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When we begin to look
inside ourselves for the meaning of peace, we will start to understand
why it has always been so difficult to come by. We also will gain more
compassion toward the many people in the world who find themselves caught
up in conflicts both personal and universal. We may have an experience of
peace that we can call up in ourselves to remind us of what we want to
create, but since we are human, we also will feel the pull in the
opposite direction — the desire to defend ourselves, to keep what we feel
belongs to us, and to protect our loved ones and our cherished ideals.
This awareness is important because we cannot truly know peace until we
understand the many tendencies and passions that threaten our ability to
find it. Peace includes all of our primal energy, much of which has been
expressed in ways that contradict peace.
Being at peace with
ourselves is not about denying or rejecting any part of ourselves. On the
contrary, in order to be at peace, we must be willing and able to hold
ourselves, in all our complexity, in a full embrace that excludes
nothing. This is perhaps the most difficult part for many of us because
we want so much to disown the negative aspects of our humanity.
Ironically, though, true peace begins with a willingness to take
responsibility for our humanity so that we might ultimately transform it
in the light of our love.
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