Peace

Photo by Cynthia Burgess

I want to share something here that I posted over on my other blog, Meditation Matters. It's a saying of the Buddha from the Metta Sutra (Lovingkindness Teaching). This sums up the ethical position on non-violence excellently:

Let none through anger or ill-will
Wish harm upon another.
Even as a mother protects with her life
Her child, her only child,
So with a boundless heart
Should one cherish all living beings;
Radiating kindness over the entire world,
Spreading upward to the skies,
And downward to the depths;
Outward and unbounded,
Freed from hatred and ill-will.

Everybody is somebody's baby. Everyone. If only we would remember that, we would do everything in our power to avoid war. How can I kill you if I cherish you as if you were my only child?

I also want to share with you the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero:

Peace will flower when love and justice pervade our environment.

Love and justice. Simple but not easy. Necessary if we're going to survive as a species.