There are moments when the world feels charged with conflict- when power is met with power, and harm is answered with more harm. In those moments, it can seem as though force is the only language being spoken.
But experience teaches us something quieter and truer:
Two wrongs do not make a right. They only deepen the wound.
When retaliation becomes the response, suffering spreads outward – touching families, communities, and futures we may never see. The cost of escalation is almost always paid by those with the least voice.
Here on the Prayer Porch, we choose to pause rather than react. We acknowledge the fear, grief, and anger that naturally rise but we do not let them drive the next step. Peace does not mean agreement, and it does not mean ignoring injustice. It means refusing to answer harm with more harm.
Peace asks us to slow down.
To remember shared humanity.
To choose restraint in a world that rewards force.
This choice is not weakness. It is moral courage. It is the steady belief that dignity matters, even in disagreement. That wisdom grows in stillness. That healing cannot be rushed or coerced.
When the world escalates, choosing peace becomes a quiet act of resistance – one that begins within us and moves outward, step by step.
Where might you be invited today to respond with pause, compassion, or restraint instead of reaction?
May we be guided by wisdom rather than fear, by compassion rather than vengeance. May our words, choices, and actions contribute to healing rather than harm and may peace take root first within us. 🤍
The Prayer Porch 