heart's desire

I wonder sometimes how many of us really want peace. It seems to me there are quite a few in this country who prefer conflict.

I know that all the little gangsters in the ghetto and the barrio prefer conflict, because it gives their lives purpose and meaning. The gangs fight each other for turf and territory, and individuals find security, comradeship, and status within the gang hierarchy, not to mention the heightened sense of excitement that only exposure to real danger can give a person.



Everyone who relishes and enjoys some conflict once in a while has his or her reasons for feeling that way, and I'm certainly not going to say someone's feelings are wrong.

The problem of violence begins in the mind. Violent minds produce violent thoughts, which in turn give rise to violent acts. Each of us ought to be able to take an honest enough look inside to determine how much violence lurks there.

To what extent have we all been conditioned to have violent minds?

The Vietnamese monk That Nich Hanh says that if we really want peace, its not enough just to want it. He says we have to be peace, if we truly want to have it. I think I'm beginning to understand what he meant.

I'm also wondering just how much peace this country can handle.