Peace, as challenging as it may be to experience, is a universal human ideal. However you say it (Shalom, Friede, Salam, La Paz, Kapayapaan, Nabad-Da, Pingan, Pax, Santipap, eace-pay, to name a few) peace is understood as either an inner state of calm or as societal harmony. Either one can affect the other and quite often does.
During times of personal stress or conflict within our families or within our societies we become particularly aware of this dynamic.
How can one achieve an inner state of calm when there is social unrest? How can there be harmony within a society or among societies if individuals within them are ruled by aggression, anger, fear and discord?
In the month of December, which is often quite stressful, our attention is brought to religious stories of yearnings for peace and manifestations of peach, both miraculous and mundane.
The Jewish celebration of Chanukah commemorates the struggle by the Jewish people to reclaim their Holy temple from the Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE. When that war ended they found only enough oil in the Temple to burn one night. Yet it lasted for eight. This was seen as a sign of God's favor, bringing peace to the hearts of the faithful.
The Pagan celebration of Yule is noted as revolving around a joyous feast, drawing people together in peace and "mirth", and appreciation for the harmonious cycle of seasons. The Christian celebration of Jesus's birth is lifted up as the fulfillment of an old prophecy heralding the arrival of "the Prince of Peace" and a new age of peace for humanity.
Whether or not these stories inspire your spiritual identity, consider how you can promote and nurture the experience of peace for yourself and others this month.
What spiritual practices might you explore? What organizations might you support? Consider the role of compassion, justice, patience, generosity, responsibility and interdependence in the creation of peace.