A Muse About Peace

When I think about Peace, I recall this poem that my Grade 5 Teacher, Hattie Pritchard, instructed her class to memorize. Hattie was convinced that our learning paths included memory work and so she had us memorize every poem in our reader and recite by rote in front of the class.

She may have had something there, as I developed my brain to find ways to achieve that. Walking about, herding the cattle on green grass was my responsibility in the family. And so I would take my reader and memorize while the cows stared at me strangely as I recited those poems.

So it was with this poem about some “guy” who “…..Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace…” and that is the starting theme for this discourse.

“…….Abou Ben Adhem (may his tribe increase!) Awoke one night from a deep dream of peace And saw, within the moonlight in his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, An angel writing in a book of gold:— Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold, And to the Presence in the room he said “What writest thou?”—The vision raised its head, And with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered “The names of those who love the Lord.” “And is mine one?” said Abou. “Nay, not so,” Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still, and said “I pray thee, then, Write me as one that loves his fellow men.” The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again with a great wakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blessed, And lo! Ben Adhem’s name led all the rest. Anonymous Submission……”

As I read more books and became interested in history, I soon realized that much of history was about who was fighting who and then after a war, they would find that all was for naught and peace was always there in their home.

That Knight that went on one of the Crusades, tried to recover the Holy Grail. After many years abroad, he tiredly returned to his Castle. There on the entrance was the image of the Holy Grail.

I, too, dream of Peace in my family, my home, my community, my country, as the first step.Then followed by the entire World. I have realized that Peace can only be achieved if one starts to make peace with oneself. It will continue then, that peace can be more easily achieved with your soul-mate and your family, once that first mission is accomplished: Peace within Oneself!

It is my position on this subject of Peace, that I cannot promote Peace until I have found Peace within myself and my immediate family. In my meditation moments, I became convinced that most of the reasons for conflict starts with the basics:

• Food

• Shelter

• Clothing

• Health Once the basics are met then the human mind starts to desire more:

• Wealth • Position

• Possessions

• Property

Then along comes greed which requires more than your neighbors or at least something better.

So now let’s get back to “Abou Ben Adhem”. My brief research describes this man was born a king in the Muslim community. He later renounced his aristocracy and expanded his understandings with a spiritual leader, a Christian Monk Simeon. (Those that wish to follow up on this can find considerable background information on the Internet).

So my reference to Abou Ben Adhem is that it appears his spiritual enlightment, and search for Peace made him known for his honesty and simple life. In fact, he ground corn to make a living.

Today, some 1,700 years later, Abou Ben Adlem’s message is still being recounted. What he did not do:

• Fight a war for Peace • He did not “march” for Peace

• He did not petition for Peace

He simply lived in Peace with his neighbors! This is what I have been striving for. I help my community with my skills to create comfort wherever we can as a collective group. We do not ask for gratitude but our satisfaction is knowing more people can access services and that they can be more comfortable. Realizing this as our role, is more satisfying than having that financial wealth and political position.

I will have more to say on this in the future but I will throw this out to my Readers and see what they may have to say. A constructive dialogue may assist us all in understanding each other.

Elmer’s writings dated December 01, 2014