Peace in the World Begins With Peace in Our Hearts

 "They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; One nation shall not raise the sword against another, nor shall they train for war again. O house of Jacob come, let us walk in the light of the Lord."
Isaiah 2:5

It would be awesome to experience the day when all of the world would walk together in the light of the Lord. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhist, Hindus; people from every nationality, East to West and North to South; people of every persuasion, of every custom, of every belief; all joining hands in love and peace as the unalienable children of God.

Imagine, as Isaiah says, nations never again raising their swords (or in modern terms, their AK-47s or nuclear bombs) against one another. Imagine your sons and daughters never having to “train for war again.” No more World Wars and no more wars between individual nations. No more wars within nations and no more wars within families. Imagine perfect peace; heaven on earth.

If we are ever to experience this type of bliss, it has to begin with conversion; and that conversion must first begin in each of our hearts. Let’s face it. There will never be peace in this world until we have peace within our nation, our individual communities and our families. This means that peace must first begin within each and every one of us.

If I am not at peace with myself, how can I be at peace with my neighbor? I can’t be. It’s impossible. Peace has to truly begin with me. This means that I must work on loving, accepting and forgiving myself. Once I can empathize with me, I can empathize with others. Once I befriend my own brokenness, I can befriend the brokenness of family members, friends, neighbors, co-workers, etc. Peace begins within me and it spreads across my world; uniting with the peace that others have attained in their own hearts. Imagine people learning to listen better to each other. Picture people learning to agree to disagree about things they can’t see eye to eye on, and in doing so, envision them as they come to see and respect the image and likeness of God that each of them projects to the world.

This may seem Utopian. It isn’t an easy solution. Dropping bombs is an easy solution, but it is never a holy one. And we need a holy solution. Peace within me spreading to the world around me is a holy beginning. We may never see the full dividends that come from our efforts, but we will have encouraged God-graced conversion of hearts; new ways of thinking and acting toward each other. And one day, amidst future generations, our efforts may pay off in nations never training again for war; in the entire world walking together, hand in hand, in the light of the Lord; in universal love.

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