Peace is a good thing, right? Most people believe in the ideal of peace. But what does it all mean?

While I have been on a quest the past 10+ years of figuring out who I am, there have been recurring themes regarding what I am most passionate about. One of them is peace. The more I think about peace, the more personally challenged I become about what it requires to be a person of peace–a peacemaker, if you will.

Everything we do starts with an idea, and ideas lead to words. Whether words lead to action or not depends on a lot of factors. Here is a quote from Eleanor Roosevelt:

“It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

I can be passionate about the ideal of peace. I can talk about it, blog about, write songs about it. I can be appalled at the scourge of war. No one wants our fragile planet to be overrun with war, do we? I believe we all want peace. But, in heeding Eleanor Roosevelt’s words, how does one person make the world or more peaceful place? How does one “work at it”?

I ask this question not because I have the answer for it, but because I want to know. I have a few ideas about what it means, and I will be sharing more in depth on the following in subsequent posts, but here are some concepts that either relate to peace or have an impact on furtherance of peace:

• Justice vs. Oppression
• Compassion vs. Indifference
• Education vs. Ignorance
• Equality vs. Discrimination
• Poverty vs. Prosperity
• Hope vs. Resignation

In addition to these broader themes of contrast, I believe peace has many facets:

• Global peace, i.e. peace among nations, tribes, peoples
• Local peace, i.e. peace among partners, neighbors, classmates, workers
• Inner peace, i.e. do I have inside of me what I need to be a person of peace?

I close with this challenge to myself and to the reader: What can I do? How do I work at peace?

Any ideas? I would love to know your thoughts.