The Light of Hope in the Darkness of Winter

mhajieva
Jan 16
3 min read

The hope of peace, emerging in a tense situation, reflects like a fleeting sunlight in the darkness of the Lithuanian winter. I would like to refer to a story that I mentioned in one of my previous works. (Last Call for Justice: What Is It Like to Be a Man?).

The Sun and The Wind

Once, the Wind began boasting in front of the Sun:

— I am stronger than you. Look, if I want, I can make this old man take off his coat.

The Wind said this and started to blow. Then it turned into a storm. But instead of taking off his coat, the old man held it tighter around himself. The Sun smiled and said:

— You couldn’t do it.

Then The Sun came out from behind the clouds where it was hiding. With a single smile, it warmed everything. The old man took off his coat and began walking happily. The Sun’s final words to the Wind were:

— Remember, love is always superior to brute force; what you can’t achieve with strength, you can accomplish with love...

"Love" in this example can also be understood as mercy, politeness, tenderness, etc. in contrast to violent approach of The Wind.

"Frozen beauty of Greenland" by Milan Chudoba

Peace Begins with a Smile (Mother Teresa)

Life is not always as complicated as it seems. Sometimes, one can simply:

Be just as existence is possible;
Forgive without reason, or aim;
Simplify coexisting together.

Concepts of Peace in Conflictology

The concepts of negative and positive peace are important in the field of conflict resolution.

Negative Peace refers to the absence of direct violence or war, but without addressing the root causes of conflict. An example: a ceasefire or truce.

Positive Peace involves the presence of justice, equality, and conditions for harmonious coexistence, which eliminate the underlying causes of conflict.

The distinction between positive and negative peace is important for understanding that negative peace only halts violence, while positive peace addresses the causes of conflict, ensuring long-term stability of peace.

To recall the feeling of peace, one can also pay attention to concepts such as:

Compassion sympathetic consciousness of others' distress together with a desire to alleviate it
Sympathy an affinity, association, or relationship between persons or things wherein whatever affects one similarly affects the other mutual or parallel susceptibility or a condition brought about by it
Mutual Understanding sympathy of each person for the other
Care painstaking or watchful attention
Support to endure bravely or quietly to provide a basis for the existence or subsistence of
Mercy a blessing that is an act of divine favor or compassion compassionate treatment of those in distress
Empathy the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another
Solidarity unity (as of a group or class) that produces or is based on community of interests, objectives, and standards
Agreement harmony of opinion, action, or character
Unanimity the quality or state of being unanimous
Harmony internal calm.

We, in one way or another, participate in each other's lives. Since we spend some time together, it’s important to notice that this interconnectedness touches all aspects. It is not necessary to know the chronology of a person’s life or have evidence to believe that before us stands a living person with the same potential for life as our own. Their state, in one way or another, touches and affects us.

Stay in peace!