Creating Peace

It does not take much to see that our world is becoming more and more violent. It seems to me we are heading rapidly back to a period of distrust and paranoia. As an ordinary person caught up with everyday activities with family and work, I often wonder how on earth I can make a difference. I can't stop bombs being dropped or rockets being launched, prevent children and civilians being massacred. And how can we stop fear that we live in day by day over ordinary issues that affect us, making our lives stressful and difficult. It is all too big, or is it?

What can I do? What can we do?

In times past God would send a prophet or a messenger when things started to deteriorate and get out of hand. They would belt out their message and eventually things would be restored, idols smashed and worship of Almighty God would begin again in earnest.

People would listen to prophets - sometimes!

Today we have no singular prophets and God is pouring out His Grace on the world big time for all those who are prepared to listen and use it. This means that we are all capable of carrying the message of peace, we are all capable of being mini prophets and mini messengers.

So what is it we can do?

We all know the popular view of chaos theory - a small action in one part of the world can cause a massive effect in another.
Well we can utilise this and put it to good effect right this minute, today.

Over the next few weeks make an extra special effort to bring peace into your own microcosm. Within yourself, your family, your friends, to people you meet every day or whom you come across. Be civil, polite, good humoured. Try not to behave in your traditional way if you are prone to reactive behaviour. Take time, make other people more important than anything else, just for this small period of time. Forget yourself.

If we all make a tiny effort to create peace - over the surface of the globe this will create a huge effect. Believe it. Really believe it.

It does not take much. Just stopping ourselves from reactive behaviour, thinking and then making a considered effort to bring happiness, peace and joy to someone. Be creative.

If your son or daughter has left the house in a mess and you feel cross after a hard working day, just stop, make a joke of it and find a way of stunning them with a new approach and attitude.

Say something really positive to the bored checkout assistant.

Take extra note of the countless opportunites that come your way everyday to make a difference to someone else.

Here is a little story about the power of the ordinary:

A Rabbi was preparing for his daily prayers. He took great pains to perform all the rituals in the correct way and organise his state of mind to maximise the potential of his prayers. He decided to step outside that morning to perform them and, just as he judged he was in the right state to utter them, a farm labourer, working in the field opposite, paused in his work. The poor man looked up at the birds and the glorious blue sky, wiped his brow and said, "Praise God!"
At that moment the Rabbi saw the gates of heaven open wide at the simple prayer of this humble man.

The Rabbi felt his eyes burning with tears at this revelation and, though he continued to make his prayers after the proscribed rituals, he never forgot the magnitude and importance of simple, ingenuous acts of worship.