Letting Go

Peacebuilding on a scale of what Syria must endure requires so many things to happen for it to go well. In no small part is that the personal component. Scan over the media of the past few months and there are threads of hate and predetermined outcomes woven throughout. In past postings I have written about the transformations of Russia, Czech Republic and other countries. Each of these countries at some point had to look past current thoughts and take leaps of faith into the unknown. These leaps of faith are the portions of letting go that must take place for peace to unfold. On a personal level each of us encounter moments where we must let go. Taking our first steps requires that we let go and stand on our own. That may seem like a small point in life but really the courage and willingness is what is required for peace to take root. As we get older we find our selves in situations where we must take emotional first steps, mental first steps and then do those on a community level. In such times we look for inspiration when we need to change something in life. However the true courage must come from within first. The courage to not act violently, to seek understanding, to be able to say that history is unchangeable but our future is still unknown. Who do we want to be and how do we want to live are questions that must not be answered with bullets, suppression and segregation of any kind. If anyone can do that, you have reached a level of peace rarely seen in our entire history. Understanding that is to know how difficult peace is to obtain. Further more such peace requires that we seek to be that peaceful today and every day. We must do so even though our governments are killing each other, religious leaders are telling followers to kill in the name of God and people all over the world are hated because they are different. We need to let go of the fear violence has on us. If you reach a state of peace no one needs to fear you. However many will laugh at you, despise you and may want to kill you because they can not understand you. Sadly the courage to live peacefully is often killed because of fear. Let go of the fear and be peaceful.