The Way is Peace

Attachment Theory looks at trauma as providing an obstacle for establishing or maintaining relationships.  Trauma Theory often attempts to help the victim of trauma by listening to their story and providing an attachment of positive attention.  Helping people to move beyond the trauma into healthy relating is a difficult journey.
I was recently at a presentation on working with servicemen and women who have been traumatized by military operations.  This is a nice word for warfare.  The focus was developing a protocol for assisting the trauma victim after the fact.  I raised a question that I had never thought of before.  I thanked the presenter as it is what I enjoy about these dialogues as they create new thoughts.  The question I asked was had the military thought about being pro-active and not just reactive about this matter.  To teach soldiers about trauma and what causes trauma and how to live more peaceably internally with trauma.  This would teach soldiers about internal peace and how to avert trauma of war.  That question was met by openness of the presenter as a new thought.  A participant commented that if we taught that, that peace can be nurtured and maintained internally, it would be in conflict with military operations which is to stir up hatred and rationalize violence. I was a bit amazed.

Until we look at trauma inside and heal our internal wounds we will continue to live in a violent and chaotic world.  As has been said "peace is not the way, the way is peace".

Recently I was in a discussion group in which a presenter on the theory of attachment said that we have to help people put their trauma aside as it is overwhelming.  I asked what would happen if we could face our trauma in a good way to a good end.  Another person commented if we did that we would not have so much trauma in the world.  Interesting idea.  Maybe a key to peace is

Good is good enough

This is Final Four weekend.  Typical to the human propensity for a champion a winner take all orientation we will crown a Champion of NCAA College Basketball in both the women and men's divisions.  It is not good enough to be good.  We have to be better than the other guy and ultimately we have to let one be the best!  This is the win lose, winner take all paradigm of humanity.  While it can be fun in some arenas like basketball it can be catastrophic in other arenas like global violence, global famine, and oppression for the sake of succession.

Interestingly enough when God created, after each day of creation (mostly) God said it was good.  He did not say it was better.  Never did he say it was best.  There was no competitiveness just a cooperative and collaborative affirmation of goodness.  After the sixth day God did say that he looked at everything he had made and said that as they all worked together to create and sustain balance in the universe, they are very good.  Balance and harmony is about valuing everyone and everything.  Pouring value into everything and everyone.  If we all contributed to each others value as part of the human race maybe violence would cease and that would be very good.

I heard a suggestion that I though was "very good".  If everyone, when they filled out their census forms answered the question about your race, checked other, then wrote in human we would decrease our emphasis on the competition of racial distinction and balance out and harmonize as members of the "human race".  Novel and nurturing idea.

A member of the human race!

peaceripplers

Every ocean is made up of multitudes of drops of water.

A drop of water is so small it is lost in an ocean unless a huge number of drops of water combing together to make a wave, a huge wave, or even a tsunami. It all starts with a drop of water.

In the fall of 2007 a group of children challenged themselves to write "pledges of peace" on crops of water cut out of construction paper. They committed to being polite, nice, pleasant, kind, thoughtful, and compassionate toward everyone regardless of anything.

Drops of water combine to make a wave of peace in the world. The violence in homes, neighborhoods, and the world is like a tsunami of violence that threatens life as we know it.

Systems theory tells us that change happens not when big things create big changes but when little nearly unnoticeable acts or attitudes are begun in a small way by little things a huge change can result. This is the goal of this blog for peacerrippers of the world to unite.

I invite you to sign on an be part of the wave for peace by committing to be loving and kind toward everyone you meet, to do intention acts of saying hello, assisting a person in need, smiling, being friendly to everyone you come in contact with whether you know them or not.

Imagine if every person on earth simply committed to be loving, friendly, kind, and compassionate to everyone. In our homes, churches, mosques, temples, communities, nations and world peaceripplers would be like drops of water in the sea of violence creating a wave of peace that would produce a sea of glass in which we would see ourselves as we are and change into the reflection of peace seen in that sea. We would live conscious of others, caring for others, and cared for by others. We would drive more conscientiously, live more cooperatively, smile more fully, walk more humbly, love more universally, and be more peacefully present in the world.

If we follow the lead of these children. If we all commit to intentional and deliberate attitudes of compassion and acts of kindness we can create drops of water that unite to create a tsunami of peace in our world for our day.

Will you join a peace movement begun by a handful of children in an elementary school in western Massachusetts?

Rev. Donald Paine

October 2007