It Is Possible to Live in Peace

I sit in my study this afternoon.  On this late June day, the sun beats down, raising the island’s temperatures to 95+ degrees. The air is heavy with moisture. The heat is enervating. Irritability rises. Tempers flair.  The beach traffic is a snarl. Angry words and gestures fly as even the most mundane tasks become a challenge for people unaccustomed to waiting in line.  I’m thankful for this air-conditioned corner in my bedroom.  

As I browse through a newly acquired hymnal from the Unitarian Church in town, I find some words from Ghandi shaped into a responsive reading to be used in worship.  The Mahatma’s words reach into the heat and humidity and bring me to center:

If someone with courage and vision                                                   

Can rise to lead in nonviolent action,

The winter of despair can,

In the twinkling of an eye, be turned

Into the summer of hope.

It is possible to live in peace.

Nonviolence is not a garment to

Put on and off at will.  Its seat is in the

Heart, and it must be an inseparable 

Part of our being.

It is possible to live in peace.

Nonviolence, which is a quality of 

the heart, cannot come by an appeal

to the brain.  It is a plant of slow

growth, growing imperceptibly, but

surely.

It is possible to live in peace.                                                                       

If a single person achieves the highest

Kind of love it will be sufficient

To neutralize the hate of millions.

It is possible to live in peace.

If we are to reach real peace in this 

World, and if we are to carry on a 

Real war against war, we shall have

 to begin with the children.

It is possible to live in peace.

The future depends

 on what we do in the present.

It is possible to live in peace.

-Mohandas K. Ghandi 

Vicky Hanjian