Daily Compass

“What impossible things does your heart yearn for? What hopes, if you named them out loud, would seem laughable? Does “peace” seem impossible to you? Is it laughable to think that we human beings could live in peace in the Middle East? Between the gang zones in your own city? In our own families? Or perhaps what seems impossible is that our culture will one day reflect the inherent worth and dignity of every person.” -Erika Hewitt

When have you witnessed something thought “impossible” become possible?

I grew up with the idea that peace was the ultimate to strive for. But lately I’ve been wondering if the oppressed should always be held to peace as a standard. Beyond the concept of a just war, but also in daily actions against oppression. Oppression is not peaceful. And yet I hear reverence for peaceful protest and disdain for anything not deemed peaceful. Michelle Obama said “When they go low, we go high.” Is that always right? Can they go low enough that going high isn’t what’s needed? And how do we define that boundary? -Jody Malloy (CLF)

How do you define the boundary past which calls for peace are oppressive?

There is no one right way to know or practice peace. – Katherine Hofmann (CLF)

What are ways that you choose to practice peace?

“As we are confronted by chaos,
May we have the wisdom to believe in peace.
Surrounded by voices of disagreement,
May we have the audacity to speak for peace.
Lured by the seduction of despair,
May we have the courage to maintain a vision of possibility and peace.”
-Maureen Killoran

How do you maintain the possibility of peace in your mind and heart?

Peace so often seems like something relegated to the category of “our thoughts and prayers,” lovely but entirely insufficient. Neither is enough to make peace happen. Actions must follow thoughts and connections must follow prayers.

How do we make our thoughts and prayers into concrete actions?