Thursday Thoughts...

Ultimately we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. And the more peace there is in us, the more peace will be in our troubled world.
Etty Hillesum

Etty Hillesum was a young Dutch Jewish woman working in Amsterdam during World War II. She kept a series of journals which were finally published in 1981. The journals recorded her personal spiritual journey and the most remarkable thing about them to me is how in amongst it all, she managed to keep such a eye for beauty in the minuscule; for peace amongst the chaos. She died in Auschwitz in 1943, at the age of 29.

I'm never sure that I would have the internal fortitude or grace to remain positive against such destructive forces; but I  do believe and try to follow the path that suggests that peace begins with us all. That the more peace we find within ourselves and can share with those around us; the more hope there is for peace on a broader scale.

I think the world and its wars and worry can at times seem so overwhelming that we feel incapable of knowing where to start; who to help; how to choose; what to do; what to do first; leaving us feeling quite disempowered by it all. If we start with peace within ourselves and gradually share that peace in small ways we can make a difference. The scale doesn't matter - its just about starting and reaching out.

I'll keep working on it...