Promoting Peace

It's Christmas, and here we are, still at war. Even though most of us didn't want it to start, and want it to end, war continues. Lives are lost, lives ruined, and families torn apart. How can we stop it? It seems beyond our power. What can one person do? I meditated. I asked what I could do to promote  peace. The answer:

     Be peaceful.

    Think peacefully, speak peacefully, act peacefully, respond peacefully, relate to others  peacefully.

     If anger arises, use the energy of that anger to accomplish peaceful ends, and to bring about the best for all concerned.

     Peace begins in one's own heart, and if it isn't there, it won't be in your life, nor can you pass it on to others.

     If you want to promote peace in the world, it must begin with you, in your own heart, in your own life.

Here is a poem from my book, "The White Tree."

                    PEACE

          No matter what appears
          Around us in the world
          Injustice
          Wounds
          Wars
          Peace is the answer
          Individual peace

          Peace in our thoughts
          Our minds
          Our hearts
          Our actions
          Can change the world
          Nothing else can

          There is no way to peace
          Peace is the way.