THE CHALLENGE OF A LASTING PEACE
The challenge of a lasting peace
Alf McCreary
THE stormy weather of the past few days has been symbolic of 1998 as a whole. Politically it has been a truly astonishing year. Last January there were the random murders of Roman Catholics, in the aftermath of the killing of LVF leader Billy Wright. Then came the almost unbelievable news that an Agreement had been signed at Stormont.
This was followed by the heady atmosphere after some 71 per cent of the people of Northern Ireland, and almost 96 percent in the Republic, endorsed the Agreement in the Referendum.
Then we had the frightening stand-off at Drumcree, the horrendous murder of the three small boys at Ballymoney, and the truly horrific bombing at Omagh when 29 innocent people and two unborn babies perished.
This has been a year of immense tragedy and yet of political miracles. But there is such a long way to go.
In this departing season of peace and goodwill, we still have very little peace.
We have a "peace process," which is not true peace, but an absence of war.
We have 'peace' lines, which are not true peace lines but rather man-made barriers to keep two warring tribes apart.
Peace may be on our lips, but it is not in enough of our hearts to banish violence from our midst.
One of my Christmas presents was most thought-provoking.: A book by Johann Christoph Arnold of the Christian Bruderhof Community.
Entitled "Seeking Peace" (Plough Publishing) , its central thesis is that to have true peace, you must work from a peaceful heart.
In a telling preface, Thich Nhat Hanh states "... many who work for peace are not at peace. They still have anger and frustration, and their work is not really peaceful."
And, in a sentence which pierces to the heart of our decommissioning problem he stated:
"Even if we transported all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the reason for bombs would still be here, in our heart; and minds, and sooner or later we would make new bombs."
Arnold's centra point is that before we can make peace with others and the world, we must make peace with ourselves
If we are at war with our parents, our family, our society, our church, or our political party, there is probably a war going on inside us also.
Therefore the most basic work for peace is to return to ourselves and create harmony among the elements within us - our feelings, our perceptions, our mental states.
Judged by that standard how far are we away from lasting peace?
How far can political parties with internal divisions, and politicians divided from each other by philosophy, culture and temperament, begin to deliver true peace?
How far can the ordinary people with differing interpretations of history and recent events, and with different pet solutions to our problems, ever begin to help the politicians to deliver the true peace we all crave?
And yet we have to try, for the alternative is stalemate and more wounded and dead bodies as in Omagh 1998 and elsewhere since 1968.
Before you achieve lasting peace, you personally must badly want that peace.
And before you can help deliver such a peace, you have to be at peace with yourself.
That is the daunting challenge which faces all of us in 1999, and beyond.
Despite, and because of, all that has happened in this historic 1998, in a spirit of hope, tempered by realism, I truly wish you all a Happy and a Peaceful Year.
Alf McCreary
THE stormy weather of the past few days has been symbolic of 1998 as a whole. Politically it has been a truly astonishing year. Last January there were the random murders of Roman Catholics, in the aftermath of the killing of LVF leader Billy Wright. Then came the almost unbelievable news that an Agreement had been signed at Stormont.
This was followed by the heady atmosphere after some 71 per cent of the people of Northern Ireland, and almost 96 percent in the Republic, endorsed the Agreement in the Referendum.
Then we had the frightening stand-off at Drumcree, the horrendous murder of the three small boys at Ballymoney, and the truly horrific bombing at Omagh when 29 innocent people and two unborn babies perished.
This has been a year of immense tragedy and yet of political miracles. But there is such a long way to go.
In this departing season of peace and goodwill, we still have very little peace.
We have a "peace process," which is not true peace, but an absence of war.
We have 'peace' lines, which are not true peace lines but rather man-made barriers to keep two warring tribes apart.
Peace may be on our lips, but it is not in enough of our hearts to banish violence from our midst.
One of my Christmas presents was most thought-provoking.: A book by Johann Christoph Arnold of the Christian Bruderhof Community.
Entitled "Seeking Peace" (Plough Publishing) , its central thesis is that to have true peace, you must work from a peaceful heart.
In a telling preface, Thich Nhat Hanh states "... many who work for peace are not at peace. They still have anger and frustration, and their work is not really peaceful."
And, in a sentence which pierces to the heart of our decommissioning problem he stated:
"Even if we transported all the bombs to the moon, the roots of war and the reason for bombs would still be here, in our heart; and minds, and sooner or later we would make new bombs."
Arnold's centra point is that before we can make peace with others and the world, we must make peace with ourselves
If we are at war with our parents, our family, our society, our church, or our political party, there is probably a war going on inside us also.
Therefore the most basic work for peace is to return to ourselves and create harmony among the elements within us - our feelings, our perceptions, our mental states.
Judged by that standard how far are we away from lasting peace?
How far can political parties with internal divisions, and politicians divided from each other by philosophy, culture and temperament, begin to deliver true peace?
How far can the ordinary people with differing interpretations of history and recent events, and with different pet solutions to our problems, ever begin to help the politicians to deliver the true peace we all crave?
And yet we have to try, for the alternative is stalemate and more wounded and dead bodies as in Omagh 1998 and elsewhere since 1968.
Before you achieve lasting peace, you personally must badly want that peace.
And before you can help deliver such a peace, you have to be at peace with yourself.
That is the daunting challenge which faces all of us in 1999, and beyond.
Despite, and because of, all that has happened in this historic 1998, in a spirit of hope, tempered by realism, I truly wish you all a Happy and a Peaceful Year.
Further Information
Publisher: NEWS LETTER
Ref: NL/160
Published Date: 30-Dec-98
Related Images
There have been no images archived for this article.