Thoughts on World Peace (Universal Peace Confrence 1983)
World peace is an idea simple in principle but difficult to achieve in practice because, as individual members of our species, we have not found peace within ourselves. Societies cannot be peaceful societies until the members of the society look peacefully toward each other. But, it is impossible to look peacefully toward each other under constant threat for one’s survival.
The quest for peace must be carried out on many fronts, the most important of which is for each of us to contribute our portion toward an environment in which humans can labor and enjoy the fruits of their labor without fear that aggressive neighbors and oppressive governments will confiscate their gain. Commensurate with this freedom from fear is the responsibility to respect the ecological systems of the Earth, which gives us sustenance.
We must be able to seek communion with our God without fear that individual beliefs will be ridiculed or oppressed by others. Finally, the tide of world events, over which individuals seemingly have no control, cannot pose an irredeemable threat to the safety and security of individuals.
While it is true that the world has become so complex and so technologically oriented that individuals no longer believe that they count nor that they can do anything to effect world events, it is precisely the opposite. For only when individuals take total responsibility for their own lives, find within themselves communion with the Creative Force and live in peace with their neighbors and environment, only then will forces be set in motion that will eventually bring about world peace.
No power can create peace when humans have fear, anger and hate in their hearts, however insignificant those individual humans may think they
The quest for peace must be carried out on many fronts, the most important of which is for each of us to contribute our portion toward an environment in which humans can labor and enjoy the fruits of their labor without fear that aggressive neighbors and oppressive governments will confiscate their gain. Commensurate with this freedom from fear is the responsibility to respect the ecological systems of the Earth, which gives us sustenance.
We must be able to seek communion with our God without fear that individual beliefs will be ridiculed or oppressed by others. Finally, the tide of world events, over which individuals seemingly have no control, cannot pose an irredeemable threat to the safety and security of individuals.
While it is true that the world has become so complex and so technologically oriented that individuals no longer believe that they count nor that they can do anything to effect world events, it is precisely the opposite. For only when individuals take total responsibility for their own lives, find within themselves communion with the Creative Force and live in peace with their neighbors and environment, only then will forces be set in motion that will eventually bring about world peace.
No power can create peace when humans have fear, anger and hate in their hearts, however insignificant those individual humans may think they