Footprints of/for Peace

Many people love the saying of "Footprints".  thousands have it in one way or another on their walls or in their hearts.  It is ubiquitous and uplifting.  It presents the idea that when I am in trouble God picks me up and carries me through that troubled time.  I do believe that happens sometimes.

When I went through my dark time of the soul.  I pleaded for God to rescue me, pick me up and carry me through but when I never felt God doing that I became more depressed, more isolated, more despairing.  Either God did not care for me or there was something wrong with me that God could not care for me.

After I came out of the darkness of despair into the a new perspective of presence, I rewrote the footprints saying in different words.

I was in a dark place, the valley of the shadow of death.  It was a place of darkness and light but at first all I could see is darkness.  I noticed that as I walked though the valley of the shadow of death, I was walking on  the sandy seashore of God's presence.  I  noticed there was only one set of footprints on the sandy shore.  Previously there were two sets of footprints mine and God's.  I had felt God with me, walking with me and talking with me.  God was alongside of me.  I loved those times.  They were great times.  But now why was I alone.  One set of footprints?

Then I heard God whisper to me.  Those were the times when life was so rough, things were so terrible, you lost sight of me.  I was inside you, not just alongside of you.  Hidden in the hurt and pain or your living I was there giving you strength from the inside out.  When you do not notice me I am the most present in you.

I realized that God had not rescued me to teach me of God's inner presence greatest when I feel alone.

I am never alone.  Sometimes I am carried through difficult times other times I am strengthened by the sense of God is in me regardless of anything that goes on outside of me.

Walk in love and peace and love and peace will be in you.  Nurture love and peace in you and you will walk in peace.   The road to peace is not to be rescued from conflict but to be at peace and walk in peace in the turmoil and trouble of conflict.

Footpritns of Peace.  Originally posted in www.parakalein.blogspot.com July 23

The Greatest Debt owed to all by all, might bring peace and justice

A few weeks ago there was a political jostling on the issue of raising the "debt ceiling".  I called my son who is much better about finances than me and he tried to explain to me that we have to do that so our credit will remain good.  I was a bit puzzled and told him that I was.  My puzzlement was that if I raised my debt ceiling I would have less credibility and if I decreased my debt I would have more.  I think he told me that I was right but that we had to do this wrong thing or something bad would happen.  Interesting?

Today, I was reflecting on debt. I was reminded of a verse in Romans 13 which is interestingly enough a passage that deals with the relationship of citizenry to their government.  Verse 8 says:  "Let no debt remain outstanding except the ongoing debt to love one another".  What if we were to raise this debt ceiling and all of us took this seriously.  What if in America everyone eliminated all their debt but increased their sense of owing everyone "love and compassion".  What if that love was unconditional and free of any agenda: political, economic, social, religious or personal?  What if instead of owning things we focused on owing to all people love and care.   The true debt and the only debt we should be servicing is the debt to love one another.

Maybe just maybe their might be peace and justice on earth.  Maybe even our economy would improve because our energy was in the right place.

Maybe if we did the right thing something good would happen?

originally posted on
paraklein.blogspot.com

The Meek will inherit the earth

Posted this on www.parakalein.blogspot.com and decided it is foundational to peace.

The way of peace is the way of meekness.Years ago I took this be-attitude to mean that if I kept my mouth shut, suffered for Jesus, let people trample me under foot, in the end I will get the "well done" and not only get eternal happiness but also I will get to rule the earth.  Today I have one word for that, "Really"!

I see that position or understanding as feeding the ego, depleting honesty, and ruining the church.  It is not about getting power over.  It is about being empowered from the inside out.  It is about speaking out with courage, calmness and compassion toward all even those who would persecute or undermine you.  It is not power of over others it is power to be the authentic person you are and to see God work through that authenticity and audacity.

The meek are not the quiet mousey people that harbor inner angst or anger just waiting for their turn to rule.

The meek are the strong, opinionated, capable, assertive, and aggressive people who have no agenda to control and who can with unconditional love surrender their power without malice toward anyone and can exert their power with charity toward everyone.  The reason the meek will inherit the earth is they are then ones who have been given f=great power but refused to use that power to fulfill their own agendas or to abuse or misuse anyone regardless of how tight they might have been.  Might does not make right in this spiritual system.  Might is willing to sacrifice its power.  Right rules might.  In the kingdom only those who have been meek can be trusted to rule in a Godly way.  In the way of righteousness, might surrenders to right!  

Power is not about exerting control over others it is about being in control of one's human self.  Similarly the divine self is in control from the inside. 

Omnipotence is all powerful from within not over those without.  Guess I am a little still on that from yesterday's blog.  I will control myself and let that be all folks.

Peace a new movement in the making, author people all over the world

I have not posted on this blog for sometime but am having a renewed interest in sowing peace in the world.  This blog is a way to do it.

I am excited about some ideas that seem to be congruent with others that our day is a day of God doing a new thing as we are willing to look at old things in new ways.

Peace ripplers are away of doing it.  Drops of water that make up the power of a tsunami like thoughts are what makes up a tsunami of peace.  Droplets of peace ripplers dropped into one another's lives.  Sowing peace in the presence of all things is a win win.

Several years ago I spoke at a conference and used the imagery of pieces of a quilt paralleling all the pieces or parts of humanity connected and intersecting one another in one way or another in a tapestry of peace.

Pieces of a quilt represent the diversities of humanity connected by the thread of kindness and compassion. Negativity has the potential to cripple the peace ripplers but we will not be deterred.

Drops of peace creating ripples of peace on their way to waves of kindness on their way to a tsunami of compassion and calmness throughout the world.

Last week the world was suppose to come to an end according to one individual ho did have a lot of followers.  There are some things that never change.  One of them is that people want to believe that the world of hurt and pain will be over and the world millennium of peace and love will be ushered in.  Still others seem to rejoice in the death of people who are un-believers.  Like I mourned a few weeks ago when Osama bib Laden was shot, I mourned that anyone would delight in another’s demise.  Yet rejoice they do and predict they will.

I noticed a billboard in the background when CNN was showing all the bill boards lining the highway about the end of the world.  I thought how thoughtful, creative, true and respectful this person was to put this up as a billboard.  I thought, in the midst of hatred and disrespectfulness sow truth and grace as a contributor to  peace.

I put a made up copy of that billboard below with no comment except thank you to the person who visioned it and did it and to the Spirit of Truth and Grace in him that is the heart and soul of true Christianity.

Peace on Memorial day

Today is Memorial Day a day that we remember that the cost of freedom is high, the cost of war is perennial pain and loss very little gain and joy.  We celebrate victories but still mourn the losses.  I recall my dad thinking about his buddies who never came back from storming the beeches of Normandy.  He was in the third wave while friends were in the first wave all died.  We welcome soldiers home from war.  Some soldiers never come home.

Memorial Day is not a victory parade it is an "honoring of the losses and pain of war".  A remembrance that there is a price tag for freedom.

Memorial Day began in response to the Civil War that ravaged our nation.  Abraham Lincoln said it was the worst of times and the best of times for the nation.  In his second Inaugural Address he stated:.  

With malice toward none, with charity (love) for ALL, with firmness in the right as God gives us to know the right,

  let us strive to finish the work that we are in

  To bind up the nations wounds,

to care for him (them) who shall have born the battle and

for his (their) widows and orphans (victims and villains)

to do all which may achieve and cherish

a just and lasting peace

among ourselves and all nations.

The first Memorial Day was crafted for the reconciliation and healing of the breech and betrayals of war.

Today in honor of my father and all those who fought and survived and others who died in World War II, in honor of all those men and women who have died in any war, fighting for any nation, we honor their loss.  In honor of all those who are fighting and who have recently died and their "widows and orphans", we remember.

Today we commit to do "all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and all nations of earth".

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!