Day 140m: More than the absence of War … (September 16, 2019)
“We often think of peace as the absence of war, that if powerful countries would simply reduce their weapon arsenals and draw back behind their own borders, we could have peace. And yet if we look deeply behind the weapons themselves, we see our own minds – our own prejudices, our own fears, our own ignorance, our own desires. So even if we transport all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the roots of those bombs will still be here, alive and thriving in our hearts and minds – and sooner or later we will simply make new bombs to replace those we have shipped away. To work for peace is to uproot war from ourselves and from the hearts of all our fellow men and women. To prepare for war, to give millions of men and women the opportunity to practice killing day and night in their hearts, is to plant millions of seeds of violence, anger, frustration, and fear that will be passed on for generations to come … We must all realize that though we can only erase the seeds of war that reside within ourselves, we can – and we must – erase those seeds at the very least. And so it is that whether I am in the midst of happiness or despair – or in sorrow or in joy – or in pleasure or in pain, I will do what is right and kind and gentle and caring. So will my own seeds of violence be cleansed from me one by one. So it is that I will be at peace, and so it is that I be a powerful source of the same.” ~ inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh & Jess Rothenberg
;