Practical Peacemaking Week 2: Individually Finding Peace
Jesus said, “A house divided against itself shall not stand” (Matthew 12:25). This means we must integrate our thoughts, experiences, and actions into a harmonious blend internally. When our actions and beliefs are out of sync with each other, we are essentially divided, or at war with ourselves. As peacemakers, we need to access and cultivate the calm, tranquility, justice, mercy, and connection associated with inner peace before we can expect to create peace in connection with someone else.
There are many real sources of creating inner peace, which largely hinge on the idea of meeting human needs and bringing our souls into balance. We know Jesus Christ’s atonement provides us with the true source of lasting and reliable peace. As an extension of the power of His atonement, we feel blessed to have learned some principles that enhance not only personal peace but a better understanding of the worth of our needs as individual human souls in the family of God. Each of us matters, which means our needs matter to the Lord and to each other.
Defining terms
“Nonviolent communication” is a communication style developed by Dr. Marshall Rosenberg. In nonviolent communication, Dr. Rosenberg lays out principles of communication that allow each of us to understand, accept, and advocate effectively to meet our own needs and to learn how to help others express human need in ways that encourage fulfillment rather than defensiveness.
As a framework to the four steps of nonviolent communication to express human need, Dr. Rosenberg identifies several cultural communication patterns that prevent us from effectively meeting our needs and helping others meet their own needs. Some common obstacles include moralistic judgments about ourselves, making comparisons, denial of responsibility, and communicating our desires as demands, as if other people are objects rather than fellow travelers on a comparably arduous journey of life.
How to practice nonviolent communication
Nonviolent communication centers on four main components, which include:
- Sharing a CONCRETE OBSERVATION without an evaluation.
- Expressing an ACCURATE PERSONAL FEELING about the observation.
- Connecting your expressed feeling with a NEED.
- Making a REQUEST (not a demand) FOR SPECIFIC ACTION to meet your needs.
At the heart of nonviolent communication is Dr. Rosenberg’s essential goal of sharing these principles: self-compassion. He said, “We are compassionate with ourselves when we are able to embrace all parts of ourselves and recognize the needs and values expressed by each part” (“Nonviolent Communication: A Language for Life“).
While there are many tools and resources to help you create inner peace, we hope you will find some value in learning to express your own personal observations, feelings, needs, and requests in ways that others will be able to understand and respond to more positively.
Equipped with greater personal understanding and solid communication tools, we hope you will experience increased empowerment to carry out your personal ministries as ambassadors of peace for the Savior who is the Prince of Peace.
Look for meaning and purpose in participating in weekly GROWS, discussion board topics, training videos, and shareable memes during the next several weeks. We can each learn to better serve and represent the Savior in all that we think, feel, do, and say for the cause of peace. Truly, when we are prepared, we shall not fear.
Week 2 exercise
As your next step in this peacemaking journey, truly consider your own needs. Look for the ways your actions and beliefs may be out of sync with each other. To explore this further, take this “six human needs questionnaire,” which was developed by a well-known psychologist as a way to create a personalized roadmap of an individual’s needs.
Learning more
Ready to learn more about peacemaking? Check out the Practical Peacemaking course in MWEG Central!
