I can’t force peace on the world but I can become a force of peace in the world because sometimes all it takes is a single-lit candle in the darkness to start a movement
~ John Roedel, Love is Bigger than War
Where is the Love?
Rev. Berry Behr, Interfaith Minister
The war in Ukraine has taken a back seat as the focus shifts to the Israel-Hamas bloodshed. No one is mentioning the horrific, religiously based extremist unrest and violence in Pakistan. Political and sporting fevers are high—my country, South Africa, is gripped by our teams’ successes in the international rugby and cricket arenas. It’s a fragile, tense unity, briefly distracting us from the everyday crime and gratuitous violence on our streets. News items carry a higher emotional charge than usual; the world is fraught, and many of us feel helpless.
Against this background, I have been connecting with the touchstones in my interfaith world, feeling their shock, horror, and devastation at the savagery of the Middle East hostilities, and grief for the unstoppable, negative impact on human relations. I am saddened by leading clerics of all faiths who have been vocal in their political judgements. I am encouraged by others who declare support for Humanity in all its expressions. For me, all war is wrong. All atrocities hurt. All deaths mean loss and grief. I feel the turbulence, and I don’t know what to do. Unconditional Love is truly the only answer I can see, and we all know that none of the political leaders involved in the current wars are likely to take steps to stop the cycle to practice compassion, peace, and unconditional love.
But that doesn’t mean the rest of us should follow suit. I asked a Rabbi friend for reassurance that, given the current overwhelming destruction, there is still meaning, value, and purpose in the small contributions we can individually make towards peace on earth. He smiled kindly: “Pebbles in the pond,” he said. “Remember the ripples.”
Years ago, I questioned my own discernment— I was not sure how to trust myself or how to know where the truth lay. Spirit gave me a bread-crumb answer: Where is the love? It quickly became my best questing tool.
I do not often watch news channels because love is not there. I find love in Nature and in the eyes and actions of the open-hearted humans of the world. Love is in our relationships and connections with one another; it is in our responses right here and right now, to the news and to our neighbours. It is in our hands. It is in our compassionate hearts. And perhaps that is the only place that matters.
About Open Windows
We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world’s sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.
We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.
So beautiful and so true – Love is in our relationships and connections with one another; it is in our responses right here and right now, to the news and to our neighbours. It is in our hands. It is in our compassionate hearts. And perhaps that is the only place that matters.
Yes. John and Berry, thank you for such inspiration. yes, it is what I do right now and right here which matter. As your Rabbi friend put it, we are the pebbles in the pond and our ripples matter. WITH YOU in that. Loving thanks, Tom C.
Yes, Berry, love is the answer. Thank you for the poignant vulnerability of your words.We may question how love can be the answer to peace and change in this world of humanity and yet we see the outworking of love one to another, one to another, one to another and so the ripples move out as each person enfolds a multitude of people in loving expression of love. Learning love, expressing love creates love. As we do THIS the world of humanity becomes filled with loving expression of truth. There is a tipping point in this sorry world and we are those who have come and know that there is no other way but love. And so it increases and multiples exponentially.
For a person who doesn’t “often watch news channels,” you certainly give evidence, Berry, of being in touch with much of what is happening in the world. As you have done in this blog I believe there is a way of working in one’s consciousness with events in the news, flowing a blessing of unconditional Love to those involved in the events and inviting them, in effect, to “come near unto me.” As a former radio news reporter and news director, this kind of spiritual work has always seemed natural to me.
Yes LOVE is the only Power that can return humanity to a natural state of Peace. Deep Peace resting in Love. My question to you Berry is how do you generate Love within your own Being sufficient to radiate transforming and healing Love into the world? What is your personal practice … beyond words? I would love to engage in a dialogue with you on this vital subject and perhaps practice together.
5 Responses
So beautiful and so true – Love is in our relationships and connections with one another; it is in our responses right here and right now, to the news and to our neighbours. It is in our hands. It is in our compassionate hearts. And perhaps that is the only place that matters.
Yes. John and Berry, thank you for such inspiration. yes, it is what I do right now and right here which matter. As your Rabbi friend put it, we are the pebbles in the pond and our ripples matter. WITH YOU in that. Loving thanks, Tom C.
Yes, Berry, love is the answer. Thank you for the poignant vulnerability of your words.We may question how love can be the answer to peace and change in this world of humanity and yet we see the outworking of love one to another, one to another, one to another and so the ripples move out as each person enfolds a multitude of people in loving expression of love. Learning love, expressing love creates love. As we do THIS the world of humanity becomes filled with loving expression of truth. There is a tipping point in this sorry world and we are those who have come and know that there is no other way but love. And so it increases and multiples exponentially.
For a person who doesn’t “often watch news channels,” you certainly give evidence, Berry, of being in touch with much of what is happening in the world. As you have done in this blog I believe there is a way of working in one’s consciousness with events in the news, flowing a blessing of unconditional Love to those involved in the events and inviting them, in effect, to “come near unto me.” As a former radio news reporter and news director, this kind of spiritual work has always seemed natural to me.
Yes LOVE is the only Power that can return humanity to a natural state of Peace. Deep Peace resting in Love. My question to you Berry is how do you generate Love within your own Being sufficient to radiate transforming and healing Love into the world? What is your personal practice … beyond words? I would love to engage in a dialogue with you on this vital subject and perhaps practice together.