When I was younger, I used to think a lot of things. One thing I wondered was why, instead of fighting wars, kings didn't just play chess against each other, that way no one would have to die. Then I thought, well, a dumb king would be frustrated and think it wasn't fair, or one king would lose and then he'd maybe get mad and hit the other king, or tell one of his servants to.. maybe there could just be 10 guys against 10 guys.. but then the loser would always be mad and try to get back and that's why we have war. If we could just stick to chess. . . This all came up because I was listening to Christmas carols.. Song called "Grown Up Christmas List" (wars would never start and love would heal our hearts..).. even the words "Peace on earth, good will to men" occur all the time in Christmas songs. There's one that goes a step further and says "and let it begin with me." I think about how much turmoil there is in my heart. Not very much, but I am sure I have hurt feelings, some unresolved issues in relationships, some strong opinions, some conflict. I think about my every day relationships - I need to mature. So many times we think of peace as something out THERE, some feeling that descends upon us and we all love each other and live in harmony and the whole world is beautiful. Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the children of God. Peace is something we make, something we do. It's how we think, how we speak, how we drive.. it's the look on our face because of the reality in our hearts.

How do I treat strangers? How do I treat loved ones? How do I treat weird neighbors and rude people standing in line, and tired cashiers? How do I talk about my pastor, people who are different from me, people who struggle with things that aren't a big deal for me? It's so easy to march for peace and demand it and believe in it, not so easy to be a peace maker, alive with peace inside. People who make peace have to limit their opinions and rights in order to relate to ... Peace isn't like a blanket of snow that descends and hypnotizes all those within reach to be nice to each other any more than love is an arrow shot through my heart by a cupid and I find myself attracted to someone I don't know, or even a feeling of euphoria and excitement over the attention some amazing human being is giving to me. Peace is... peace is... acting out of love and sacrifice and looking to bridge a gap. It's something like that. I think there's a lot of humility involved in peace. Anyway. Just thinking about it again.

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