Anything that costs peace is expensive

Our situation is not different today. We are all struggling with the turmoil within and around us. This in turn makes us live in a different kind of hostility. Either we are in conflicts with rude people in circumstances which try our patience, or we ourselves do run into our share as troublemakers. And it is precisely in this situation of conflicts and trouble making that St Peter presents to us the figure of Jesus, the greatest Peace-Maker who wants us to follow his example.

St. Paul in the Romans 5: 1-5 talks of the special peace and joy that we get due to our faith in God. According to him this peace and joy is so special and different from the one that the world gives: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives....” (Jn. 14:27) With these words Jesus seems to make a rather clear demarcation between two different orders or qualities, of peace. On one hand, the peace that the world can have some hope of creating for itself, and on the other, the peace Jesus offers to give to the world. It is rather clear that Jesus has some idea about the priority, the promise, and the value of each category of peace.

For him, the peace he has to give is guaranteed as rock solid, while, at best, all other peace is shaky. (Mt. 7:24-27). Today, all our peace talk and peace literature show that we are having Jesus’ priority exactly reversed. As a result we often think of peace as the absence of conflict. But peace is more than that. God sees peace above all as the presence of righteousness which brings about right relationships. Peace is not just stopping a war; it is in bringing the two parties out of war together in love. God’s peacemakers don’t just stop wars; they replace the causes of war with the righteousness of God.

Such peace makers do not aim at a truce but at peace. A truce is when people put down their guns and don’t shoot for awhile. True peace is when conflict is resolved, and the parties to it become friends. Some think that peace happens the instant the war stops. This is not always the case. In most cases the cause of the conflict needs to be resolved so that former enemies can come together as friends. The peace Jesus intended never evades issues; it would not be peace at any price. He meant the kind of peace which conquers the problem and builds bridges between people. It may definitely involve struggle, pain, and anguish! But that is the real peace; it is so costly but always worth the expense.

There is no cost for peace and you can’t buy it. It is also not available in the market. War or peace is only a balancing factor. Peace is to be described as a liveable condition. War has to be described as a clash between two nations. Differences in opinion, differences in demand, differences in goal or aspirations, of a person or nation will result in conflict or war. The area of conflict may be small or big. Man's mind is selfish, avoiding a conflict or war is not possible. If two persons demand the same thing there will be a clash. If two nations demand the occupation of the same land or anything else, there will be a war. This is what is happening elsewhere in the world. Conflict and war will continue to exist.

Differences in religion, ethnicity, nationality, wealth, ideology etc. will all result in conflict or war. There is no universal mechanism to prevent it. If an individual or a nation can restrict their aspiration or goal, peace can be foreseen. But the demands of a nation is always upgraded, which results in war. The might of a nation decides the strength of their demand. A mighty nation will demand more than the other. If the strength of the two nations are the same, there will be a tie, resulting in a gap, for the war to emerge.

The world is now on the verge of destruction, winning or loosing a war will never happen, but the fear of total destruction is a deterrent to future wars. But, localised war is still a problem, and will continue to exist. Just like, one life has to live on the other, localised war will benefit many nations, and many nations are living on local wars. A war-less world is only a dream of mankind. Peace is not available anywhere in the world, so don't search for it with a price, but find peace in war, if living is our goal.

I think that this is something I strongly agree with. There may be times when this is not possible, such as if your current job is causing you terrible unrest. However, once you find you are in that situation, there are ways to learn to find peace in the midst of trying situations. Failing that, it is wise to look into changing your situation and finding a more peaceful one, even if it means some material cost to yourself. Too often we are unwilling to give up something we want (but don’t necessarily need) in order to find peace. Over the long term the cost will become too high.

Live with Peace. Your home is your Castle even if it is only a room in shared house. The World is busy, turbulent, demanding and ‘in your face’. To achieve Peace you must have somewhere that is ‘Your World’. Where life is as you want it to be and nobody is allowed to invade it. Seek in your home not that which troubles but that which calms you. That is why Mental Institutions do not work and neither do troubled homes. Nobody’s life is worth wasting. God has sent everyone on this earth for something or the other. Even a small ant wants to live. It is continuously moving. We are human beings. We should never think in lines of is my life worth living. You should always think positive and say in your mind, my life is worth living. I can overcome anything in my life. There are some things which we cannot do.

We cannot beat 10/20 people at a time like they show in movies. If I am a man, I cannot become pregnant. If I am a woman, I cannot lift a suitcase which is 20 kg heavy. A man or a coolie can do it. Accept life as it is. Tomorrow is another day. When you don’t like someone who is speaking you… just close your eyes and say in your mind… blank, blank, blank. Your mind really goes blank. If you are angry, just say in your mind, control, control, control, You will see that this changes your life.

If you are a senior citizen, do some social work. Go and sit outside a post office, write letters for someone who does not know to read and write… you can also go to the bank and fill in the pay-in-slips.. many people do not know to do that. These things will really help you. Go to a hospital and visit patients, just visit people who don’t have visitors, talk to them.. give them advice, this is one of the best things to do. Life is worth living. See you can die only when your time comes. You can wish death. “Mangne se jo maut mil jaati, kaun rehta is zamane mein.” Cheers!