YNOT said:
It all begins with each of us in our own little, isolated, seemingly-insignificant local world.
Ghandi changed the world without lifting a single violent finger. But boy is there more work that needs to be done.
I agree with this YNOT. There is irony in the idea of 'imposing peace,' which is basically what human systems keep trying to do. And while I firmly believe that the way to peace is for each of us to resolutly decide that we will be peaceful in our sphere of influence, I also see how hard that is to do for myself. And I also see that our conflicting animal nature of greed and drive for survival will always allow the one wolf to terrorize an entire flock.
I at one time thought that the answer would be in a 'divine system,' a new utopian way of doing things arising among the ashes of the old. But I quickly found that even among some of the finest and most peaceful people I know the 'system' itself required policing from a central authority. And whenever ideals need to be enforced, even if those ideals are love, peace, and unity, the enforcement itself is an act of violence and divisiveness. The road to hell is indeed paved with good intentions.
But, in spite of the somewhat cynical tone of the above, I do hold out hope for peace. And the basis for my hope is found in my faith in God, through Christ, with the Holy Spirit. No, I do not expect God to literally come riding in on a white horse to wipe out all evil from the world while I sit here and do nothing. I think Something will happen in the grand scheme that will amount to the fulfillment of this prophecy, but it is not what I am talking about when I say my hope for peace lies in my faith in God. I think it is through the transformative power of God's love, developed through my relationship with Christ, that I will be able to get closer to that ideal of loving my neighbors as myself, giving my cloak to one who needs it, feeding the hungry, and visiting the sick and the prisoners.
In this world it is all too easy to say 'why should I give up mine and put my family (or my 'group') at a disadvantage when my neighbor is not willing to do the same?' This is the essence of sacrifice, and I, for one, need to trust God to make the leap. There is no lesson in nature to help us.
lunamoth