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At 02:57 PM 4/13/2002 -0400, <font face="arial" size=2>Meg Salter</font>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite><font face="arial" size=2>And yes,
it begins in my own being, with as much acknowledgement of and
non-resistance to all that I see in myself as I can manage [the good, the
bad and the ugly!] and than naturally extending that out to others -
close.. further.. further still. Being able to provide a container for
peacefullness in myself helps me to provide such a container for others
too. Some of these "others" are clients; but it is also
children, family, friends.... ultimately and hopefully everyone we come
in contact with. For me peace is not just the feeling of peacefulness,
kindness, friendliness. It is the place which is able to contain that AND
it's "opposite" - anger, fear, jealousy.. and hold them until a
resolution naturally
appears.</font><font face="arial"></font></blockquote><br>
Meg -- I think the point you make about the "inclusiveness" of
Peace is critical. As I have been slowing moving along in the creation of
what might be a new book (or not) -- the following showed up on the
screen...<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4><x-tab> </x-tab><br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>How shall
we understand Peace in ways that allow the inclusion and transcendence of
the harsher realities of our lives? Peace without chaos, confusion and
conflict is no peace, not because we would not prefer it that way, but
because each member of this unholy trinity makes a positive contribution
to the process of living. Equally, peace without ending and death is
productive of an idealized, static life, stuck in its ways precluding
the possibility of any sort of evolution. <br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>Had the
Ruler of the Universe taken our council at the start, perhaps we could
have suggested a better way. Indeed it seems that He or She almost had it
right in those halcyon days of The Garden of Eden (or whatever
primal/primitive vision of our initial utopia). But then something
happened. Some folks will see the departure from that happy place as the
beginning of the end, and the source of all our problems. Personally, I
see it as the end of the beginning, the starting place of the incredible
human journey. In a word, we were kicked out of the nest and forced to
fly. Like young eagles, we have been screaming ever since, and for sure
our initial wing beats were frantic, verging on comical. But we have
learned. Not without a multitude of rough landings, ill advised take-offs
to say nothing of more than a few crash and burns, but we now know
something of the joys of flight. For those who desire a return to that
idyllic state, I say lots of luck, and have a nice day. And when the
going genuinely gets tough in this thing we call life, I can certainly
see their point. But at the end of the day, and indeed on most days, I
choose to celebrate the rich heritage of <i>Homo sapiens</i>, crash
landings and all. The flight of the human spirit is, for me, truly
awesome. But you do have to leave the nest, and that departure has its
consequences.<br>
<x-tab> </x-tab>As for
peace I like the metaphor of flying all of flying, including
first flights, last flights, and bumps along the way. Peace then is a
process, not a thing, a journey and not a destination. It is flow and not
a state. <i> Peace is the dynamic interrelationship of complex forces
productive of wholeness, health and harmony</i>. <i>The Practice of Peace
is the intentional creation of the requisite conditions under which Peace
may occur.</i> Peace, as far as I am concerned is infinitely more than
the cessation of hostilities, which recently has taken the form of
bombing the offending parties into submission until they can no longer
fight back or each other. And Peacemaking neither starts nor ends at the
negotiating table, for the objective is not just a set of treaty terms
acceptable to all parties, but rather the renewal of meaningful and
productive organizational life for the nation, business, social
institution or family. <br><br>
</font>Harrison<br><br>
<blockquote type=cite class=cite cite>Harrison Owen</blockquote>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<div align="center">7808 River Falls Drive<br>
Potomac, MD 20854 USA<br>
phone 301-365-2093<br>
Open Space Training
<a href="http://www.openspaceworld.com/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.com</a>
<br>
Open Space Institute <a href="http://www.openspaceworld.org/" eudora="autourl">www.openspaceworld.org</a><br>
Personal website <a href="http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm" eudora="autourl">http://mywebpages.comcast.net/hhowen/index.htm</a><br><br>
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