Queries:
Do you live in peace with yourself and others?
Do we recognize and address the causes of conflict and all forms of violence within our community?
Quotes
“George Fox was in prison in the early 1650s because of his beliefs. He was offered freedom if he would fight for Oliver Cromwell, the leader of the Parliamentary forces in the Civil War at the time. He refused in words that Quakers have quoted ever since:
I told them that I lived in the virtue of that life and power that takes away the occasion of all war....
“Peace is not just the absence of war. It is about our day-to-day relationships with our families, our neighbors, people in our towns and cities, and in other countries. Peace is also how we cope with people we may find difficult and different from ourselves. It is about accepting that there are different cultures and ways of doing things and that different does not mean worse.”Harvey Gillman, A Portrait of Friends
“Peace is the state in which we are in accord with God, the earth, others, and ourselves. . . A Peacekeeper holds the vision of peace for all beings in all worlds, as beauteous expression of harmony and balance resonating through thought, word, and deed. . .”North Pacific Yearly Meeting, Faith and Practice
“Peace is not a distant goal that we seek, but the means by which we arrive at that goal.”Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary.”Mahatma Gandhi, 1919