Peace Pilgrim: The Way of Peace (inspirational and relevant)

[wildflower]

I would love to see another Peace Pilgrim - preferably many - in our lifetimes. She died in 1981, after walking over 25,000 miles for peace. But her words are as relevant today as when she wrote them years ago.

I'm pasting in just a few clips from her book below, but there is so much more; I recommend everyone read this book, if they haven't already. (The entire book is here: http://peacepilgrim.net/book/)

(Note for atheists and agnostics reading: She believed in God but didn't specifically embrace any organized religion. She frequently commented that those who professed Christianity didn't live it, and vice versa.)

Finally, I just want to say that I find much of what she says relevant in terms of defining our message. I especially like what she says about working to change "from destruction to construction."

From Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words

Chapter 8: The Way of Peace

<...>

Some will prefer to work on an interim peace - a setting up of mechanisms to resolve conflicts in a world where conflicts still exist - so that although there may still be psychological violence there will no longer be physical violence. If this is the peace you seek, work on a world scale for world disarmament and reconstruction, for a world government which will include all people, for world thinking: placing the welfare of the human family above the welfare of any nation. Work on a national scale for changing the function of the so-called Defense Department from destruction to construction. So much constructive work is needed among the less fortunate peoples in the world, and for the adjustment of our economy to a peacetime situation. Lots of problems to solve here. Get others to work with you.

<...>

We can work on inner peace and world peace at the same time. On one hand, people have found inner peace by losing themselves in a cause larger than themselves, like the cause of world peace, because finding inner peace means coming from the self-centered life into the life centered in the good of the whole. On the other hand, one of the ways of working for world peace is to work for more inner peace, because world peace will never be stable until enough of us find inner peace to stabilize it.

<...>

A few really dedicated people can offset the ill effects of masses of out-of-harmony people, so we who work for peace must not falter. We must continue to pray for peace and to act for peace in whatever way we can, we must continue to speak for peace and to live the way of peace; to inspire others, we must continue to think of peace and to know that peace is possible. What we dwell upon we help to bring into manifestation. One little person, giving all of her time to peace, makes news. Many people, giving some of their time, can make history.

<...>

Never underestimate the power of a loosely knit group working for a good cause. All of us who work for peace together, all of us who pray for peace together, are a small minority, but a powerful spiritual fellowship. Our power is beyond our numbers.

Those who seem to fail pave the way and often contribute more than those who finally succeed. I cannot help feeling grateful to the peace pioneers, who worked for peace when the going was rough and there were no apparent results.


***

One of the most common questions asked of me is: "Have you seen any results from your pilgrimage?" The answer is that I've never asked to see results - I leave the results in God's hands. They may not even be manifest in my lifetime, but eventually they will become manifest. And, believe it or not, I have seen results: Lots of letters from people indicating they have been inspired to do something for peace in their own way - anything from writing letters to Congress to making peace with some friend or relation. And it all adds up.

Now, as I look back at the overall efforts of all the peacemakers, I can see the results. When I began my pilgrimage, people accepted war as a necessary part of life. Now, the peacemakers are on the popular side! When I started out, there was very little interest in the inner search. I could actually make an inquiry at a state college and discover that two-thirds to three-quarter of the students at that time considered themselves agnostic if not atheist. Now, I can hardly find a student or a person who isn't interested in the deepest kind of searching. To me that is the most hopeful sign of all.

http://www.peacepilgrim.net/book/chapt8.htm

[Ranec]

1. I love this book...

I just found it recently, but it definitely motivates me to work for peace in Iraq, and peace in the world.