BE A
PEACEMAKER
THIS IS AN INVITATION:
Choose an act of peacemaking and do it. Stay mindfully conscious through the whole process of choosing it, doing it, reviewing it, writing it down, and living with having done it. The idea is to take a situation where equal respect between two parties (parties can be humans, other species, Mother Earth, etc.) is not happening, and do what you can to bring the dynamics into a more “equal respect” interaction.
FIND YOUR ACT
Where to find your act of peacemaking?
Look in your family. Look in your neighborhood or community.
Look in your school or workplace. Look at the world situation.
Look inside yourself.
When you find yourself drawn to a situation where equal respect is not happening, stay awake.
Develop your service in response to people’s expressed sense of need. When listening for this, be sure you are listening to understand their needs rather than listening to validate your preconceived ideas of what is needed.
Follow the 24 items of Chapter 16 in the book for how to proceed.
WRITE
Write down the story of your act of peacemaking
- Describe the situation and the results.
- What drew you to this act of peacemaking?
- What was your intention?
- Were you alone in your actions or were others involved?
- How did your work help bring more equal respect to the situation?
- Who benefited from your efforts?
- What did you learn about the success and challenges throughout your work?
- How are you different as a result of undertaking the act of peacemaking?
