Peace and Union

We have discussed peace at length already, and I recommend you continue your understanding of it.

Peace is many things; the state of two or more entities in league, or union.

What is union? Union is not only an agreement of peace between two or more entities. It is a confederation; a conglomeration.

Beyond state of the Unions, confederations, and agreements, “union” has mathematical implications as well.

As a quick example:

If set A={1,2,3} and B={2,3,4}, the union of the sets A and B, written A U B, would be {1,2,3,4}.

Notice that there is no need to list the 2 and 3 twice. This is because the union between A and B creates a situation where 2 and 3 are part of both sets as one unit each; not two.

The following image illustrates this.







Even though A may have started with its own 2 and 3, and B may have started with its own 2 and 3, when in union, they share 2 and 3.

What’s more, A brought 1, 2, and 3, and B brought 2, 3, and 4; which means that now the number 4 is ascribed to A, and the number 1 is ascribed to B.

Again, a) those elements that are similar to both are used and fused as one; it becomes one, and b) those elements that are dissimilar can now be ascribed to the opposite circle.

If peace is union, then it may be inferred that, though two or more entities may bring their own, individual elements to the union, it becomes shared; fused as shared elements.

In the Bible, Paul greeted many of the churches with the phrase, “ Grace and peace.” We are encouraged to act in peace. By acting in peace, we are unified.

But, with understanding the math definition of union, we can better understand what God was saying when He said that we are to be unified in Christ.

Not only should we be in ‘harmony’, as we are oft to agree we should be. We should understand that, though we bring our own unique elements, a) those elements that are similar to both of us are used and fused as one; you and I become one, and b) those elements that are dissimilar can now be ascribed to each of us.

If we are unified (in union with Christ), those elements of Christ that only He has, that we do not have, CAN NOW BE ASCRIBED TO US! In totality, everything that Christ brings to the union with us are ours!

This revelation can only be had by understanding the similarities of Peace and Union.

Peace and a Basketball

There is nothing more peaceful than a basketball in the morning.

On most mornings, I make my way to my prayer spot in the park. It is in the center of a silent field. The only trees are surrounding the field. It is open and clear, and the grass is always finely cut.

The grass is never visible until the sun comes up. Usually, I arrive in the dark of the morning, maybe half an hour before the sky turns from deep, navy blue to gray.

It is always silent. Even the one runner who arrives around 6 is far enough away that his feet fall silently. The only sound is the occasional bird being spooked in the field.

Having pondered peace for some time, I was particularly focused on how peaceful this morning was. It was so quiet. The breeze was ever so slight, but it was humid enough to be totally comfortable.

It was as I approaching that I noted the round ball, resting motionless in the direct spot I normally pray. At first, it seemed quite alien and out of place.

But, as I watched for any signs of life, I realized that it would not be rising out of bed any time soon. This place was so peaceful that even the sports equipment reclined.

It seemed apparent that the ball had arrived at its location from the day before. Perhaps some child from the school nearby gave it one last kick before the bell rang.

None-the-less, I made my way over to the ball. Despite it being a peaceful morning and the ball still not stirring, I placed my foot on it to rouse any signs of life. To my surprise, it was deflated as well.

It seemed that this sanctuary of peacefulness had withdrawn even the bounce from this ball.

I noticed how sharp the contrast was between this deflated pouch of rubber the robust, springy ball it was just a day ago. The contrast was distinct because of the images that this basketball drew up in my mind; kids running recklessly and wildly mimicking their favorite players, background noise of girls skipping rope and the slap of the plastic rope of the pavement.

These ringing sounds faded into the darkness of the morning and mist as I looked around and took my attention from the lone, silent, restful ball.

I looked around to see the first grey stretching the horizon. The grass was just now visibly becoming green, and the basketball sharing its red, white, and blue stripes ever so slowly.

‘He is waking,’ I thought to myself.

I turned my attention to the horizon, to receive the rest of the motionless morning and let my snoozing sphere sleep in.

Peace of Mind

What is peace of mind?

Well, if peace is the state of unity between two or more entities (people, nations, worlds, etc.), then peace of mind must be the state of unity between two or more mentalities, or thoughts.

This dilemma is well laid out in the letter that James, the brother of Jesus, wrote to the church.

“When a man asks [something of God], he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does.”

If that does not describe a mind at war with itself, I don’t know what does!

When I have read this in the past, I have thought, ‘Well, that makes sense; you can’t believe and doubt at the same time. It just doesn’t work.’

But in thinking about peace of mind, this caused another thought to arrive.

Several years back I read a book about getting things done and organizing that has stayed with me ever since. It presented the concept of ‘Mind Like Water’. This concept was originally taken from the martial arts.

The technique is to picture your mind as a pond. A person with a jumbled mind is like a wild pond, blown by the wind, choppy and unstable. A person with peace of mind is like a calm pond, smooth as glass.

Do you have this picture in your mind? Good!

Now, imagine throwing a rock into the pond. In the jumbled mind, you may see the splash, but that is all you may notice.

Now, picture your smooth mind, a peace of mind. Throw the stone into the middle of that pond. Not only do you see the splash, but you can even watch the ripples roll out toward the edge, bounce off and reflect and intersect with other ripples. You can see how your splash interacted and affected to rest of the pond.

This is the state of ‘mind like water’, the state of peace of mind.

How do we get there? How do we attain peace of mind? How do we turn from “an unstable man in all our ways” into a person with peace of mind?

In this fast-paced society moving at the speed of light, keeping hundreds of thoughts in our mind at one time, we can hardly see how any item affects the other. It is difficult to see how new tasks or requests affect others. Our minds are a choppy, heaving pond, and new needs from our families, ideas we have, or thoughts we are trying to keep are more splashes lost in the sea.

We need clarity! We need to take each wave (a task) and gust of wind (a thought) and each crashing wave on the pond’s shore (a need from family or friends) out of our head and calm our pond (minds) down.

Well, in this book, ‘Getting Things Done’ by David Allen (pick up a copy! you won’t regret it), he proposes the following.

Take a pad of sticky notes or note paper.

Now: DOWNLOAD.

For every thought you have running around your mind, write it alone on its own sheet of paper or give it its own sticky.

Put it in an inbox of some kind. Every e-mail you need to respond to, every errand you always wanted to run, every bill you need to write a check for, every room you need to clean; give them their own piece of paper or sticky and put it in the inbox.

Now: JUST KEEP GOING. Exhaust your mind. Take everything out of it. Put it all, and I mean ALL, in the inbox.

Take an entire day to empty your mind. Take 2 days. Take all day, as long as it takes, to download each thought from your mind.

Then, take a deep breath. Exhale. Let it out. Do you not feel better? Does it not feel good to see these things in a basket somewhere, and not clouding your mind?

Now, take a nap! Run around the lake. Go to a movie. Relax already! You should feel totally relieved.

When time comes, flip the inbox upside down so that you are dealing with the oldest items first. And one at a time, deal with them. (Read ‘Getting Things Done’ to see their flowchart of how to deal with those items.)

You have a system to deal with these things.

So, the question stands: can this help in spiritual issues? Can we achieve ‘mind like water’?

Well, don’t get so stinkin’ religious on me. James, the brother of Jesus, thought it was good to describe the mind like water, and we can, too!

So often, Christians have so much running around their brain. We think a lot of this is spiritual, and many times it is. But, there is also a ton of little non-spiritual items rattling around our brain.

First, get all of the non-spiritual stuff out of our minds. Once our mental ponds are smooth and glass, we are no longer “double-minded”. We are stable and at peace.

This means that we are ready to tackle spiritual issues. We are prepared to throw a rock in the pond and watch how the ripples will affect us. We can put a thought in our mind and think through how that affects our lives.

In the letter that James wrote, he was dealing with doubt versus faith. What is it you are dealing with? What should I do about thus and so? Can I deal with the potential outcomes? Am I thinking clearly?

Is ‘mind-like-water’ the only technique to being able to attain peace of mind? Certainly not! There are many other tools to help us think better.

This is just one of many various tools we can use to help us calm our minds, and achieve, peace of mind.

Peace Part 02

So, is peace made by circumstances? Do economic circumstances determine if two countries are at peace? Do religious events, political alignments, or any outside variable determine if an entity should act in peace or war?

If peace is a form of unity or order, then will the randomness and chaos of the human circumstances ever create unity, order, or peace?

I propose that no external series of events can create the proper circumstances to create any form of lasting peace. Peace, lasting peace, must be an inner choice made from an already-present inner peace in each entity, be it a person, a state, a nation or a world.

Peace is a choice alone. No natural circumstances can create peace (which is embodied as order and unity.)

Entropy will not do it, unless the entire universe finally comes to rest.
Manipulating human conventions like national economics, home economics, resources, or distribution will not do it, unless every other human being is agreed on which of those human conventions to use and when it is appropriate to use and to what degree. There are too many variables to be probable.

Peace, if it is alien to the human experience, must therefore by definition come from elsewhere. The rationality, unity and order that typify peace must, therefore derive from God.

Peace is an orderly ideal. Humans are capable of thinking of ideals, but not manifesting them on a lasting basis. It has yet to be observed that any other species of flora or fauna thinks of, creates, or imagines lasting peace.

Peace as an ideal is strictly a human trait. This uniqueness, the ability to think of something totally alien to the life experiences of randomness and chaos, lends itself to inquiry.

Where did the concept of peace come from?
Where did the ability to imagine an ideal, alien and opposite to the life experiences, in a random, chaotic creature come from?

Since ideals are typical of sentient beings, and peace is an ideal, it by necessity must come from a sentient being alien to the chaos and randomness of the universe.

The very act of thinking of the ideal of peace attests to the existence of God.