Reclaiming The Peace.
“To understand history is to avoid the mistakes of the past”
Because Peace has many mansions and comes in many different forms, first of all, what is ‘the peace’ to you?
The Peace in general terms might be described as the space society creates by the mode of that society’s operation. The Peace is what binds a society together allowing it to function as one entity. The social contract, the covenant or the space under the law that allows society to function as one. It is ‘the what’ that makes community function as one entity.
The peace is the structuring factors that hold and bind us all together operationally as one. Not only a functioning economy, but more the entirety of the civility of a community, family, organisation, religion or state. The Peace is an environment crafted in constitution. The Peace is the realm that is formed under the administration of governance. It’s the way we run things. The way things work. The way it is.
The Peace is the functioning space, the what’s going on in the arena of life created under the law and how it is ordered. Some might call it the Rat-Race others the Jungle of Humanity others The Daily Grind even others Aussie Life.
The peace comes as a hand me down of ‘The King’s Peace’, which was to be a living interpretation of ‘His Peace,’ a representation of His Kingdom Come alive and thriving here on Earth under Divine Guidance. The King’s Peace has become the People’s Peace under common law.
Ancient Rome under Caesar called it Pax. Pax became the Peace. Pax Romana was the enforced peace of Caesar. Caesar wasn’t the first or the last to establish Pax. Scripture suggests that God was the first to establish Pax or ‘the peace’ in the paradise garden as is recorded in the first and last couple of chapters of the Bible. Even a Kingdom of Peace. And as that story goes, a kingdom under threat, Abraham was wired in backing God’s Peace all the way to Solomon (Solomon means Salem, Salem means Peace) and from Solomon to Christ, King of Peace, until now. Jesus was blessed as King of Peace as in the order of Melchisedec.
We all operate under some form of Pax be it the family home, our nation or civilisation, geo-political stance, religion, creed, organisation or club. Sometimes urban gangs, organised crime syndicates or terrorist thugs. Anything under administration or governance has pax. Pax is the reason for governance, to produce the peace or the operating space for People to operate in. The Peace is the operational space created under the law of the dominant or hegemonic power of the time.
The Peace or Pax is the installation of order by the rule of law supported or backed up by a power greater than ourselves. Hegemonic powers tend to want to take their laws global or at the least, they claim that their territory is the world. The world to which they command is considered by them to be what is generally known as ‘The World’. The world becomes their Pearl.
There are many examples over the history of time that demonstrate the pax of hegemonic powers, including Pax Mafioso, Pax Ottomania, Pax Sovietica, Pax Sinica and Pax Mayan. It is Pax Romana that was hooked up with ‘the peace’ of Church Doctrine, leaving a Pax lineage as a legacy and lesson in world rule, hegemonic power, and a road well-travelled all the way up until today.
Yet today we stand at a cross-road in time yet again, a cornerstone moment in human history in many different ways. We stand at the cross-road regarding many frontiers including climatic, environmental, digital communication, AI surveillance, our scientific reach out into the universe as well as into its inner depths, or the medical marvels reaching far inside and under our human skin and minds or even now yet again presented with new and fantastically different modes of human transport and an amazing new global life on electrified Earth.
Peace too is also at a cornerstone. It is today that we need to decide to move on with collaborative peace by mutual benefit or fall back yet again into the pains of yesterday and get even more mighted up preparing for war. The ‘People’s Peace’ is so close to Humanity grasping, installing and then finally establishing such a human peace forevermore. Peace by peace rather than peace by war is the final piece of the puzzle in the mosaic of human conflict resolution.
Will Pax Australiana move forward regarding Indigenous Affairs, offering inclusion on the flag and becoming tax exempt for 200 years or bring in ‘the force’ to protect ‘the peace’ yet again and still not pay the rent. Will America, the greatest power the world has ever seen come to her bridal senses and comprehend once again that greatness comes through serving and so be moved to come back to the collaboration of all humankind under the auspice of our collectively created UN? Lest we all entirely forget the mistakes of our combined Human past and return to the vomit of war yet again.
To understand history is to avoid the mistakes of the past. So we can see Pax Romana in Pax Pontifica, Pax Britannica and currently we see and experience Pax Americana. Caesar’s law became Canon law became the Kings law became the People’s law. Collectively and altogether covering a time span of over 2000 years and all have favoured the same mode of operation, Peace by Strength. All four have relied on having superior military might to capture and maintain hegemonic power and all four hegemonic powers have placed their destiny of sustainability in the military doctrine that says “if you want peace prepare for war.” So how can a house of Peace be built on the footings of war?
Can a house divided stand? No, it can’t, so how can Peace be upheld by war? How can ‘the peace’ be upheld in violence? There must be a better way, a more sustainable and civilised way to maintaining Pax than upholding Peace by violent means. And there is, Pax Beneficia, the mutual benefits of a united Peace. There’s more prosperity in the mutual benefits of friendship than having enemies developing war. Meaning, peace by mutual benefit is different to peace by force or harm.
There is a better way to peace than the traditional road to war that we have been travelling along for the past 2000 years that most suppose as the road of Peace and Goodwill, but can preparing for war rather than mutual benefits, actually be the road or way of Peace and Goodwill, or in all truth and honesty are we travelling the path of war and instability and mistaking it for the way of Peace?
We could say that the traditional Pax is different from a Mutual Peace in the sense that Pax is driven by the fear of harm as a means to keeping and expanding “the peace” whereas a Mutual Peace is driven by the benefits of kindness and joint ventures to keep and expand ‘the peace’. Peace is inspired. Pax is enforced. Enforced law for order, or juxtaposed, Community Spirit for order.
PAX ORBIS or World Peace is found one way or the other. It is either prepare for war Pax or share the mutual benefits, Peace. Humanity needs to decide. So certainly we can say that PAX is different to Peace. PAX is Julius Caesar, by power and might. And Peace is by collaboration and education and the power and might of our vote. From a New Testament perspective, of Jesus Christ by grace and kindness. A Humanitarian viewpoint might reflect ‘the peace’ as stemming from the collective authority of the United Nations and the global covenant to Human Rights.
Pax is about territory and money. Peace on the other hand is about hearts and minds, meaning People. Pax has might and punishment. Peace has forgiveness and education. PAX is enforced. Peace spreads. PAX is the greater good of one trickling down to all. Peace is the greater good, good for all. PAX is controlling. Peace is encouraging. PAX is ordered by rules. Peace is ordered by Spirited Conscience.
PAX says if you want peace prepare for war. Peace says if you want peace, love your enemy, share the good news of the benefits of uniting in Peace together. PAX acts like a mighty tree. Peace spreads out like grass. PAX is life unto the death. Peace is life eternal. PAX thinks because it declares things right it is a god. Peace wants and serves better. PAX carries a gun. Peace shares in kindness. Pax punishes. Peace coaches. Pax is by demand. Peace is in collaboration.
Without the lesson of history it is difficult to comprehend why Humanity is still enforcing law with a justification of old, that in 2020 in some jurisdictions some judiciaries would still be leaning on the barbaric philosophy of old, that says we will learn obedience by the things that we suffer, which has become today’s common practice of punishment instead of correction. Justice is about never again, more so, than seeing a perpetrator punished for the glee of the masses. That is not seeing justice being done. It is retribution. So still to this day we hurt People to teach them a lesson rather than spending the time to coach People into a better space.
Can you believe that in 2020 some states would still kill their own citizens to teach that person and their populous a lesson? Ancient Barbaric Barbarism that is still reaching into and impacting negatively our Modernity of Peace that Humanity collaborated after the end of the last world war that was negotiated to prevent the horrors of a world engaging in war ever happening again.
Learning obedience by the things that we suffer is violence breeding more violence and though it might be a traditional and convenient way of dealing with anti-social behaviours the message it sends out into all the universe is that violence is ok to use in the correction of someone who breaks the rules, and therefore breaking ‘the peace.’ And often unfortunately that twisted message gets picked up both in business, and the family home, where some are still ruled by fear.
Rules will always be broken so it becomes a matter of what do we do when People break covenant with the peace that the rules have structured? Do we correct the person or the behaviour? We educate and thus correct because when People know a better way to go than that’s the way they will go because the better way is easily adopted and produces better results and often very much more convenient to time, effort or price. It is example that is the great educator yet we still teach by causing harm, like some beast under the law of the jungle.
It is what we believe to be true that determines how we will act and what we will do. What we believe determines our behaviour and so to correct a behaviour first an education needs to occur to truly correct. What is required is an alteration in the belief or thinking that is held, that allowed or drives any unwelcome behaviours, replacing the old with the new.
We learn best by example not by harm. This being so reminds us that not only are we responsible for the consequences of our own actions, it tells us that we are also responsible for that what we believe to be true, that what we take on board that govern our actions, be it personally, nationally or globally. Kindness is a strength not a weakness and harshness is a weakness not a strength.
The two policies, prepare for war and learning obedience by the things that we suffer are the very two policies that are instructing, perpetuating and justifying the authorised use of war and violence. It is crazy to believe that the very things we endeavour to achieve such as freedom, peace, and prosperity for all, can be maintained doing the exact opposite, confine, force and loss.
These two policies, prepare for war and learning obedience by the things that we suffer, are the driving forces behind growing standing armies or at least their capabilities, rather than standing them down as obsolete, or utilized more serving local communities. The capacity race is a madness when better we would be friends and share the benefits. The attitude of don’t mess with me is insane in the light of sharing mutual benefits. It’s the same old thing expecting different results, travelling the same old road of Pax by might.
At times there is a need of having higher aspirations than merely the pursuit of our own personal happiness, and now are these such times, especially highlighted by a pandemic and our global health concerns. Now is the time to become more aware of Pax and how we might genuinely do Peace all-inclusive better together as we all come out from under the cloud of COVID-19 lock-downs.
Jesus said watch meaning be aware. In Daniel 8:25 Daniel the prophet warned against adopting peace by violence, an enforced peace rather than an inspired Peace because many would be harmed. Caesar and the likes will have much to answer for in this regard of upholding prepare for war and learning obedience by the things that we suffer because millions and billions if not all have been harmed in the name of learning the lesson of keeping the peace of a dominant power.
And by the way these two policies cost humanity $20 trillion dollars in 2018 according to the Global Peace Index. Huge sums of money. In fact about $2500 per person per annum. That’s $2500 for every Person on the planet, all 7.5 billion of us. Wow. Currently some wouldn’t even earn that in a year. Awe, how much does Humanity need to rearrange it’s affairs?
Recently a large corporate bank reported that 1% of the globe’s population holds nearly half of the globe’s wealth. This is simply unsustainable for the 75 million People represented by the 1% because it leaves 99% or 7.425 billion People scrambling over the other remaining 50% of global wealth. And average Joe wonders why he can’t get ahead. And that’s before the cost of the mounting climate issue gets a mention of need. Maybe the 75 million might like to consider more the wisdom of Christ spoken in Matthew 16:25, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it,” because history informs us of how cruel unfettered revolution can be toward those who live like kings while their brethren lie in squalor.
For sure our world peace can be, and doing, better. However without facing some of the corrupted truths of the past that are still impacting our futures, how can it be so? How can real and significant change ever take place without a new life perspective or without the dream of a better place for our generations to come.
PAX is a devilish mirage masquerading as the Peace that Jesus wanted us to have and left us with, a divinely guided Human realm in a Spiritual Peace and so it is high time after 2000 years of proclamation Christians actually reclaim His Everlasting Peace by means of peace, grace and kindness from the clutches of Caesar’s trail of brutality and war and thus begin to learn war no more on a global scale, perpetuating a united peace as His Eternal Peace, instead of humanity’s persistence in preparing for war and mighting up in the power of arms.
The Bible says that the way of Peace we have not known but that is not to say that His Peace cannot be found. Seeking first the name of His Kingdom is a great place to start because Peace is the name meaning will and glory of the kingdom of Christ, the kingdom of Jesus Christ, King of Peace. So to find the way of Peace that we have not known we have to find first His Kingdom of Peace and therefore truly know His Peace, instead of the manufactured peace that exists under the order of arms, adopting Caesar’s Pax rather than ‘The Peace’ of God or at least in terms of our modernity ‘The Peace’ of the People so still we remain the same. Peace by arms has kept us bound to warfare rather than welfare for millennia.
A fate much worse than death brought about by a catastrophic and monumental error of judgement resulting in a living perpetuated nightmare where our peace is founded on violence and violence still maintains our world. Our elected governments persist on going down the path of Caesar, which is to say the road to wreck and ruin, persevering preparing for war and teaching lessons by causing harm.
After World War 2 Humanity said never again. Together we built the UN. Having hope for establishing a different world order from the traditional most powerful ruling the world to a world collaboration in global management. The language of that day was that the hegemonic powers of the world would serve together to manage the world for the greater good of all.
The cold war made that very difficult. While the US and Soviets were posturing, China obviously felt vulnerable and rightly so, who wants to live in the crossfire of nuclear war? China grew up real quick and now China rivals both Russian and US in global influence which in turn has left America feeling less supreme and more vulnerable and so powering up all the more which drives Russia all the more and more recently even expanding Russian territory. It figures that if Israel can expand its borders than others will soon want to do the same as well. The last thing Humanity needs is another race for hegemonic power incorporating all of our world. Please never again a world where the man with the biggest gun takes all.
There was a time when slavery was ok. There was a time when some would settle their differences with a gunfight in the middle of the street. There was a time when Women had no vote. There was also a time when we didn’t wear seat belts or have mobile phones or even fly in planes let alone be flying into space. And there will be a time when we learn war no more and finally live and function together as one interconnected diversity.
So moving ‘our peace’ forward, as complex as it may be, change has occurred and continues to evolve. Change has already been done and achieved before and can be realised again by good People standing their ground for better together. Human solidarity carries a lot of weight in our world blending together in travel and combining together in the digitally connected space in which we now find ourselves living life.
Our world needs you and all of us together to stand better together for the Mutual benefits of both Peace and Grace and to stand better together in kindness against the falsities of the death penalty, the preparation for war, and against learning obedience by the things that we suffer. For surely we have all suffered enough. It is high time for the suffering caused at the hand of our fellow human beings came to its end. Our world needs you, needs us all, to focus more on our welfare than our wealth, put Pax further and further behind us, and finish that what was begun from the beginning and reclaim collaboration resting in Peace.
What we need is for all nations to get more transparent in regards to the UN Declaration of Human Rights and start fulfilling better our obligation to see the success of the UN Sustainable Development Goals together, by 3030, and set our future better away from war and closer to the People’s Peace, possibly even a New Testament perspective of His Peace to style a Pax Orbis, when God renames earth Peace, and heaven and earth be as one together in Peace.
Scriptural Reference:
John 14:2, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.”
Genesis 2:15-17, “And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.”
Revelation 2:7, “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.”
Genesis 14:18, “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.”
Hebrews 5:10, “Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.”
John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
Daniel 8:25, “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand.”
Matthew 25:13, “Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh.”
Matthew 12:25, “And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand:”
Ephesians 6:15, “And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;”
Luke 12, “…When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison. “
Matthew 16:25, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.” Revelation 3:12, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.”