Changing Paths challenge day 3. Peace.

Deep within the still centre of my being
May I find peace.
Silently within the quiet of the Grove
May I share peace.
Gently, powerfully, within the greater circle of humankind
May I radiate peace.

— Druid prayer for peace (OBOD)

There can be no peace without justice. Peace-making begins by listening to the unheard voices, the unmet needs. It begins with truth and reconciliation (and there’s no reconciliation without truth, either). And reparation of the harm done.

As the other Druid prayer says:

Grant, O Great Spirit/Goddess/God/Holy Ones, Thy Protection;
And in protection, strength;
And in strength, understanding;
And in understanding, knowledge;
And in knowledge, the knowledge of justice;
And in the knowledge of justice, the love of it;
And in that love, the love of all existences;
And in the love of all existences, the love of Great Spirit/Goddess/God/Holy Ones/the Earth our mother, and all goodness.

Peace is the way… but that way includes justice-making, knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

You cannot call upon the oppressed not to resist oppression. That’s not peace, it’s merely an absence of war. And you have to understand the roots of the conflict in order to create justice and peace.