For there to be peace in the world, there first has to be peace in our hearts and minds. With war, famine, disease, poverty, corruption and polarised political differences being rife, world peace could seem an impossible goal. Yet there is something that we all can do to make a significant contribution wherever we are. Whilst we may have little or no control over world events, we have influence over what happens in our own minds, lives, families and communities. Whatever change we wish to see in our world requires us to embody it. So, if we want more peace we need to be more peaceful; if we want more love, then more loving etc.
Our thoughts give rise to our words and actions therefore we need to pay attention to what is going on in our minds. We also need to be aware of what we fill our minds with. In these days of endless news feeds, television and social media it is easy for us to lend a false authenticity to what we choose to listen to as being a true account of an event or the actions of world leaders, politicians, the rich and powerful. However, everything we read and hear is someone’s opinion. The problem is that if we accept such accounts at face value, we are likely to repeat them. It is so easy, particularly when we are in conversation, to agree with statements which are negative or of uncertain origin, and to repeat them. We may have no other frames of reference as to their ‘truth’.
Jesus said, ‘The mouth speaks what the heart is full of’. We can thus discern from the conversation of others something of the content of their hearts. More importantly, we can become aware of our own hearts through self examination and attention to our thoughts which give rise to the words that we speak.
True peace is not something that can be fought for or won. It is a state of being, an inner sense of wellbeing and benevolence towards others, including those with whom we may disagree. In order to pray authentically for peace, I believe it is necessary to adopt a position of neutrality. If we judge or condemn another (be it an individual, a group or a country) we risk losing our own inner peace. If we truly believe that the God in us serves the God in others we cannot take sides. The suffering of one is no less than that of the other, (no matter how it appears to us) and therefore we cannot wish one side to prevail over the other. We need the inner freedom to desire peace, love and healing for all, whether in local, national or international conflict or in our daily lives. Otherwise all that is achieved is a standoff. True peace is not simply a cessation of violence, rather it is the setting aside of grievances and the coming together of both sides with a mutual desire to live in harmony, to offer and receive forgiveness, e.g. the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in post apartheid South Africa. The extent of our openness to being non judgemental, loving, peaceful and forgiving in our daily lives determines whether we are part of the solution or part of the problem.
At this time of year as we come towards lent, instead of, (or perhaps, as well as), foregoing something that we enjoy, we could address the deeper transformation of our minds which the apostle Paul spoke of to the Roman church when he said, ‘Do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds’. Through a process of self examination we might seek to abstain from judgement and criticism, and temper our political and ideological preferences. We could address our leanings toward negativity and seek to be positive and encouraging in our speech. We could be attentive to our thoughts and words, the ways in which we nourish our minds and be mindful of what comes in through our eyes and ears via the media, what we read; our political, religious, ideological and social affiliations. We could, in fact, begin to, fast for peace.
© K Marsh 10 February 2026
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