Peace. It’s a term we throw around in society quite often. From beauty queens and humanitarians seeking world peace to the person seeking peace in their heart, it seems to mean different things to different people.
In this edition of the Weekend Word, we’re going to look at the true root meaning of peace.
peace
pēs/
noun
1. freedom from disturbance; quiet and tranquility.
2. freedom from or the cessation of war or violence.
Think about the last time you heard the word peace. Beauty queens are seeking world peace, parents seek peace and quiet, a person seeks peace in their heart perhaps over the loss of a loved one. The kind of peace one is searching for seems to always be changing. If peace is continually manifesting itself in different ways, how can we as a society aim for peace on earth? How will we know when we have attained peace? What does peace look like?
Since peace comes in many different forms, perhaps peace isn’t a destination or end result, but the journey itself. Ghandi who once said “There is no path to peace. Peace is the path.” The dictionary declares peace as a noun, suggesting that it is something attainable, but in attaining peace we are attaining a state of being, making it more like an adjective.
If peace is a journey, not the destination, don’t you want to know what that destination looks like?
Uganda as a country fought for its independence from Britain and at present has grained its freedom from the cessation of war or violence. Now its citizens look to gain freedom from disturbance. To build their country and their lives to something that is better than it was before. For the children we serve, that means freedom from fear; freedom from worrying about if, and where, they may get their next meal or roof over their head. They’ve found this peaceful path at our schools and seek to keep it by educating up. Gaining knowledge and skills that will help them remain independent and keep this peace in their life. If they can attain that, where else will their journey take them?
I’ll leave you with this last thought from Mother Teresa.
“Peace begins with a smile.”
Wishing you peace,
Cristen
that is the greatest saying in the world