World Peace Begins Closer Than We Think
There are days, maybe you've had one recently, when the state of the world feels like a direct challenge to my spiritual principles.
I read the news. I scroll my phone. I listen to people speak with certainty, volume, and outrage.
And if I'm being honest, there are moments when “peace on earth” feels less like a living reality and more like a fragile wish whispered into a very loud room.
The Daily Word for this Sunday gently interrupts that discouragement: “With God all things are possible.” Not as wishful thinking, but as a declaration of faith. A remembering. A return.
Still, faith doesn't mean pretending things aren't broken.
As a spiritual leader, and simply as a human being, I feel the tension between peace and justice. Unity teaches us that all people are divine beings, expressions of God, endowed with spiritual gifts. And it also teaches us that Truth is not passive. Love does not mean silence. Peace does not mean bypassing pain.
Justice matters because people matter.
And yet, the way justice is often discussed today can feel anything but peaceful. The energy is sharp. The language is extreme. The emotional charge is relentless. It's no wonder so many of us feel exhausted, discouraged, or quietly overwhelmed.
Part of that exhaustion, I believe, comes from how we consume the world.
Social media has a way of hijacking our nervous systems. It trains our brains to crave the next hit of outrage, affirmation, or fear. Each scroll promises clarity but often delivers more chaos. What starts as staying informed can slowly become spiritual dysregulation.
We don't just see the world's pain, we absorb it, unfiltered, unprocessed, and constant.
And then we wonder why peace feels elusive.
Unity reminds us that peace is not something we wait for, it's something we practice.
Something we embody. The Daily Word says, “Through the power of God within us, we are creating the peace we wish to see.”
That means world peace doesn't begin with fixing everyone else.
It begins with tending our own consciousness.
It begins when I notice how quickly I react.
When I choose to pause instead of pounce.
When I refuse to let my spiritual life be shaped by algorithms designed to keep me activated rather than awakened.
Peace does not mean disengagement. It means discernment.
It means asking: What am I feeding my mind? What am I rehearsing in my heart? What am I amplifying with my attention?
Standing for justice while remaining rooted in peace is one of the great spiritual practices of our time. It requires courage, humility, and a deep trust that God is not absent from the mess of the world, but active within us, calling forth wisdom, compassion, and right action.
The verse included in the Daily Word reading says that peace was proclaimed “to those who were far off and to those who were near.” That tells me peace isn't reserved for the enlightened, the calm, or the already-centered. It's for all of us, especially when we feel far from it.
So today, I'm practicing peace in smaller, truer ways.
Logging off sooner. Breathing deeper. Listening longer. Speaking with intention.
World peace doesn't begin on a global stage.
It begins in human hearts willing to choose love again, especially when it would be easier not to.
And that choice? It's available right here. Right now. And always
Join us this Sunday as Rev. Dr. Gerry Boylan shares his talk, “And, Let It Begin With Me.”
In love, light, and peace, Rev. Bobby
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