Peace, peace, peace - and only peace! in 7 minutes or less

2012-01-19T03:15:00.000-08:00

Asa second way of (generally) introducing “Peace, peace, peace – and onlypeace!”, I would like to also offer the following. It is a talk I recentlydelivered as part of my SpeechWorks course here at the seminary. The aim of theexercise was simply “to inspire” (in 5-7 minutes).

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Yousee, for 4 years prior I had been trying to convince people of a very simple,yet (apparently) very hard to swallow argument. The argument was this: that amore peaceful world is absolutely possible - a more peaceful world IS absolutely possible – just as we allhope it is, but not in the way we tend to go after it.

Theway we tend to go after peace in our world, I suggest, is in a top-down sort ofway. We seem to be waiting for some kind of revolutionary change at theproverbial top. We seem to be waiting for the emergence of some great leader,or the mobilization of some great movement, or the development of some greatpolitical or ethical system. We seem to be waiting for some kind of overarchingcultural shift that will just sort of lead the rest of us into peace. In thistop-down approach to peace, we, the people, the individuals, the proletariat,if you will, don’t really see ourselves as having much of a role to play inpeacemaking. We basically see our role as being to elect the great leader,cheer for the great movement or assent to the great system, but once this is inplace, our role is done; peacemaking is now up to them.

Butthis top-down approach to peace does not work. How do I know? Well, among otherways, because I have talked to literally thousands of people about making peacein our world and, when I have asked, every single one of those people hasindicated to me that they desire a more peaceful world – every single one. Notonce has someone ever indicated to me that they like the conflict in our world.Not once. I have never seen such unanimity on a matter. And yet, we don’t seemto be making any progress in terms of peace in our world. In fact, I think itcould be well argued that we live in a more violent world today then has everexisted in all of human history. How can this be? If we are as united in ourdesire for a more peaceful world as my sample population seems to indicate weare, then why isn’t a more peaceful world being actualized? I suggest it’sbecause our approach to peace is precisely backwards.

Sowhat’s my alternative? Well, rather than a top-down approach to peace, Isuggest and inside-out approach called “Peace, peace, peace – and only peace!”The basis of “Peace, peace, peace – and only peace!” is the famous Latinproverb Nemo dat quod non habet whichmeans No one gives what he doesn’t have.In other words, if I myself know nothing about making peace, I cannot possibleteach others about making peace. Thus, if I want to encourage peace in theworld, I must first learn how to make peace myself. And the way I learn this isto practice in my own life. I must identify the personal wars I wage every dayand find ways to bring reconciliation to these. Am I killing another’s reputation by gossip? Am I holding anotherhostage by unforgiveness? Am I torturing another by manipulation? Am I spyingon another by being unhealthily attuned to their faults? Whatever personalwars I am fighting, I need to bring peace to these areas of my life. In doingso, I will learn how to make peace and then I can teach these same lessons toothers; I can bring peace to my family, then to my friends, then to myco-workers, then to my wider community, and so on. And when my concentriccircles of peace begin to intersect with the concentric circles of peace ofothers, we will find that regions, and provinces and countries and even theworld will start to become more peaceful. This is “Peace, peace, peace - andonly peace!”

Thisinside-out approach to peace does work. How do I know? Well, among other ways,because it is not my idea – it comes from a far, far higher authority. “Peace,peace, peace – and only peace!”, in fact, comes from the Blessed Virgin Mary.It is reported to the very first, and most central, message given by theBlessed Virgin at Medjugorje – the alleged Marian apparition site in theEastern European country of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The Blessed Virgin is soconvinced of “Peace, peace, peace – and only peace!” herself that she has(reportedly) been appearing in Medjugorje for upwards of 30 years now toencourage all of us to build peace on earth in just this way.

Sothere I was. April 1, 2008. Standing outside Vancouver City Hall. With a fullpack of gear on my back. Staring east. Shivering in the cold. It was one ofthose moments in your life when you cannot help but ask yourself: “Am I crazy?”But I knew I wasn’t crazy. I just had a very important point to prove. I wantedto prove to people that if we are willing to approach our peacemaking humbly –that is, to go after it one heart, one person, one step at a time – eventually allof those humble steps for peace will add up to us achieving somethingunprecedented for peace. To prove this, I walked out of Vancouver that day – bymyself, with nothing but the gear on my back – and began making my way – one tiny,insignificant, non-earth shattering step at a time – towards Halifax. Just 202days later I arrived. 6000 kilometres. 10 major mountain ranges. 6 time zones. Thesecond largest country in the world. Traversed. One step at a time. Thus,proving, I believe, that a more peaceful world is possible, just as we all hopeit is, but not in the way we tend to go after it.

An introduction to Mir Movement

2012-01-05T12:46:00.000-08:00

Mir Movement encourages "Peace, peace, peace -and only peace!"

For seven years now, this has been Mir Movement's mission. But what, exactly, is "Peace, peace, peace - and only peace!"? And how does it differ from all the other messages of plain old "peace" that so many other individuals, groups and organizations promote all over the world? These are the very questions I hope to begin answering, in a somewhat systematic manner, here.

As a point of departure, I want to offer the following video. It is a presentation I delivered a year ago at the Medjugorje for Youth Gala. It is a pretty good example of how I explain "Peace, peace, peace - and only peace!" when time is a limiting factor. The value of this video, is that it touches (explicitly of implicitly) upon most the essential elements of "Peace, peace, peace - and only peace!" It is these essential elements that I will go on to develop more fully here, where time is not a limiting factor.

Watch the video on YouTube...