Definitions: (1) in a state of mental or physical tranquility, security, or order; (2) quietly behaved; composed; (3) the state of harmony in personal relations; concord between individuals, governments, or organizations; (4) reconciliation between unfriendly parties
Derivation: Latin, “to agree”
Synonyms: calm, friendly, gentle, mild, pacific, repose, shalom <Hebrew, “peace”>, irenic <aiming at peace>, uncombative
Compatible Qualities: compassion, Satyagraha <holding firmly to truth> Sanskrit
Music: “Let There Be Peace on Earth” {1955}
Let there be peace on earth
And let it begin with me
Let there be peace on earth
The peace that was meant to be
— Evelyn Merchant [aka: Jill Jackson-Miller] (1913-1995) American songwriter
— Sy Miller (1908-1971) American songwriter
Saying: Pax vobiscum (Latin): “Peace be with you.”
Quotes:
• [Merlin:] To plant a garden is the chief of the arts of peace. — Mary Stewart [born Mary Florence Elinor Rainbow] (1916-2014) The Last Enchantment {1979}
• If we cannot adjust our differences peacefully, we are less than human. — Frank Patrick Herbert Jr. (1920-1986) Heretics of Dune {1984}
• Peace is empowerment, justice, and the struggle for justice. Peace is personal, relational, local, national, international, global. Peace is not found; it is created by continual attention and effort. There is no way to peace, peace is the way. — Abraham Johannes Muste (1885-1967) American Christian pacifist
• No leader is going to give us peace, no government, no army, no country. What will bring peace is inward transformation which will lead to outward action. Inward transformation is not isolation, not a withdrawal from outward action. On the contrary, there can be right action only when there is right thinking, and there is no right thinking when there is no self-knowledge. Without knowing yourself, there is no peace. — Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986) Indian inspirational speaker
• Insofar as you have peace in your life, you reflect it into your surroundings and into your world. There is no greater block to world peace or inner peace than fear. What we fear we learn to hate, then we have both fear and hate. Love dissolves them both. — Peace Pilgrim [born Mildred Lisette Norman] (1908-1981) Steps Toward Inner Peace {2021}
Reflection: Are you going to be a warrior or a peacemaker? Now, warriors often make war in the name of peace, but there is a huge difference in conscious intent. If you have the qualities of compassion, gentleness, and concern in your character, they will balance out the qualities of strength, power, and force. It is possible to be a warrior and a peacemaker. In order to be both, one set of qualities need not, cannot, overwhelm the others.
Consideration: In war one is compelled to use the means of war. You must consider the enemy as unworthy of life, that victimized innocent bystanders as necessities of the struggle, that your own comrades are expendable. The use of the most intense power is justified to “win at any cost.”
To be a peacemaker there is a need to get inside the mind and heart of your opponent. You need to want to understand and help them. The fight is for fairness.
Observations:
• Sheehan is an Irish surname that means “the peaceful one.”
• There will be no lasting peace until people see more security and profit in peace than in offensive or defensive aggression.
Advice: Most of what an argument is about is the different understandings, views, and beliefs about what the ‘facts’ are.
Establish what each party holds to be the facts, but then move on. If there is an argument on these facts, it will go round and round, each side trying to prove its facts are the good facts and the other guy’s facts are bad facts. If the collective view for the future is a vision of peace, the view of the past can be held as objective history, even with opposing facts.
Symbols: 1) the dove; 2) the olive tree; 3) the crane (Japanese)
Color: blue