What is peace?

Now that Christmas draws near, and everyone is talking about peace and good will, I wonder what peace really is?

Peace, it seems to me, is the calm in the storm, a moment of respite in an avalanche. It is a state that can last but a moment.

The same can be said for a peaceful soul: it isn’t that the life of a man at peace doesn’t experience the humdrum of daily life, but that the peaceful man resists being taken on a ride on the tiger’s back, and instead focuses with great clarity on the peace he wants in his life, eventually creating  it, moment by moment, despite the humdrum. In as such, it is an inner state that can project itself upon the world around us.

Christmas reminds us that we all should be seeking peace and stability, seek to bring the chaos around us to its natural conclusion, whatever that may be. It reminds us that we are the masters of our lives and should not be set adrift by the constant changes around us, but instead work hard to understand the nature and stages of the things around us and bring it to a state that can endure: peace.

A Touching Wartime Peace

During WWI, a Christmas Truce occurred in 1914 when along the Western Front German and British soldiers created a series of unofficial ceasefires. Throughout this week, soldiers exchanged seasonal greetings, songs and even gifts with their enemies. Perhaps most of mankind is in fact peaceful and cooperative and follows a few "Alpha-rulers" into wars. It is estimated that only 12% of soldiers purposely fired upon another human being (designated as the enemy) during WWI. Most soldiers, lacking extensive training and brainwashing, actually never managed to reconcile themselves with the idea of killing another human being.

The wartime peace of WWI documented in pictures: