To Live
a full Life
The Courage for
Peace: Daring to Create Harmony in Ourselves and
the World,
by Louise Diamond, Conari Press, Berkeley,
CA
Reviewed by Dorothy
Pitts
After two mastectomy
operations at the age of 28 and a near death
experience, Louise Diamond was catapulted into
asking herself how she wanted to be when death
came for her. The answer? Full of joy, full of
love, full of peace, full of life. First turning
to nature for her answers, she realized that
ultimately the critical issue was her
relationship to her own divine and sacred self.
Since that traumatic experience, Diamond has
traveled the world as a peace advocate promoting
conflict resolution.
The Courage for Peace
speaks to us in several voices intended to be
"woven together like the instruments of a
symphony." There is the inspiration of the
Spirit of Peace, the voices of everyday
peacebuilders, Diamond's own personal journey,
and the voice of reflection, as well as
practical exercises to try in our everyday
lives, and a wonderful resource
guide.
This book converts the
phrase "think globally, act locally" into "think
globally, act personally." If we are to have a
world that is truly peaceful, it must begin in
our personal daily lives. Through its inspiring
real-life stories, this book helps turn the
spiritual into the practical. Peace must be
practiced everywhere: in Bosnia and Kosovo, in
Israel and Palestine, between ethnic groups and
races, at local school board meetings, on the
freeway, in our families and relationships, and
in our hearts. Remember the "Hundredth Monkey"
concept? Diamond proposes that the Spirit of
Peace is a great being in another dimension with
our higher selves that is waiting to be called
on by our collective learning.
As one book reviewer,
Dawna Markova, wrote: " . . . we need to place
our hands on this book after watching the
evening news, and breathe deeply." Diamond says,
"Breathing peace, I change the world.
Order this book from Powell's
Independent Bookstore!
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