Day 30 - Just 10 Days to go, and Lots of Learning and Reflection Still to Come
Today for me, was a special reflection as it comes while sharing my daily movement of this 40ks for 40 Days with a close friend, mentor, and the person who motivated me when I was just a teenager to look deeper into Peace and explore ways and possibilities of contributing to peace.
When chatting about our journey so far, things that we've done, places we've been, and people groups we've come across and been inspired by, I asked a question and got the same answer for both of us that was unusually clear and easy for me.
My question was: What did he think, and what do I think can be our single greatest contribution to peace? At this moment, for both of us, although we are at different ages and stages of our lives with children of different ages, the greatest single contribution to peace in our world is by being the best parents we possibly can be.
By nurturing our children and showing unconditional support, space, love, and all the other nutrients for them to be peaceful in themselves and in their world.
By celebrating and cultivating their growth, failures, and challenges and giving them a dig out when it's needed most, and just being there for them, fully present, as a gift to them, to us, and to our world in seek of more peace right now.
We both looked at each other, smiled, and realized that this was the truth, this was not a difficult question at all, and this is a life's worth of a mission ahead. There are some years already in the bag, just like the kilometers already in the bag for this challenge, but plenty more to come, and by sharing this journey, it's going to be a lot more interesting, powerful, and fruitful, no doubt.
My friend's final comment before we moved on to another conversation was: "And it's interesting because it's the most important role, job, or challenge in the world, and we don't receive training or qualifications to do; we just have to learn and reflect as we are doing it."
Shane O'Connor
