The Insane World of Peacemaking
Someone sent this to me recently.
Heath is my crazy friend from my favorite place in the world at Copy dot com. Although Heath is now an East Coast crazy person, for a while here in Texas, he and I had some of the best philosophical discussions about the world and its problems. Heath knows of my desire to be a peacemaker, so when he saw this quote he sent it to me with this line: "I saw this and it floored me and reminded me of you at the same time." Heath knows me well. First, he knows that I'm gonna take issue with the word 'brotherhood' since I'm part of the 'sisterhood," and then he knows that while I want to believe this, I've always told my children that life ain't fair or equal. Heath also knows that I'll see the irony of this quote and he knows that I want to believe it and even do my part in trying to create it, but the reality of it all is that it ain't necessarily so.
You see, while I call my friend crazy, I'm as crazy as Heath is, only I'm just now realizing it. It's a strange feeling, knowing that my ideas are a little far fetched and almost impossible to realize, but here I am, doing my best to be a peacemaker anyway. But, I've decided to embrace my insanity. So here it is ...
... building cultures of peace in as many ways as I can even though there are those who tell me that it is a futile attempt to change the base nature of human beings who are prone to violence. I, however, think we can change that, so I struggle with beliefs like "right makes might," when everyone (okay, not everyone, but a LOT of people) tells me the reality of it is ... that might makes right. I'm crazy enough to believe that the good guy always win, like in the movies, then have to swallow my disappointment when the good guys lose. Of course, I have the insane notion that people who are in leadership should do what is right and still find myself remarkably disappointed that not everyone in power is right or does what's right. The biggest struggle, however, is with other peacemakers because we know that while building a culture of peace is a wonderful concept, there are so many definitions of what that means as to boggle the mind. An insane mind, then, stays boggled! But, we take our licks and keep on ticking. Somehow I think that by embracing my craziness, I can now fully commit myself to the insane notion that peace is possible.
So, I'm recruiting crazy peacemakers. This won't be an organized society of crazy peacemakers because crazy people are not organized in the way of the sane world. There will be no hierarchical structure. That's too confining. We won't have any by-laws because crazy people make it up as they go along. Of course I realize that there is no way that we can all agree on how peace is possible, but here's the chance to try out those crazy ideas of peacemaking on the rest of the world. I don't want to hear the ideas that you're only thinking about. If you're not attempting the idea, you're not crazy enough to be a member. We won't be giving out identification cards either because insanity is a personal experience.
This is a win-win situation (another one of those insane notions) because you get to try out your ideas and not get the sign (you know, where you point your finger at your temple, while twirling your finger around to indicate that the person is crazy) because we're as crazy as you are. Crazy enough to try even when others tell you how impossible it is. So, while I won't be creating a bureacratic structure for us to join, I will create the one mission statement that every crazy person has to embrace ...
Let's go make crazy peace!
"All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood."
--Article 1 of the Human Rights Charter of the United Nations
Heath is my crazy friend from my favorite place in the world at Copy dot com. Although Heath is now an East Coast crazy person, for a while here in Texas, he and I had some of the best philosophical discussions about the world and its problems. Heath knows of my desire to be a peacemaker, so when he saw this quote he sent it to me with this line: "I saw this and it floored me and reminded me of you at the same time." Heath knows me well. First, he knows that I'm gonna take issue with the word 'brotherhood' since I'm part of the 'sisterhood," and then he knows that while I want to believe this, I've always told my children that life ain't fair or equal. Heath also knows that I'll see the irony of this quote and he knows that I want to believe it and even do my part in trying to create it, but the reality of it all is that it ain't necessarily so.
You see, while I call my friend crazy, I'm as crazy as Heath is, only I'm just now realizing it. It's a strange feeling, knowing that my ideas are a little far fetched and almost impossible to realize, but here I am, doing my best to be a peacemaker anyway. But, I've decided to embrace my insanity. So here it is ...
... building cultures of peace in as many ways as I can even though there are those who tell me that it is a futile attempt to change the base nature of human beings who are prone to violence. I, however, think we can change that, so I struggle with beliefs like "right makes might," when everyone (okay, not everyone, but a LOT of people) tells me the reality of it is ... that might makes right. I'm crazy enough to believe that the good guy always win, like in the movies, then have to swallow my disappointment when the good guys lose. Of course, I have the insane notion that people who are in leadership should do what is right and still find myself remarkably disappointed that not everyone in power is right or does what's right. The biggest struggle, however, is with other peacemakers because we know that while building a culture of peace is a wonderful concept, there are so many definitions of what that means as to boggle the mind. An insane mind, then, stays boggled! But, we take our licks and keep on ticking. Somehow I think that by embracing my craziness, I can now fully commit myself to the insane notion that peace is possible.
So, I'm recruiting crazy peacemakers. This won't be an organized society of crazy peacemakers because crazy people are not organized in the way of the sane world. There will be no hierarchical structure. That's too confining. We won't have any by-laws because crazy people make it up as they go along. Of course I realize that there is no way that we can all agree on how peace is possible, but here's the chance to try out those crazy ideas of peacemaking on the rest of the world. I don't want to hear the ideas that you're only thinking about. If you're not attempting the idea, you're not crazy enough to be a member. We won't be giving out identification cards either because insanity is a personal experience.
This is a win-win situation (another one of those insane notions) because you get to try out your ideas and not get the sign (you know, where you point your finger at your temple, while twirling your finger around to indicate that the person is crazy) because we're as crazy as you are. Crazy enough to try even when others tell you how impossible it is. So, while I won't be creating a bureacratic structure for us to join, I will create the one mission statement that every crazy person has to embrace ...
"I believe that my goal is to take the impossibility of peace so that it becomes possible, the possibility of peace so that it becomes probable and the probability of peace, so that peace is inevitable."
--P.K. McCary
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