Welcome to seihe | Welcome My Forum

[Hoca]

I don’t know what to say or do in this current world of crisis. No vigil I’ve attended, none of the sputtering letters I’ve written to decision-makers, can stop the atrocities causing immense suffering at this moment. I feel even more disempowered recognizing that defense-related firms heavily influence US elections as well as foreign policy itself, weaponizing our tax dollars for their profit regardless of the toll. I contribute to reputable charities when I can, including Doctors Without Borders, Oxfam, and World Central Kitchen (as well as Move To Amend, which works to limit corporate influence in politics). I read about and sometimes write about structural change needed to grow a more just, regenerative, collaborative society. But mostly, I feel helpless.

Here are some peace-embodying reflections that help me in these times.

“The eyes of the future are looking back at us and they are praying for us to see beyond our own time. They are kneeling with hands clasped that we might act with restraint, that we might leave room for the life that is destined to come. To protect what is wild is to protect what is gentle. Perhaps the wilderness we fear is the pause between our own heartbeats, the silent space that says we live only by grace. Wilderness lives by this same grace. Wild mercy is in our hands.” ~Terry Tempest Williams

~

“Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone’s face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? There are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come.” ~Henri Nouwen

~

“Here’s to the bridge-builders, the hand-holders, the light-bringers, those extraordinary souls wrapped in ordinary lives who quietly weave threads of humanity into an inhumane world. They are the unsung heroes in a world at war with itself. They are the whisperers of hope that peace is possible. Look for them in this present darkness. Light your candle with their flame. And then go. Build bridges. Hold hands. Bring light to a dark and desperate world. Be the hero you are looking for. Peace is possible. It begins with us.” ~L.R. Knost

~

“Receive the light. When the darkness gathers around you, when you grow weary, when your soul aches for the peace of years gone by, when you are afraid we have lost the trail and are walking deeper into the woods: that is exactly the time you need to receive the light. Don’t hesitate. Don’t doubt that it is there for you. Don’t convince yourself that this darkness will be an endless night. It will not. Remember a lesson you learned in your own experience: It is when things are darkest that light shines most brightly. Even an ember at midnight holds the promise of the dawn to come. Receive the light. It will restore you. It will heal you. It will empower you to welcome a new day. And even if that day has its own struggles and tests, it will be lived in the light, where we can see one another, trust one another, and do what must be done to reconcile this moment to the history we are making. Do not be afraid. Receive the light.” ~ Rt. Rev. Steven Charleston, Choctaw

~

“Our individual consciousness reflects the collective consciousness. Each of us can begin right now to practice calming our anger, looking deeply at the hatred and violence in our society and in our world. In this way, peace and understanding within the whole world is increased day by day. Developing the nectar of compassion in our own heart is the only effective spiritual response to hatred and violence.” ~Thich Nhat Hanh

~

“In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment.” ~Maxine Hong Kingston

~

“The most valuable possession you can own is an open heart. The most powerful weapon you can be is an instrument of peace.”
~ Carlos Santana

~

“I swear I will not dishonor my soul with hatred, but offer myself humbly as a guardian of nature, as a healer of misery, as a messenger of wonder, as an architect of peace.” ~Diane Ackerman

~