So far we have talked about our aim – addressing the question, “What is everything?” – and about how we address it in three areas – how we can live in Communities, how we can live as Individuals, and how we can work together in Organizations..
The Eutopia Book is divided into three sections, addressing each of these three areas.
The Community section itself has, for now, three main sections:
Purpose and Place
How God’s purpose for us is lived out – not just in our minds or in interior spiritual activities – but in specific rocks and sticks and dirt places, among flesh and blood people, here and now.
Violence or Peace
How God’s purpose comes to us through shalom, peace; how the ways of violence run so deep and so broadly; that they cannot accomplish God’s purpose for us; and how we can give ourselves and our living completely to the ways of shalom, peace.
Community Focus Areas
How the work of building up shalom in a community follows a widely consistent pattern; and how we can work in that pattern to everyone’s benefit.
I wrote Violence or Peace about 5 years ago using my favorite writer’s name – Urstoff Love – with no idea who would want to read it (other than “everyone”).
The few friends who did read it gave no noticeable response.
One friend (who expressed polite – but possibly genuine – interest in it) pointed out that I did not include my definition of violence.
Oops.
My definitions, John:
Force: applying strength intended to cause a situation or outcome in someone’s life which they did not choose.
Strength: an ability to cause change.
Violence: force that causes harm.
Harm: loss of the good.
The good: See The Eutopia Book, which addresses the questions – What is Everything? What is true? What is good? How should we live? 🙂
This is a moment (2020) where everybody seems to be making statements about . . . this moment.
This work – Violence or Peace – was written five years before this moment. Nobody heard it then. Maybe a few people will hear it now. If not, it will be around for the next crisis, too.
It is a long piece of writing because building up peace and displacing violence is a long work.
The most important actions we take, I believe, are the actions between crises, the things we do because we believe they are true and important, the things that don’t just address the most recent crisis but that work against the next one.
Violence or Peace addresses what police do, what we do as individuals in our communities, what we do at the places where we work to earn our living – to reduce violence and build peace.
We can’t build peace through violence.
Violence is cheap and easy compared to the precious work of building peace.
Starting next week we will make weekly posts from Violence or Peace for the time being.
See you then, I hope.
This week’s photo: a portrait of a young pepper plant in blossom, from Living City Farms, a member of Good Place Holdings. Insta: living.city.farms