When I pray for peace, I pray not only that the enemies of my own country may cease to want war, but above all that my country will cease to do the things that make war inevitable.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of seeking peace not just from external enemies, but also by addressing the actions that lead to conflict within one's own country.
Thomas Merton highlights a profound perspective on peace in this quote. He underscores that true peace is not simply the absence of war imposed by external forces, but rather a deep, reflective commitment to eliminate the root causes of conflict within one's own nation. This involves a conscientious effort to understand and rectify the behaviors and policies that contribute to hostility, advocating for a more conscientious and peaceful approach to international relations.
In practice
Quoting Thomas Merton during a peace rally to emphasize the need for internal reflection on war policies.
The devil is no fool. He can get people feeling about heaven the way they ought to feel about hell. He can make them fear the means of grace the way they do not fear sin. And he does so, not by light but by obscurity, not by realities but by shadows; not by clarity and substance, but by dreams and the creatures of psychosis. And men are so poor in intellect that a few cold chills down their spine will be enough to keep them from ever finding out the truth about anything.
Our vocation is not simply to be, but to work together with God in the creation of our own life, our own identity, our own destiny....To work out our identity in God.
Conscience is the light by which we interpret the will of God in our own lives.
You are made in the image of what you desire.
But if you want to identify me, ask me not where I live, or what I like to eat, or how I comb my hair, but ask me what I think I am living for.
I have the immense joy of being man, a member of a race in which God Himself became incarnate. As if the sorrows and stupidities of the human condition could overwhelm me, now that I realize what we all are. And if only everybody could realize this! But it cannot be explained. There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.
Peace cannot be achieved through violence, it can only be attained through understanding.
Peace is freedom in tranquility.
Could I have but a line a century hence crediting a contribution to the advance of peace, I would yield every honor which has been accorded by war.
The only sure way to eliminate the threat posed by nuclear weapons is to eliminate the weapons themselves.
This rally must send a message to the Israeli people, to the Jewish people around the world, to the many people in the Arab world, and indeed to the entire world, that the Israeli people want peace, support peace. For this, I thank you.
The world will never have lasting peace so long as men reserve for war the finest human qualities. Peace, no less than war, requires idealism and self-sacrifice and a righteous and dynamic faith.
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