The purpose of this website is to inform citizens in the Low Country of South Carolina of opportunities for coming together to encourage and support one another in promoting nonviolence and peace in every aspect of our lives. The Peace Book says it best:
WHAT IS PEACE?
Peace is more than the absence of war, violence, or conflict, though that is an important first step. Peace is a presence—the presence of connection. Inner peace is about connection with our true and natural self and a sense of being part of something larger. This connection gives rise to serenity, balance, and a feeling of well-being.
Peace with others is about our connection with the open heart, through which we remember our shared humanness. This brings us to the practice of conflict resolution, forgiveness, and reconciliation.
Peace in our communities and in the world requires a connection to respect for our multiple differences, and for the right of all people to justice, freedom, and dignity. This leads to trust, community, and co-existence.
Peace is a state of mind and a path of action. It is a concept, a goal, an experience, a path. Peace is an ideal. It is both intangible and concrete, complex and simple, exciting and calming. Peace is personal and political; it is spiritual and practical, local and global. It is a process and an outcome, and above all a way of being.
Ultimately, peace is about the quality of our relationships—with ourselves and with others. How can we live together, in the smallest individual and family units and in the largest networks of peoples and nations, in ways that honor who we are as dignified human beings?
The best place to find encouragement for peacebuilding is in small groups. In these pages you will discover where to locate a small group, or start one yourself. You will also learn why it is so urgent. Best of all, you will learn why and how becoming an active Peacebuilder will lift your spirits and improve your health. Really.
The Power of Groups
Joanna Macy, author of Coming Back to Life: Practices to Reconnect Our Lives, Our World, conducts workshops around the world bringing people together to recognize--truly get in touch with-- the depths of their pain and despair over the violence in our world. She says it’s equally important to express those feelings to one another. Go to: Get Empowered.
This is how we become empowered to resist (peacefully) the powers that be. Simply by sharing in small groups we develop the capacity to join with others to change society. I see this happen in the meetings I attend of various peace groups in our area. It’s thrilling to watch members of these groups move from isolation to solidarity. If you want advice on how to form and manage a group visit my professional website at www.dwightfee.com.
Choosing Peace
The issue of peace and nonviolence is present in every aspect of our lives: in terms of inner peace, peace in our families, as a community, as a nation and around the world. Every moment, in any relationship, we are choosing between violence and peace. As someone said: we operate either from fear or love.
Welcome to this gateway for finding or creating a Peacebuilding group where you live.
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Peace Now,
Dwight Fee
Murrells Inlet
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