Essay: War and Peace

War. What is it good for? The song sung by Edwin Starr poses a question to its listeners. Each nation spend countless financial resources for the preparation of a possible war. Although some countries need military power, in order to protect themselves from neighboring nation, it is somewhat amazing to see how much funds we spend on to harm someone.

The investment that we make in the security of our nation is obviously not wrong, but it seems that it would be better to find a better solution. The funds that we use to develop the military could be used for something else, such as social welfare and for technical innovation that would improve our daily lifestyle. It does not mean I do not appreciate our veterans or current soldiers, who sacrifice their lives for the welfare of our nation. However, I think we could find a different solution that would help everyone to enjoy a safe and secure life.

HWPL proposes world peace and end of war. Since the WARP Summit, many people, especially in the religious world, have been making efforts to bring peace and unity in their own communities. And like many philosophers and great thinkers mentioned in their individual writings, peace must be achieved within ourselves. We need to want peace in our heart. Then, a change will happen naturally as we work to find a solution together. Our level of conscience needs to increase in terms of our treatment to our neighbors. This all returns back to the basic teaching of love.

The world is divided into so many different pieces. This does not mean the geographical separation of continents. Luckily there is a limit to how many continents we are divided into. However, we find a way to communicate and to travel to the different continents. Our separation does not stop us from reaching to different parts of the world. However, it seems harder to reach out to one another in terms of spiritual or ideological separation. There have been efforts to achieve ecumenical beliefs among the Christian denomination. However, still in addition to countless denominations of Christianity, from which started from only one man, many other religions exist in the world that claims to believe in the Creator.

We are divided into many nations with ideological differences and inside the individual nation, we are divided in many different ways in terms of values and beliefs on what should be truth. War is not specifically limited to an act to kill or harm someone physically. However, what is it good for? It only brings suffering and division in this small planet (compared to the whole universe) that we call home. Peace is when we start walking in the same direction under one guidance. This guidance comes from heaven. We all claim to have our own answers to truth, however, there is one heaven and one Creator. Thus, there is one answer. Our vision to discover this answer must be the banner that unites us together. We are common in this way, and nothing else matters. Our ego and motivation to seek the answer must not harm someone, who disagrees with us.

We are all walking in the same direction, only in different way. This differences does not matter, because we are eventually all walking in the same direction. The miracle in the WARP Summit 2014 was truly amazing, because even though it was a small number of people compared to the global population, people with different belief and answers agreed to achieve peace together under the Creator. And the spirit of the WARP Summit and the vision of HWPL is being carried out today through the establishment of WARP Offices in different countries of the world.

We invest in arms and weapons in fear of a war. However, if this fear disappears through the peace, imagine how much impact it could make in our individual lives. I hope for that day to come to us soon. The vision of Mr. Man Hee Lee inspired my friends and I to work for peace. We can all become a peace advocate in our community.

~Peace