Peace | Faith Venture

Archive for the ‘Peace’ Category

Can there be peace without justice?

November 13, 2023

People of the world have lives so much better than ever before. In general, people are healthier. More people live under democracy despite movements to return to authoritarian rule. Most people have electricity, heat, mobile phones (those led to an increase in literacy among other things).

And yet, our 24-hour breathless news cycle leads people, especially in the USA but other places as well, to believe that they are worse off. Indeed, there remain too many places where anger and fear drive terrorist attacks, wars, killings.

Can peace exist without justice?

Justice without humility?

Humility without faith?

Reduction of anger and fear without living a with-God life. Recognizing others as God’s children?

We need fewer driven, successful entrepreneurs and politicians. We need more people practicing kindness, justice, and, yes, love.

Posted in Justice, Love, Peace | Leave a Comment »

Tension Builds Until

October 12, 2023

Two sides. Two people. Two groups.

Tension builds between them. Maybe it is mutual animosity. Or mutual fear. Or differing desires.

In my case, it is a game. Two teams are playing soccer. The referee approaches one of the coaches to inform her of a problem with a player. Maybe instead of making the encounter as brief as possible, the referee wants to explain more. The coach wants to tell the referee that she missed a foul. One word leads to the next word. Suddenly it’s an argument. The referee ejects the coach.

A simple encounter that could have been brief. It escalates because no one can take a breath and calm.

Two groups of people live in an atmosphere of mutual distrust and even fear. The tension never leaves. Then there is an incident. Someone cannot take the tension any longer and strikes. Maybe with a weapon. The situation escalates.

We face these situations, small or large, often.

How do we react? Can we be the adult in the room? The one who draws the deep breath, calms, defuses the brewing confrontation?

Posted in Attitude, Peace | Leave a Comment »

War and Peace

October 11, 2023

Peace and Justice have formed the foundation of my outlook on life since adolescence. And I have no idea why. Maybe I really believed the words and actions of Jesus I was taught as a youth.

I had to be convinced that going to war was a defensible position. A colleague in the graduate assistant program in political philosophy shared with me his studies on “Just War” theory. I won’t support a war of aggression by anyone. But experience showed the necessity of defending oneself—personally and nationally—with force.

We already had one major war of aggression and terrorism in Eastern Europe. Now we have the breakout of another in Israel.

War breaks my heart. The terror, destruction, dehumanizing the enemy—all completely opposite of how we should be living.

We can pray for peace. We can pray for justice. What I as an individual can do, I have no idea. I wish I could.

Yet, here I am at another technology conference where I’m talking with people of many nationalities all working to solve problems of a better workplace, improved security against cyber attacks, decarbonizing our processes, creating a sustainable future.

There are bad things; there are good things. I guess that’s the way of the world.

Posted in Attitude, Justice, Peace | Leave a Comment »

Put Your Mask On First

June 23, 2022

In case of sudden loss of cabin pressure, oxygen masks will drop from above your head. Pull to activate. Put your mask on before helping others.

Have you flown in a commercial airliner in the past 30 years? If you’ve flown at least as much as I have, you may have the entire performance memorized. Whether you are trying to or not.

We live in an era of anxiety and fear and anger (one breeds the next breeding the next). Not just in America where it plays out second by second on social media and TV. This is a global phenomenon. Millions, well billions, of people falling into those despairing emotions. Self-serving politicians also globally are always poised to exploit those emotions in order to gain or maintain power.

What can someone trying to live the life that Jesus pointed to (or Buddha, if you are so oriented) do to survive and help.

Put your mask on first.

The next thing you should do after reading and thinking on this is to pause and reflect. Where am I? How can I be assured of connecting to the source of oxygen (to continue the metaphor)? And I take myself out of the circle of anxiety and fear.

Thich Nhat Hahn told the story of Vietnamese refugee boats in troubled waters. If everyone on the boat was filled with anxiety and fear, all was lost. If even just one person remained calm, that calming influence spread and the boat was saved.

Thus only by putting on our own “mask” of calm can we help those around us. Don’t be a perpetrator of fear. Be a spreader of peace.

Posted in Awareness, Compassion, Peace | Leave a Comment »