Bert's Blog

Peace – an elusive dream

thoughts from 5/14/2018

Today is one of these days were my soul is in uproar. I feel like a can hear the cries and screams of hundreds, if not thousands of Palestinians that suffer as a result of a premature and selfish political decision. More than 50 have died so far.

The US decided to move the Embassy to Jerusalem. Whether it was consciously or not, it was a provocative move. Everyone who knows a little about the history of the Far East would know this. Everyone knows that such a move will create violence and despair among the people living in Palestine.

Leading up to this day there were many statements that this would lead to peace. Even some of the US politicians mentioned today that the move of the embassy increases the chances of a peace agreement. These are illusions that show how far removed many of our politicians are from the people they are supposed to represent.

How do we explain the more than 50 lives that were lost?  Lives of human’s individuals that had a future and could have contributed so much to society. More than 50 mothers lost a son or daughter. You can only imagine their pain. Their children will never come back home. No one endures more pain than mother that lost her child. More than 50 fathers will wait in vain for the sons or daughters to come home. Brothers and sisters will have to realize a void in their lives. Friends a relatives will have to go to funerals and try to understand the insanity of the events of today.

And all the while our politicians will outdo each other with statements that explains what happens and the victims will be vilified. They will continue to point fingers at each other, stoke the confrontation and fire of hate and the end nobody will learn from the events, nobody will show compassion for the lives lost, and the mothers, fathers, siblings and friend will be left alone with their pain, except a few tokens of compassion if it serves ones goals.

Peace, a very powerful word, but what do we really mean when we use this work. Peace can mean the absence of violence, or the absence of confrontation. For others it just means an uninterrupted life of your own design. According to Wikipedia peace is a “concept of harmony and the absence of hostility”

Let’s view peace as a space in which the individual can live his or her life based on his or her values. In this space the choice is up to the individual. Moral, which is an individual value and result of personal choices, can live within this space without any competition, except the struggles of the individual itself. In this space the inhabitant is in control of his or her needs.  The individual within is in charge of how to live the life in harmony. Since the individual is in total control the only hostility could come from within.

If more than one individuals want to live in this space called peace, challenges will arise. Because all humans are individuals with an independent mind, differences will jeopardize the harmony in the space called peace. As a matter of fact, if we insist on the individuality of all human beings, no two humans can live in complete peace and harmony. However, if individuals have a strong desire to live in peace and are willing to give up some of their individualism, multiple humans can live in peace. It requires a strong desire on all involved to make this happen. Love is a great catalyst towards achieving this goal.