Peace Builders Needed: Apply Within!!
If there ever was a time for Peace Builders to step forward,
now is the time. With so much anger and
turmoil going on in the world, we need people of good will to step forward with
tools such as integrity, cultural competency, love, insight, trust and
courage. These qualities can’t be bought
or sold. Either you have them or you
don’t. These qualities can be developed,
but it has to be an inside job. The
person in search of developing peach building skills must have the will, and
determination to do so. It’s not an easy
task.
Being a peace maker or builder of peace is dangerous
work. The forces of anger and evil are
always present, pursuing avenues to retard or destroy the progress of
peace. Often, religion, racial
identification, organizational membership, class and economic status are tools
used to disturb the peace. Once a person
is seduced to believe that their cause is righteous beyond further examination,
it becomes easier for them to “drink the Kool-Aid” and by any means necessary,
confront the opposition. Fighting for
ones cause is noble and necessary in many instances, but the “emotional
insanity” that many people blindly adopt during times of philosophical
disagreement is frightening. People, who
would describe themselves as good or God-fearing, can, in an instance, become a
raging, out of control, screaming, weapon carrying, vessel of hate, in the name
of a righteous cause. We have all
witnessed this.
What should we do to maintain the peace while fighting for
justice? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
Ghandi, and Cesare Chavez, had an answer that worked for them. They used non-violent confrontation to
change the world. The three of them
always fought with the end result being equality, justice and love of self and
others. There was something within each
of them that allowed peace to be their motivating factor. They changed the world with love and
determination.
We need more Peace Builders who have the right stuff on the
inside. The mob will form and the fires
of hate will burn with intensity with the next senseless shooting of an unarmed
suspect, country invasion, mind-bending court ruling, or act of shocking
violence. We can always count on the
mob! The question is, can we count on
the peaceful warriors, who will stand in the gap, with righteous indignation in
their hearts, fierce determination in their souls, and the love of God as their
primary weapon, who will fight the good fight to the bitter end. What the world needs now are Peace Builders,
before it’s too late!!
