Paths to Peace

"Can we find ways to live together, with all the richness of our differences, as one loving family of life on this planet?" asks Louse Diamond, Ph.D. who has written much on peace, such as The Peace Book: 108 Simple Ways to Create a More Peaceful World.

Recently we have purchased some materials from the Peace Company, founded by Louise Diamond. We are excited to begin carrying some of the Peace Company resources & materials. One item we now offer is The Quest for Peace: A Self-assessment Tool.

In this booklet Diamond created as a self-assessment tool, she writes about the paths to peace. She has defined peace as "rich with multi-layered meaning", and as the "presence of connection". Finding inner peace involves a sense of being a part of something bigger. Remembering our shared humanness is how we work toward peace with others, forgiving and resolving conflict. Peace in the world community begins with respect of our many differences and for the rights of all people, leading to co-existence. "The aim, then, is connection - remembering ourselves as inseparable from the whole."

She asserts that "there is no one way to peace; there are multiple paths, which often intersect, overlap, or glance off each other." Persons are attached to certain paths in particular. Behaviors too differ on which type of path we choose. Some people are hands-on, some teach, others meditate, some work in war zones, and still others strive for peace in their own families. During different periods of life, people are also often on different paths towards peace. No matter which path you choose, each is winding its way to the same goal of peace.

Diamond defines the journey towards peace a "sacred quest, a heroic adventure, that takes us places we have never been before, requires us to go through great testing, and returns us back to where we began, completely changed…"

A sample of the 8 paths Diamond proposes:

• The Activist Path, whose mission is to seek Justice
• The Relationship Path, whose mission is to seek Love
• The Creative Path, whose mission is to seek Harmony
• The Personal Path, whose mission is to seek Integrity

Stop in to utilize this self-assessment tool, and find which path of peace you most closely align yourself with at this time in your life. We have Diamond's booklet's for sale for $3.95.

My Peace Path

In the many people that stop by, I often get the impression that they see activism as the main way to put peacebuliding into practice. Therefore if activism is not appealing to me, do I give up and think there is nothing that I can offer towards the goal of peace in our world? What other ways of peacebuilding work? Are there other Peace Paths?

Louise Diamond says YES! Using Diamond's The Quest for Peace: A Self-assessment Tool was very enlightening for me. This interactive experience helped me broaden my picture of how peacebuilding happens, to see anew the many different paths to peace that individuals can take. It was definitely worth the time and money I invested. --Myrna Krehbiel