Let’s embrace a message of peace in South Sudan (Part 2 – 4)
5 min readBy Baak Chan Yak Deng, Wau, South Sudan
Wednesday, March 13, 2019 (PW) — Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life love illuminates it. Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.
Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve a lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
Peace comes from being able to contribute the best that we have, and all that we are, toward creating a world that supports everyone. But it is also securing the space for others to contribute the best that they have and all that they are.
If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner in whatever plan you are doing. If you want to end the war then Instead of sending guns, send books. Instead of sending tanks, send pens. Instead of sending soldiers, send teachers.
Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding: it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.
It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.
To replace the old paradigm of war with a new paradigm of waging peace, we must be pioneers who can push the boundaries of human understanding. We must be doctors who can cure the virus of violence.
We must be soldiers of peace who can do more than preach to the choir. And we must be artists who will make the world our masterpiece. If we are to have peace in South Sudan our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation and this means we must develop a South Sudan perspective.
Peace does not mean an absence of conflicts; differences will always be there. Peace means solving these differences through peaceful means; through dialogue, education, knowledge; and through humane ways. We seek peace, knowing that peace is the climate of freedom.
Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Love is the vital essence that pervades and permeates, from the centre to the circumference, the graduating circles of all thought and action. Love is the talisman of human weal and woe the open sesame to every soul.
Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is a beauty, admire it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is a promise, fulfil it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is life, fight for it. There is a LIGHT in this world. A healing spirit more powerful than any darkness we may encounter. We sometimes lose sight of this force when there are suffering and too much pain.
Then suddenly, the spirit will emerge through the lives of ordinary people who hear a call and answer in extraordinary ways. More than just an end to war, we want an end to the beginnings of all wars. The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
To forgive is the highest, most beautiful form of love. In return, you will receive untold peace and happiness. What kind of peace do we seek? Not a fake Addis Ababa peace enforced on the young nation South Sudan by Foreigners diplomat weapons of war. Not the peace of the grave or the security of the slave.
I am talking about genuine peace that all of you will be proud of, the kind of peace that makes life on earth worth living, the kind that enables men and nations to grow and to hope and to build a better life for their children not merely peace in our time but peace for all time.
Do your little bit of good where you are; it’s those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world. Continue from there next time, please
The author, Baak Chan Yak Deng, is a concern South Sudanese citizen for peace and can be reached via his email: Baak Chan Yak <baakmajook44@gmail.com>
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