+ In the 60s and 70s a popular slogan was: THERE IS NO WAY TO PEACE. PEACE IS THE WAY. You are a peaceful person. You are a peacemaker. You are a heavenly being bringing peace to the world with your love, your wisdom, your devotion. "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me." Too many lives have been destroyed by war, by violence, by hate, by injustice, by oppression, by ignorance and fear. You are changing this. You are making all things new now. You are doing a 'new thing" now.

Because humans have a biological fight-or-flight mechanism, we all too often miss opportunities to create a more peaceful planet. We have to become far more aware, far more vigilant, far more educated, humble, forgiving, non-judgmental, move beyond anger. Saying we want peace is not enough. In so many situations, reconciliation is needed. Indeed this is an imperative. This is one of the most important characteristics of the GELF, the GREAT EVOLUTIONARY LEAP FORWARD, which is happening now. It is definitely happening now. This is such a hopeful, encouraging development. People are seeking reconciliation more and more.

Look for that. Don't dwell on the negative. Yes, there is conflict in the world. There is plenty of violence, hatred, suspicion, ignorance. You can't miss it and sometimes you have to deal with it. But don't dwell on it. Don't stay there. There is far more peace on the planet than war, far more love than hate, far more beauty than ugliness.

We are making progress, more than you can possibly comprehend. God's loving, compassionate, gentle humble rule prevails now and always. You can count on this. You can trust God. You can trust Love. You can live in peace and you can be a peacemaker.

You are a peacemaker. You are a reconciler. You are a devoted agent of a new way forward.

Get in touch and stay in touch with this critical part of your heavenly identity, your true self. Making peace is an essential calling. Humanity needs your constant commitment to this task. Make it a priority. Make it your identity: I AM A PEACEMAKER. 24/7. At all times. At this time. All the time.

Heavenly Beings are Peacemakers. Make it so. Human beings are all called to be heavenly beings, peacemakers, reconcilers, uniters, lovers. Yes, make it so.

Closely tied to this essential attribute is the heavenly attribute of JUSTICE. There is no true peace without justice.

+ "I think that people want peace so much that one of these days government had better get out of their way and let them have it.' -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

+ "Why 99, you know we have to murder and kill and destroy in order to preserve everything that's good in the world." --Maxwell Smart to Agent 99

+ "Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." -- Hermann Goering, Vice Chancellor of the Third Reich, before his trial at Nuremberg

+ "When the power of love overcomes the love of power, there will be true peace." -- Sufi wisdom

+ "Peace is achieved by creating a world that is in alignment with the Will of God, not the ego." -- James Twyman Peace
This is a quote in the Frederic Brussat Twitter Collection

+ "Imagine a world where what makes for peace becomes the foundation of every personal, corporate , and national decision." -- Joan Chittister

+ "In compassion, peace and justice kiss." -- Meister Eckhart

+ "While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart." -- St. Francis of Assisi

+ "We plant seeds that will flower as results in our lives, so best to remove the weeds of anger, avarice, envy and doubt, that peace and abundance may manifest for all." -- Dorothy Day

+ "I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

+ "The choice is between nonviolence and nonexistence." -- Martin Luther King Jr

+ "To be free of fear, one must understand death." -- J. Krishnamurti

+ "A weapon is an enemy even to its owner." -- Turkish Proverb

+ "Each of us can become a blessed channel of peace for the healing of Earth's wounds: We can awaken from apathy and find creative, non-violent ways to transform the abuses rampant in today's world." -- Nan Merrill with Barbara Taylor in Peace Planet: Light for Our World

+ "Until he extends his circle of compassion to all living things, man will not himself find peace." -- Albert Schweitzer

+ "It isn't enough to talk about peace, And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." -- Eleanor Roosevelt

+ "Human beings are not our enemy. Our enemy is not the other person. Our enemy is the violence, ignorance, and injustice in us and in the other person. When we are armed with compassion and understanding, we fight not against other people, but against the tendency to invade, to dominate, and to exploit." -- Thich Nhat Hanh in Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames by Thich Nhat Hanh
This was the Spirituality & Practice Spiritual Practice of the Day on September 9, 2015.

+ "Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart, and through all human hearts." -- Alexander Solzhenitsyn

+ " ... to the degree that each of us is dedicated to wanting there to be peace in the world, then we have to take responsibility when our own hearts and minds harden and close. We have to be brave enough to soften what is rigid, to find the soft spot and stay with it. We have to have that kind of courage and take that kind of responsibility. That's true spiritual warriorship. That's the true practice of peace." -- Pema Chodron in Practicing Peace in Times of War
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on October 16, 2015.

+ "Meet this day with clarity and be a light in the darkness. Unfold your arms and let others in. Listen and speak like your life depended on every utterance. Practice truthfulness. Say things about yourself and others in a kindly way. Direct conversations in an upward spiral. Do not collude in negativity. Finding calm in this storm is a matter of mindfulness. We can be at peace every moment if we meet it with our awareness and remember our source. The moment we choose peace, it is ours." -- Jan Phillips in No Ordinary Time
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on November 2, 2015.

+ "It's odd how those who dismiss the peace movement as utopian don't hesitate to proffer the most absurdly dreamy reasons for going to war: To stamp out terrorism, install democracy, eliminate fascism, and most delusionally to rid the world of evil-doers." -- Arundhati Roy

+ "We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations." -- The Earth Charter, 2000
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on December 31, 2015.

+ "When we listen to people, our language softens. Listening may be the cardinal act of giving... it is the source of peace." -- Paul Hawken
This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on January 3, 2016.

"The historian Arnold Toynbee says of it, 'The human race's prospects of survival were considerably better when we were defenseless against tigers than they are today when we have become defenseless against ourselves.'" -- Joan D. Chittister in Between the Dark and the Daylight: Embracing the Contradictions of Life offered by https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/47093.Joan_D_Chittister

+ "Peace, in its most fundamental form, is the connection of one human spirit to another." -- Bishop Desmond Tutu
This was the Gratefulness Word for the Day on May 25, 2016.

+ "Man must first create peace in himself if he desires to see peace in the world; for lacking peace within, no effort of his can bring any result." -- Hazrat Inayat Khan

+ "How do we know when guidance is correct? The soul's peace tells us. We feel it when the waves of worry and doubt stop. Even if the guidance leads us toward a difficult choice, if it is truly right for us, we experience that peace." -- Ellen Grace O'Brian, "Daily Inspirations," www.cscenter.org
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on August 21, 2016.

+ "A teacher of fear can't bring peace on earth. The person who turns inner violence around, the person who finds peace inside and lives it, is the one who can teach what true peace is. We are waiting for just one teacher. You're the one." -- Byron Katie in Loving What Is
This was the OneSpirit Daily Inspiration on August 22, 2016.

+ "The images of peace are ephemeral. The language of peace is subtle. The reasons for peace, the definitions of peace, the very idea of peace have to be invented, and invented again. / Children, everybody, here's what we do during war: In a time of destruction, create something. A poem. A parade. A community. A school. A vow. A moral principle. One peaceful moment." -- Maxine Hong Kingston in The Fifth Book of Peace
This was the Spirituality & Practice Quote of the Day on November 2, 2016.

+ On August 31, 2006, I posted the following:
Dr. Wayne Dyer offers some significant suggestions on empathizing with our enemies. He cites former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara who has courageously admitted that he made huge mistakes as the architect of the Viet Nam war because "our side" did not understood the reasons why "their side" was fighting and vice versa. At a time when our current Secretary of Defense is telling us to learn the lessons of history, the wisdom McNamara has attained as an Elder is quite relevant and calls Rumsfield's wisdom into question. Secretary of Defense Rumsfield claims that Iraq war opponents are "morally and intellectually confused" and are "appeasing the enemy" in the same way that the Western democracies appeased the Fascists in the 30s. Dyer reminds us that Christ calls on us to love our enemies and we now know that a loving approach could have prevented the horrible suffering of the Viet Nam war (not to mention other wars). Many of us believe that our security will grow as we work hard to understand and empathize with our enemies seeing them as human beings with real grievances and hopes and dreams like us. Let's have the courage to negotiate, to talk, to share, to build relationships of lasting repect. Yes, criminals must be brought to justice. But we need not assume that all those who are taking up arms against us are criminals. Do we believe that our soldiers are criminals? Let's talk. Let's share. Let's find ways to build trust and respect between us and our supposed enemies. It can be done. It must be done.

John@abundancetrek.com