Whether we are
in India or Pakistan or even in United States of America or in the United
Kingdom, we all live in a very disturbed and turbulent times wherein internal
strife, hatred, destruction, hopelessness, violence, terrorism and
fundamentalism are rampant. In the given situation what we all want in common is
peace. No one is against it. But what is
that very elusive quality we call peace?
Somebody once
said ‘to terrorists or tyrants, getting peace means eliminating those who stand
in their way - but what they really want is complete control. To followers of Eastern religions, peace
comes from being one with the universe and having no awareness of self - but
what they really mean is serenity. The
person who is trying to sleep while a loud party is going on next door also
says he wants peace - but he really means quiet.’
Peace is what we
say we want when we're worried about being able to pay our bills - but what we
want is prosperity. Peace of mind is
what a person is hoping for while waiting to get the results back from a
suspicious biopsy - but what s/he really hopes for is good health.
When we don't
have what we think we should have, when we don't feel the way we think we
should feel, we say we need peace! We often define peace as that condition of
life that we think ought to exist. But in all of the turmoil of life, who
really has the right or capacity to determine what should or shouldn't be? If
all of us could obtain the kind of peace we wanted, it would probably end up
being at someone else's expense.
The story is
told of two men who were having a violent argument. The police were called, and
when they arrived they found windows broken, furniture overturned, curtains
torn down, one man dying and the other dead. They lifted the dying man, who
whispered, "We are two doctors of philosophy. We had agreed on our desire
for universal peace, but we have disagreed somewhat on the proper methods for
attaining it."
So today where
can we look for a peace that is appropriate for everyone? Certainly we do not have to go anywhere
looking for peace. Peace is right within
us and it is expressed through our love.
Christ himself became one of us to demonstrate his love as the way of
peace. In the New Year it should be a
challenge for us to love others as much as we love ourselves as an effective
method of building peace. Only ‘LOVE’
and ‘TOLERANCE’ can beget ‘PEACE’ not anything else! And peace emerged out of love is appropriate
to one all.
May we all have
Peace!
Kasta Dip
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