McKenzie River channel before sunrise (October 2024)

Approx. read time: 2:45 min.

In stillness I await the rising sun beyond these Oregon Cascade peaks. It’s quiet here along the river channel, so I let my mind drift. And the unexpected question arrives: How much does my nation spend on war?

What I really want to know is: How much does my nation spend on peace?

I’m looking for hope here.

The heartbreaking truth is that our economy cannot profit from peace, not the way it can from smash-and-grab brutalism, smash-and-grab politics, smash-and-grab economics.

My mind still adrift, I notice that the instinctive response to aggression typically is a return of aggression. I notice the urge of this dynamic, even in myself.

Wisdom bearers of every spiritual tradition have sought and taught the ways of peace. They remind us that walking this path demands our constant attention. So, we need not feel we’re forging some new way of peace in the dark.

Peacemaking, I notice, often is assigned to “diplomats,” who travel a lot, speak important words, and usually come home with not much to show. But really, peacemaking starts closer in. I’ll be honest with you: It’s an interiorly disruptive and wrenching experience. And this is good. Peacemakers before us have willingly invested in this transformation.

So, here are five ways that you and I can invest in peace, in actual peacemaking, here and now.

First, in that next contentious encounter, we each can replace the need to score a point, “educate” the other, or have the last word, with the honest request: Help me understand where you’re coming from. (They may be coming from a place of fear, unresolved anger, trauma, or pain.)

Second, we each can dedicate a week to intentionally step outside our angry, self-assured echo chambers, and enter into moments or spaces that reconnect us to our better, fuller Humanity. And if one week, why not two? Why not simply embrace the habit?

Third, we each can contribute helpfully in the world we already touch through the ways we already are gifted. We can relieve suffering and restore the dignity of others—whether they are against us, for us, or sitting on the curb along the way.

Fourth, we each can turn with courageous hearts to the wisdom teachings and meaning-making language of our spiritual forebears, and embrace the ongoing challenge to become Real Human Beings.

Fifth, we each can take these outward-facing practices, and the wisdom we’ve gained, to our public spaces: maybe the local middle school or high school, the book club, garden club, coffee group, even our spiritual communities.

Time is short. Peace is needed everywhere. Start close in. American peacemaker A. J. Muste says: There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.

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