Every instance of peace has happened in an imperfect world.
At every point in the past where peace has occurred, something has simultaneously been imperfect.
When we say “peace is our natural state,” it is a belief. We could always choose to focus on the imperfection and treat it as a spoiler to the peace that is possible in every moment.
I can’t force you to be peaceful any more than you can force me. I can only respond to the initiation of violence, because I know it will never come from me, except in my imperfections, which I am fully responsible for, just like you.
Drawing a line can be based on truth, but it is never without a basis in belief.
“Peace is meant to be our natural state. A whirlwind never outlasts the morning, nor a violent rain the day. Just as earth and sky return to peace, so should we.” only matters if you believe it. And matters a great deal in either case. There are downstream consequences to belief.
The existence of the absolute truth is a conceptual trick in the same way a joke is a trick of a certain kind. The point becomes beside the point- and language starts to fail. There is an up and down to this, like a wave – and thank goodness. A straight line would be a missed opportunity!
Every reference to lines could have been [redacted] in this essay, but as you will see in an upcoming essay, lines have been another beneficial tool for me.
This springs forth from putting the Principle into action.
Belief in the Principle of Human Respect involves removing what I need to, peacefully, and pointing others to it if and only if it acknowledges the rights of every single other person on planet Earth. There are no exceptions.
Despite the work brought on by imperfections, peace still happens every single day to the degree, exactly, that each individual human acts it.
That means I will [redacted].
How would you fill in that blank for yourself?
