Planning for peace

I am tired of hoping for peace or praying for peace. It is time to plan for peace.

It is possible for all the world's faiths and religions to work together as part of a larger whole. The good news is this can bring freedom from fear. There will still be sickness and death, but these need not be faced alone. Instead of looking outwards to colonize and exploit foreign worlds, we can look inwards at how we can improve our communities, together.

The bad news is this means leaving behind the notion that my faith is the only true faith, and the goal is to convert all others. Working together in this way means acknowledging that Divine wisdom was not only revealed to one person in one place, but instead to many people in many places.

In the movie "The Matrix", the Oracle tells incompatible truths to two different characters. Quantum mechanics is full of experiments where reality appears differently depending on what type of measurements you take. The parable of the Blind Men and the Elephant also speaks to these principles, that reality is more complicated than the wisdom of any one person.

Copernicus said that the Earth is not the center of the universe. This is similar, because it may be deeply uncomfortable for some. There is nothing wrong with the religion or faith you were taught. What is needed is a sense of a larger overarching purpose, that all humanity can work together towards shared goals. Each person and faith and community has a part to play. I do not believe that any Being intelligent enough to create an atom would create a world with so much beauty and diversity without also having a plan of how all the elements of creation could work together in harmony.

2023 Israel-Gaza War: Hoping for Peace

Jews, Muslims, and Christians are all children of G-d and children of Abraham. I do not believe that G-d or Abraham take any pleasure in seeing their children fight. 

I wish we could talk less about rights and more about responsibilities. I wish we could talk less about what has been done to us, or what is being done to us, and more about whether we are setting a good example for the next generation.

I feel sad to see so much pain and suffering, so many miles away. There is so much anger and anguish on both sides. I do not know what the Divine plan is, but I know there is a plan. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. was right that love is stronger than hate. There can be imbalances in the short term, there can be many things in the short term, but in the long term there is only love.

One Call to Prayer

 A vision of peace

There is one call to prayer

Regardless of religion or denomination

Regardless of nationality

Regardless of political affiliation

Regardless of any labels people call themselves or others

As it says: "You shall know and take to heart this day that the L-rd is G-d in the heavens above and on earth below. There is no other." (Deuteronomy 4:39)

As it says: "And G-d shall be sovereign over all the earth; in that day there shall be one G-d with one name." (Zechariah 14:9)