A few days ago I saw a quote from the Dalai Lama. It said, “ Peace does not come through prayer, we human beings must create peace.” Typically, when I see quotes from the Dalai Lama, I am immediately moved by the wisdom shared. He is, after all, the Dalai Lama. But, does that make him right all of the time? On Sunday I sat in church and listened to the priest and a beautiful sermon on the parables and as so often has happened the past few weeks thought about, prayed about, the situation in Gaza. There were other things on my mind as well, refugee children, Ebola, increased unsafety in my neighborhood. The Gaza situation, indeed all of the unrest in the Middle East continued to be forefront in my mind. The Dalai Lama quote came repeatedly into my mind. Do my prayers help? Does praying for peace stop Hamas from sending missiles from civilian areas into Israel? Does praying for peace end the Israeli assault on Palestinians and protect innocents who have been used by militants as a shield these many years? Do my prayers stop the hatred that is in the hearts of those so intent on destroying one another? I do not know the answers to these things.
What I do know, for myself, is that peace is first prayed. It is a thought, a word, a spark of intention that must grow within me to be carried out to the world. I do not always have peace. It angers me that Hamas leaders would use their own people to hide their cowardly attacks. I am outraged that Israel has continued its aggression toward civilians. I am worried that unrest in that part of the world will continue to spur attacks such as the one on the Iranian embassy in Lebanon in 2013. And, I have fear that these atrocities will continue to spill over into the rest of the world, as they have done in the past, and affect my peace here on my own piece of land that I love so much.
I cannot create peace for those affected in the Middle East. But, I can pray. I can pray for my own peace – inner peace. I can continue to hold a light for those in peril and those causing the dangers. I can hope that the peace I pray for today allows me to create in and around my home which will hopefully set an example for the two young charges growing up in this home, in this world. Are you praying for peace? And, are you allowing those prayer to help you create a greater peace to share with the rest of the world?
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