On Building Peace ...

Words from Bob Luitweiler, founder of Servas Open Doors:

"We don’t have to become saints. While still retaining our natural passions - sometimes angry, sometimes loving - we can build a peaceful society. The view of those pacifists who think that a truly peaceful society has no conflicts is a mirage. Only dead things have no conflict. Living, vital societies constantly change like growing trees in the forest that ever struggle for growing space in their roots and between their branches. So too do dynamic societies have frequent conflicts. The difference between peaceful and violent societies is in the way they resolve their conflicts. When justice and respect are the basis of a settlement, then - and only then, are they on the way to a durable peace."