March Blog – 2022

 

March Blog – 2022

Peace vs War

Peace is Tranquility, Calmness, and a Friendly Greeting.

War is Conflict, Warfare, Combat, Struggle, and Fighting.

I am filled with sadness as I try to write my thoughts. There is so much suffering in this world, and now the conflict against Ukraine as Russian invades. There is suffering now in both countries. What a senseless invasion, and now more people are being displaced and killed.

I ponder and reflect on memories of my friends who fought in Vietnam. I remember talking with their wives or girlfriends who suffered from being separated. I remember the vivid scenes of the war and how so many people suffered in Vietnam and here at home.

Do you remember the song Turn! Turn! Turn! By Peter Seeger? Taken from the passage in Ecclesiastes 3, which is below. Every time I read this passage, I stop and think about how this happens in life—War vs. Peace, Good vs. Evil.

I am convinced that we are here to help one another, and I pray that good will overcome evil. Helping comes in many forms, and the more we reach out and do our part, the more impact we can make for peace.

There is a time for everything,

and a season for every activity under the heavens:

a time to be born and a time to die,

a time to plant and a time to uproot,

a time to kill and a time to heal,

a time to tear down and a time to build,

a time to weep and a time to laugh,

a time to mourn and a time to dance,

a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,

a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,

a time to search and a time to give up,

a time to keep and a time to throw away,

a time to tear and a time to mend,

a time to be silent and a time to speak,

a time to love and a time to hate,

a time for war and a time for peace.

One of my favorite prayers…

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

One of my favorite prayers…

Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace ~ St. Francis of Assisi

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console;
to be understood as to understand;
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive;
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

I welcome your thoughts.