I am aware of what’s happening in the Middle East. I am horrified at the atrocities that we commit against our own species, not just in this situation, but in so many wars, holocausts and more throughout history.

This latest series of violent acts in the Middle East has put me in a state of mind questioning if peace on earth will ever occur. Maybe we are not capable of it. Maybe it is the lot of this world to constantly be at war. Then, I stop and I think, what can I do? I surely do not want to live in a world that is based violence? What can I do?

Of course, I can pray and I do. I pray to know peace within myself, and I pray to change my own mind about the world and its wars. Still, I sit here and ask what can I do? Then I think again. There is something I can do. I can, as Mother Teresa would say, “Grow where I am planted.” I can help people to love themselves, because I know that people who love themselves could never hurt another person. Perhaps this seems idealistic and perhaps it looks like I am living in some kind of fairytale, but I believe it is my answer.

Someone recently said to me that we needed to look at peace differently. He said he didn’t think people would ever stop fighting. I don’t believe it. People can evolve through creativity and trying to place something good into the world. The media has tipped the scales toward violence being the norm. As Anne Frank said, amidst the violence that surrounded her,

“In spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart. I simply can’t build up my hopes on a foundation consisting of confusion, misery, and death. I see the world gradually being turned into a wilderness, I hear the ever approaching thunder, which will destroy us too, I can feel the sufferings of millions and yet, if I look up into the heavens, I think that it will all come right, that this cruelty too will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.”

I do look to the heaven within each of us and I believe that the time will come in the world of consciousness where people will put down their weapons and embrace an inner spiritual evolution. Generations come and go and there has always been a group of people who know who they are. Anne Frank was one of those and her voice still sings in our hearts. So was Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Jesus. They didn’t win over the violence in physical world; however, they did not stop believing in it and made a difference by moving toward a peaceful world with their actions.

There is a world where violence doesn’t exist. It is a world of consciousness and I choose to live in that world. I choose to begin there. I will help the fallen and stand up for the weak, but I will not give into the inevitability of a violent world.

We cannot change the world; we can only change ourselves. In doing so, one person at a time, the scales will tip. What can I do? I can pray to see the world in peace. I can add to peace by living the best life I can. I can help those who are here where I am. I can express love and compassion. I can do my very best to live a higher order of thinking in my actions. I can affirm that peace is possible. It might not look the way I think it should look, but it is possible. Perhaps there will always be those who choose war. We are at choice.

I do not have the answers for everyone. I only have my answer. It says, keep on loving. Keep on creating beauty. Keep on helping others to remember who they are. Live the best version of yourself in every moment. Be aware. Be conscious. Keep on believing. Take care of the people who want your help. Teach them to help themselves. Ernest Holmes once wrote, that evil will cease when we cease looking at it and affirming it. This is a thought I contemplate often.

Love and Aloha

Rev. Rita Andriello-Feren, Author, Teacher, Artist and Spiritual Director of Center for Spiritual Living Kaua`i. My books are available on AMAZON.