Dona Nobis Pacem
Posted: Thursday, November 04, 2010 by Travis Cody inWelcome to the 7th Blog Blast for Peace. On this day, bloggers from all over the world unite with one voice to spread messages of peace. The founder of the movement, Mimi Lenox, describes it as "a virtual inscription of hope".
I believe that words have power, so this matters.
Peace is imperfect. Do you know why I think that? Because I think that a state of peace begins within each of us and we are all different. And because we don't all achieve a state of peace at the same moment or even in the same way.
Some of us are peaceful right now. Some of us were peaceful yesterday, but are unsettled today. Some of us haven't been peaceful in awhile, but might be peaceful tomorrow. Some of us will journey on, looking for peace but not quite finding it.
We do the best we can, but we're not always at peace. So if we as individuals are not always at peace within ourselves, how can we attain a perfect peace?
Maybe peace isn't meant to be perfect.
That's OK. In fact, I think maybe it's best if we back off the pressure to create some kind of Utopian ideal of peace. I once said to a friend of mine that if it's true that I've made even one small mistake every day since I was mature enough to make my own decisions, then I would likely have made more than 10,000 mistakes at that point in my life.
Imperfect beings are unlikely to create a perfect peace.
But we can have moments. And maybe those peaceful moments are the real keys to the best peace we can make for ourselves. And perhaps if we understand the way those moments evolve, we can create them as little pockets of peace around ourselves, even during the most stressful times.
When we each learn to envelope ourselves in peace, and fall back to that space in times of unrest, then perhaps we can also learn how to ease the boundaries outward, gradually letting the comfort extend to those close to us. Then they can do the same within their circles.
Peace ripples.
Is that how peace begins? Is that how we can actively evolve it? Is that how we reconcile our natures as emotional and fallible beings to the concept that an imperfect peace is a worthy thing to achieve?
I don't know. But I am taking the journey.
A Peace Sonnet
An evolution builds within my soul,
Seeking a spirit of oneness and peace,
Cultivating a clearly defin'd role
For myself in this world; not to appease,
No, nor to bind only to my ideal.
Days fill'd with moments we live then consign
To memory, to share or to conceal,
Lost to recall or polish'd to a shine
So bright it cannot fade; these all become
The light of who we are, one but still part
Of all, more alike in essence than some
Accept, though true in body, mind, and heart.
Days fill'd with moments we live then consign
To memory, to share or to conceal,
Lost to recall or polish'd to a shine
So bright it cannot fade; these all become
The light of who we are, one but still part
Of all, more alike in essence than some
Accept, though true in body, mind, and heart.
Diversity need not be divisive,
Nor need it be fear'd, if in peace we live.
Edit: When I posted this last night, I didn't realize that the photo credits somehow got deleted. The images I used for the Diversity Peace Globe came from searches of Google Images, a combination of a photograph and a graphic that are in the public domain. However the Rose Globe image comes from the talented eye of Linda Orlomski. You can find more of her wonderful photographs at the blog Are We There Yet. Thank you, Linda, for allowing me to use your stunning photograph.
Love your Peace Sonnet, Trav!
Lord knows, I am imperfect, too! Using your once a day example, I may have made more than 20,000 mistakes!
Peace to you, my friend.