peace in my piece of the world

I have been seriously thinking about peace a lot lately. Even a brush through the headlines demands our attention to the crying need for peace and you can see why.

I remember a time when I chose peace over self-justification and blame in resolving a conflict with a neighbor. It is comforting to know that the principle behind loving our neighbor applies in the small situations as well as global situations.

Although we had a neighbor with a yippy dog, who would let the dog out at night underneath our bedroom window, we still liked dogs and got ourself one.

One day, we let her out too long, and she started to bark. When we got home later that day, there was a nasty note from our neighbor, complaining about our dog and threatening to report the dog to the authorities if we didn't do something about it.

It seemed almost absurd that he would complain to us! Ooh! The things we could come back with ! Accusations, blaming, and self - justification. ( He's the one with the yippy dog, we are the ones not getting sleep, he never responded to our requests about his dog, this just happened once with us, etc.)

However, we stopped the internal arguing that went on in our heads. What we really wanted was to be good neighbors. We wanted harmony in the neighborhood. So, we wrote a letter back to this neighbor. We apologized. We said that we hoped we would be better neighbors. We were sincere and truly wanted peace.

What happened next was sweet. Two days after we gave him the letter, there was a full pot of blooming flowers on our porch with a note saying he was sorry to have over reacted.

We went over to his house and talked. And that was the beginning of a wonderful friendship. Not only did we have better behaved dogs on both sides of the neighbor fence, but we had a new friend, who became a friend to my two little boys ( who knew him as the candy man) and a mentor to me as I was studying photography.

It's like we proved the principle that says peace and loving your neighbor have creative power, power to create even better conditions and better solutions. Just like 3+3 = 6, so does 3 duodecillions+ 3 duodecillions = 6 duodecillians. This principle of love can operate under the smallest situations and the largest situations.

As these next few days are critical times for the UN, US, and 13 others to work with "utmost uegncy" to determine the details of a truce in the Middle East, I know the same principle applies. Nobility, forgiveness, desire for peace and loving one's neighbor can transform this whole situation. It is the only thing that ever has.

Mary Baker Eddy, reformer, healer and author, wrote the following which has inspired me to pray daily:

For many years, I have prayed daily that there be no more war, no more barbarous
slaughtering of our fellow-beings; prayed that all the peoples on earth and the islands of the sea have one God, one Mind; love God supremely, and love their
neighbors as themselves.

Please add your own comments or email this article to a friend.



For more information, contact Kim or call her directly via skype!


Get Skype and call me for free.