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Peace on Earth: What Might it Cost You?

What if peace is up to you?

What if any time you are anti-something — even something that is abhorrent to you — you add to the collective battle energy of humanity?

What if every time you unfriend someone for holding beliefs you cannot tolerate — even beliefs of intolerance — that act adds to the battle energy we collectively generate?

What if every time you declare somebody an idiot for espousing their views,  humanity’s battle energy level rises just a bit?

peace on earth

What if, like in Horton Hears a Who, even your teensy-weensy little part matters?

What if generating peace energy within yourself and your sphere were the key to shifting the collective energy of humanity from the vibration of battle to the vibration of peace?

Would you be willing to make that one sacrifice, to give up your own battle energy, in order to stop the madness?

I want to.

But. I would have give up my righteous indignation. I’d no longer partake in the sweet satisfaction of being right.  I’d miss having sympathy bestowed on me for having to deal with idiocy, as well as the camaraderie that comes with being on the correct side of an issue. I might even have to give up doing  the victim-flounce.

Sometimes I cling to these things so tightly. It’s puzzling to think that I value them more than I value peace.

What if it were up to YOU to bring peace on earth?

To have peace in the world we must cultivate peace within.

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Dona Nobis Pacem (Grant Us Peace) from my sisters and me.

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This post is part of #MicroblogMondays? Whazzat? A post that’s not too long. Head to Stirrup Queens to join the fun.

13 Responses

  1. I love this video of you and your sisters singing Dona Nobis Pacem. It’s something I look forward to every year.

    I’ve been thinking about this post all morning. All of the heels of political news and personal drama. It’s so hard to embrace peace, Lori. It’s hard because there is so much hurt in the world and people insist on fighting even when you make it clear you don’t intend to fight with them. Some will even go so far to bring harm to you when you offer them nothing but love. And it’s angering to be mending wounds inflicted by those who are terribly broken when you meant nothing by peace.

    As harsh as this seems, I’ve started seeing the value of pity. I pity those in power who preach fear and bigotry instead of love. How hurt and scared they must be to do so. I pity those who insist on biting the hands that would embrace them and help guide them through. How terrible that they know no other way to respond. And I pity those who feel so unsafe in the world that they feel a need to constantly fight. With pity comes a need not to engage in battle, but also a permission to distance myself and my family. And I worry that this only adds to the problem. Hence why I feel so guilty.

    1. I’ve been thinking about your comment much of the day, Cristy. Thank you for making me look within.

      It IS hard to embrace peace. It sometimes seems like circumstances and those around us — even (especially!) those closest to us — conspire to take our peace away.

      I think there is peace within and peace without. And we have influence over primarily the former.

      It’s so much easier to focus on the peace outside us because really, it’s too big to be accountable for. But inner peace? That’s all on me. *I* am in charge of whether I cultivate that or not. Not anyone I live with, not anyone at work, not anyone in the concentric circles that radiate out from me, not folks I come in contact with on the Internet. Inner peace is all on me. World peace cannot come unless I choose inner peace, over and over again.

      I also think peace requires having healthy boundaries. I will own this; I do not own that.

      And while I may *know* this about peace in my head, remaining peaceful moment-by-moment — no matter what is going on outside of me — often eludes me because of friction with people in those ever-widening concentric circles. I have a long way to go with cultivating and maintaining inner peace. What else is there to do but try?

      I think I know what you are writing about. I am abiding with you regarding the hurt and battle energy in your family. xo

    1. A good start!

      Not that you’re saying this, but I don’t think the goal is to get rid of the feelings and opinions. Instead, I think the point is to explore them and be mindful of the responses that may come from them.

  2. This post comes at the perfect time. My Facebook feed gives me pause from time to time, especially the vitriol I see thrown about. But more disturbing was a friend who was unfriending everyone (and publicly announcing this) because they supported a particular candidate. How will she ever have her thoughts confirmed or challenged if she only surrounds herself with like-minded thinkers.

    1. So true. Thanks to Facebook and social media, I get in a way I didn’t before that reasonable people whom I respect can have differing opinions, valid opinions, and I can see why they believe what they believe. It’s been helpful for me to see things through so many different lenses, faith-wise, politics-wise, race-wise, everythingelse-wise.

  3. What a beautiful message, a beautiful song, a beautiful group of sisters singing beautifully. (Too much beautiful?) I get very angry when I see things that are abhorrent that I disagree with on Facebook, which is all the time lately. I have to pull back though so that I don’t get swallowed up in a spiral of back-and-forth with people I will never ever convince otherwise. I decided to leave other people’s idiotic posts alone, even though I itch to argue. It’s not worth it. I do occasionally post things that speak to love, and tolerance, and acceptance of others but that don’t shame the other side of the coin. It’s really hard to disengage, but this social media monster just feeds on hate and discord and not much changes. Sigh. I just love your insight on these topics, and you inspire me to strive for more peacefulness, more deep breathing rather than ranting. 🙂

  4. I LOVE that video of you and your sisters – you harmonize beautifully together, and your smiles really add to the joy and light of the song!

    A pagan group I belong to recently came up with the idea of doing a, “Winter Solstice: Love and Light Event” through Facebook.

    This is part of the description – “Feel free to participate in this event in any way that calls you: lighting a candle to dispell darkness, celebrating the turn of the Wheel of the Year, raising energy for our Mother Earth, telling the story of the Oak King and the Holly King, giving, feasting, enjoying the company of those you love, or offering prayers and blessings for peace and love.”

    I’m hoping that by participating in this, and future things like it, it will balance out my own tendency towards righteous indignation when scrolling through my newsfeed. 😀

      1. I did a mini-meditation this morning, and I plan to light a candle tonight and set some intentions for peace and positive energy for the coming year. We’ve shared some blessings & prayers in the group so far, but most people will start to participate tomorrow, when most of the world hits the solstice (in NH, it arrives just before midnight tonight).

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