PEACE IDEAS
PEACE - IDEAS
I. What is helpful
Do not offend people respect other peoples religions; do not get
personal and try and attack an individual or country’s personality
Various levels of contact; emails, letters, phone-calls,
ambassadors / individual politicians / leaders / Presidents,
religious leaders.
Quote from other people /religious books / famous people from a
country you wish to improve relations with.
Pragmatism - everyone is a sinner including me - be prepared to talk
with people whom you would like to improve your relationship with.
Sometimes you need to ignore sins [everyone has sinned at some stage
in their life governments / terrorists / individuals] for the sake of
peace
ALWAYS RESPECT THE RULE OF LAW but be prepared to maintain some line
of communication with terrorists at all times for the sake of peace.
Acknowledge that terrorism comes from unresolved issues / history
II. Bring out the good in people
Believe in people everyone is a sinner including me - do not say “I
am good I wouldn’t do that” - God has a different measure for who is
good and who is bad
Build up trust - by your actions; always act honestly and with
integrity
Show compassion especially if you know that people have suffered a
lot eg. IRAQ
III. Letter-writing
Think out the background to a situation before writing a letter.
Use italics, bold-face, underline, capital letters, three dots;
italics are for emotions that you want to be cautious about, bold-
face is for a key-point, underline is where you are providing a list
of ideas, capital letters are also to emphasize a key-point and
combining bold-face and capital letters are for the most important
point, three dots are if there is something you wish people to think
about - “what do you think”.
What is helpful should dictate what you write.
Signature - use something that expresses an emotion or something that
brings out the good in people, provides hope, or a slogan that you
wish to use in more than one letter.
Send a letter to one side in a difficult area and ask them to pass it
on to the other side.
IV. Ask for help
Everyone needs help - get rid of pride however people should respect
your privacy and give you space
Be prepared to take criticism without feeling offended in fact if you
do not feel offended and can accept the criticism that is a good sign.
God doesn’t expect people to learn something new over-night - be
prepared to help even if they only display the symptoms of a need for
help - people do need to learn eventually though to ask for help.
Everyone needs God’s help in fact it is God who inspires those who do
their best and who keep faith and keep trying. This can be seen in
the fact that those who work for peace share a lot in common in the
ideas they use to bring about peace.
Prayer - this is VERY IMPORTANT - God is not just trying to save the
world he is also trying to save the individual. Prayer gives you the
grace not to sin and to do good. You are never alone with God : - )
V. Caution / Risks
Some people abuse what you help them with or with things you tolerate
from them - develop a level of space between you for a short while
but do not be hostile.
Know that you do not have all the answers and cannot take on every
problem at once.
Sometimes you should not race in to assuming you have solved a
problem completely and provide a word of caution, however you must
show compassion and do your best for those who are suffering.
Do not do everything at once - you need to build a constant flow for
reconciliation to work and last - spread things out.
Take a risk if you know you must; but realize that peace does not
come overnight and “play it by ear“ [learning as you go and
implementing what you learn as you learn it]
War is always wrong as are trade sanctions. Trade with a country is a
way to achieve peace.
Hope means trying when things are not looking positive God ties
together all the threads of your efforts and eventually if you
persevere and pray you will succeed.
Do not worry - worry is a destructive thing; combine this with a fear
and love of God
Pay attention when someone is upset and allow them to say what they
would like to say without criticism
Sometimes the best way to diffuse a situation is not to react at all
when someone says something negative.
GOD BLESS
Created By: PAUL ARMSTRONG