Pursuing Peace

I have joined Blog Blast for Peace last June 4, 2008. This was my post.

Below is an excerpt from that post:

Oppression. Killing. Famine. War. Terrorism. Environmental destruction. Natural disaster. Even family matters that seem trivial, all these and more, cause disturbance of peace. Through it all, maybe peace is a mindset, a lifestyle and a kind of wishful thinking. With all the negative things happening, can one really have a peaceful mindset?

I have again joined (even if I am late, again!) the November 6, 2008 Blog Blast for Peace hosted by Mimi Lenox.

The Bible is one of the best books to read about peace. It may have events where peoples and nations fought against each other, it is still full of hope, faith, love and peace.

Psalms 34:14 says “Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it.”

Pursue? Yes, we pursue peace, not through war but through peaceful means.

We pursue peace not by waging a war but through communication and laying out all the cards on the table. We pursue peace through compromise and understanding.

We pursue peace not by stockpiling arms and weapons but by building communities that will help each other, where people can live harmoniously. We help ourselves and other people be self-sufficient enough to live comfortably. We help each other have peace when we foster cooperation.

We pursue peace not by drawing lines on limitations and discriminating against those we think are inferior to us. We should not think of other people as inferior to us because that in itself is not good, in my opinion. We pursue peace by realizing and understanding that everyone is unique and that everyone has their own preferences that we can’t dictate.

There are so many ways to pursue peace. We may scruff at the idea for these ways may be too impossible to achieve.

If we take a small step in pursuing peace, then perhaps we are on the right track.

How do you pursue peace in your life?