“Nations plan for war but do not plan for peace. All wars must end but war has never restored nations to peace.”
About this Blog
P2 Planning For Peace seeks to gather a community of persons concerned with planning for sustainable peace and who desire to help us create this capability in the near future.
For our purposes here, we define sustainable peace as a state of personal and social empowerment that refrains from the use of violence to resolve conflict. This requires sound planning. The presence in the community of an executable plan gives people purpose and focus for their lives lived together. In this regard, a well thought out plan reduces social anxiety, minimizes fear, and opens people up to the possibilities of the future together.
To embrace the possibilities of “a future lived together” means that people must take ownership in the plan. Ownership happens when the community develops a spirit of unconditional commitment to one another and engages in the planning process. Such commitment ensures that groups are never disowned, never rejected, never despised. In this way, planning for peace is a spiritual discipline first and foremost providing the foundation upon which to build the flow of goods and services that sustain life.
The purpose of this blog is to open up a forum whereby the larger community can reflectively engage in the discovery of this process and help us explore how to create the language and tools to measure the rule sets used to guide planning effectiveness. These rule sets are based upon the overarching principles of Just Peace.
Please participate in this important conversation by clicking the blog section (either by category or by individual posting), reading and sharing your thoughts …
About P2-Planning for Peace
Mission Today—Our mission is to develop tools for peace planning, further the discipline of peace planning, and to plan for peace in parallel with and/or complementary to war planning.
John Fair – President
Reverend John Fair is a former US Air Force fighter pilot who took early retirement to answer the call to ordained ministry in The United Methodist Church. He has served three churches and is now serving as President, P2, Planning for Peace—his life-long vocation of discovering the true meaning of peace. Fair grew up during the cold war and the fear of annihilation. Under the tutelage of TV archetypes such as the Lone Ranger and others, he was taught to embrace a form of retributive violence still believed today as being restorative. He learned that this is false….that wars never result in peace. Reverend Fair believes that planning for peace can be accomplished through the lens of Just Peacemaking—a spiritual disciplined approach.For more information please visit our website at: http://www.p2-planningforpeace.com
December 13, 2007 at 2:52 pm |
John,
This blog message is beautifully worded, especially the last paragraph in which you describe your personal journey. It is inspirational–because it is true.
I want to help and be a part of bringing this vision into manifest form. We are at a crossroads in the history of humankind. You have set out the road I have faith we can all take together.
I pray your efforts will be frutiful in our own time.
Sylvia Clute