In recent weeks as I have watched the development of things going absolutely the wrong way, by my standards, I have also been ruminating. I had to go back and ask the most fundamental questions: why do we want peace? Why is peace so important? Obviously we want to avoid unnecessary deaths - we value life itself. And we want to avert the suffering that comes with violence: pain, loss, fear, hatred, hunger, loneliness, insecurity, illness, and other forms of misery. These negatives of course make us want peace.

Underneath this there is something else that makes violence, even in it's most subtle forms, an anathema to us. Consider for a moment the nature of Spirit and the nature of human beings. Spirit is the Creator. And we are like Spirit in that we are very creative. It is what gives our life meaning, in some ways generates our individuality and sources the totality of our lives. Amidst the great diversity of life we are noteworthy for our vast capacity to create.

But creativity requires space. And silence. And stillness. We cannot create when there is turbulence, fear, the search for missing relatives, food, water or other necessities. The poem, painting, music, business or even relationship cannot be created in the midst of conflict. Violence, denies us the opportunity to be creative, yet it is our creativity which makes life worth living. This is where freedom comes in, and choice.

We need peace to be creative, therefore the first thing we need to create is peace. Violence, even in only one location affects us all. For one thing it could happen to us therefore there is insecurity, and for another when others are unhappy it is impossible for us to be happy. To experience the joy of being alive, to cultivate human greatness we must find ways of finding lasting peace.

Most of us have experienced some form of violence in our lives and are reclaiming the wholeness of shattered spirits. This is work on our part, and is powerful. It means discovering our authentic self, taking steps to heal wounds, learning to take responsibility for our relationships, and all our choices. As women it also means learning to speak up effectively for our needs - a crucial part of achieving a lasting, mutually respectful peace.

As we learn these skills we become a strong force in creating the world we would like to see. When we change ourselves we cannot help but make the world a better place. Bit by bit, inch by inch, person by person. If things seem bad now in some ways, an underground wave of good is also occurring as we each do the work of healing ourselves. Healing ourselves will eventually result in the larger task of healing the planet, bringing about the kind of world we want to live in. That is a lot.