fear isn’t courage, it’s peace. A fear-less existence is the key to inner (and outer) solace.