The Face of Peace

Right now, the idea of peace is on our hearts and minds, and we’re sure many of yours as well. We yearn for it.

And yet, peace is such a complex word. While most people agree that it is a virtuous word, we obviously do not agree on what it means. Some use it in a blatantly contradictory way to justify war, occupation, and aggression. In that usage, peace is not an unconditional good, but a sort of materialistic transaction that must be earned – often under the threat of force. Others use it in reference to current political tensions as a promotion of civility politics, or an avoidance of political matters altogether – the implication being that peace is a spiritual concept that transcends politics. Not to mention, we are writing to you from Woodstock, where Peace & Love at once carry a sacred revolutionary spirit, as well as the faded vapidity of a bumper sticker afterthought.

“I Ask To See the Face of Peace” was our prayer to go beyond elusive words and definitions. It was an invocation to simply encounter peace in its true form. And thankfully, after a meditative journey, it appeared. At least, a glimpse of it.

The encounter was radical. It felt peaceful – but it was a deep, powerful, and intimidating peace. Like the catharsis of generations of suffering. “You invoked me?” it asked. “Here I am. Is this what you expected?”

It wasn’t. Although the face felt true, like something that had always been there, it was not what we are programmed to see. In that face, there was beauty, kindness, life, death, truth, pain, and healing. It was an ancient and eternal being. And it demanded fearless honesty. 

Contemplating this encounter in the following days, this is what resonated:

Peace is not the stability of a nation state, or a political status quo. It is indeed a spiritual concept (or really, a being) that transcends notions of empires and political parties.

But it is also not forced tranquility. It is not positive vibes. It is not civility. And while it does transcend the mindless hypocritical squabbling of political parties, it does not ignore the sins of exclusion and harm that those political parties cause. It haunts cruelty like an angel of death.

Peace is not to be invoked lightly. It is a radical state of being that can be glimpsed only after a reckoning with cosmic justice, and the staggering implications of our divine connection to one another. It is a guardian of the most vulnerable among us.

Anything else that we call peace is a distortion. A face seen dimly, from a safe distance, where we can contort its features to our own comforts.

That is why we felt led to share this image. In this country, the word peace gets hijacked, exploited, and commodified in endless ways; because the truth is, a genuine devotion to peace would change us, and this country, beyond all recognition. That is what materialists and dogmatists are afraid of. That is why they try to control its meaning.

But now is the time to remember. Now is the time for us to invoke Peace, with bravery and humility. Now is the time for us all to ask to see its true face, and be changed.

No justice, no peace.

Know justice, know peace.

…

Wishing you hope, love, and courage.

– McKenzie & Elliott