I the Peacemaker~ Guest Writer Melissa Mosby

At a time when there is so much talk about the need for peace (and much focus on the lack

thereof), I’ve been thinking about how to sow peace in my own corner of the planet. I don’t just

mean the country, city, community or neighborhood I live in—I mean the literal space I inhabit:

my personal experience.

Most of the people alive today were brought up on a level of consciousness that we humans

are subordinate to some greater authority. That we are fundamentally in need of saving

because we are not OK as we are.

Whether we have been waiting on a god, a parent, partner, guru, expert, child (and on and on)

to lead us to some kind of redemption, most of us have been taught that ultimate power,

goodness and authority lie outside of us. Only recently have more people been waking up to

the realization that that ultimate power, goodness and authority actually lie deep within each

one of us.

Deep doesn’t have to mean inaccessible, although it can certainly seem that way. For

those of

us who grew up in highly controlled cultures—perhaps dominated by stringent religious,

political, familial or socioeconomic forces—the truth of who we are can be buried quite a

ways

down.

But what I really mean is that power,

goodness and I prefer sovereignty over

authority are a

core part of us. So deep within as to be

incorruptible, irreducible and innate in every

human. I

have witnessed a miraculous amount of

goodness flowing forth from “ordinary

people" who are

not even trying to change the world. Yet they

are! Our power is mighty and divine because

our

Source is so. And we have far too much

capability to change the world around us to be

waiting

on someone else to change it for us.

When that light bulb finally came on for me—the realization that I am the peace I’ve been

crying out for—I became infinitely more hopeful about the future. Not to mention a great deal

more peaceful in the present.

Why? Because I have demonstrated a tremendous capacity to evolve in my lifetime, which is

the only thing I have any control over: my personal experience. So I use and build and stoke

that power to change (to incredible effect!). Furthermore, if I can grow, so can others. I have

seen it happen in response to my own shifting, and it’s beautiful to behold. When I meet people

with love, they have the invitation to respond differently than if I meet them with judgment,

criticism and preconceived notions.

But changing others isn’t my focus because again, my point of power lies in my experience in

this now moment. What a more peaceful moment it is to inhabit. What a more peaceful world it

has created for me.

Please share your own thoughts and personal peacemaking efforts in the comments. I’m

always inspired to hear how people are sparking change in their own corners of the

world.

My name is Melissa, and I’m a seeker of meaning. I have always taken mental notes of what I

observe and experience, but recently I’ve begun writing them in public forums. Joanie has

encouraged me to do so, and it’s been an incredibly healing experience. The fact that she exists

and is sowing such goodness in her world is another reason I’m so hopeful for peacemaking

everywhere!

To read further about individual efforts we can take toward peace, check out this Substack

article entitled Pathways to Peace / Part 1. To read other pieces focused on self-reclamation

and the goodness within, you can visit my Substack home, 127 Reclamation Way.

If you’re interested in thought blurbs and quotes that center on being self-led, I invite you to

explore @thine_own_shepherd on Instagram.