Peace (My 100th post. Woohoo!!)

The blaring of sirens woke me up again.

My first thought was: Damn I could use a bit of peace!

My second though was: What exactly IS peace anyway?

Time for a new quest!!

I went to my neighbor, who has an answer for everything. He and his wife were shouting at each other.

Did not seem a good time to ask.

I went to the local bar. They might know. “What is peace” I asked? Just as someone was about to answer, there was a particularly vicious tackle in the game on the screen. The bar went wild.

Maybe I should look elsewhere.

I passed a place of worship. Some beautiful singing came from inside. I took a peek. Smiles on faces. Multiple voices joined in song. A good message being taught. Could this be it?

As I left, I noticed the sign in front. It said “Join our fundraiser to support our soldiers.”

Not quite there yet.

I went to the park and sat on a bench. Birds were singing everywhere. A cool breeze. No city noises. The few people I saw seemed content. Some kids were playing off in the distance. Could this be it?

The kids were playing with toy guns.

Maybe not.

I was starting to wonder if there was such a thing. Maybe humans simply don’t know how. I went home and turned on the TV. Not that I expected to find any there.

Sports that embrace violence. Crime shows. “Reality” shows that embrace conflict. Even the comedies thrived on it.

Can peace actually exist?

Suddenly a news report caught my attention. It was a war-torn country. The focus of the report was soldiers, “fighting for peace”. But in the background, I recognized a face. It was my friendly neighborhood Wise Man. He handed a flower to a child, and looked at him encouragingly. He then gave the child a little push. The child went to a soldier and gave him the flower. And smiled.

And then the wise-man looked at me directly through the TV screen and said: “This too is a choice.”

Ah. The answer.

I choose peace.

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