What a Peace Economy Looks Like to Me…

by Carla Mae Streeter, OP

Aquinas Institute of Theology
St. Louis / Summer 2008

We can dream, can’t we? “Without vision the people parish.!” said Teddy Roosevelt back in 1933, quoting the bible. So, retreating from the demands of my burdened desk, I will check out that vision…at least as I see it right here, right now. I will dream a bit.

If I give in to the cynicism that prevails in the air these days, my search for vision in terms of a peach economy seems an exercise in futility. But let’s shake cynicism off. It sours the soul.

In my humble view, what is happening to us economically is a wake-up call. In my profession (I’m a theologian) we call that a grace. In everyday talk that means we’re being visited by God, folks. When God comes, everything that is foolish, stupid, sad, tragic, and dehumanizing gets outlined in the light. It’s in our face – big time.

Seems like this is the agenda right now. We can’t buy gas, we are finding it difficult to fly. The mortgage game is stealing our homes and robbing our families. The fires are devouring our dream homes, nations view us as the big bully, the groceries are getting more expensive, and to top it off, we’re in an election year that promises to make history.

So life is anything but business as usual. Everything is going haywire, so we think. This is always a call to listen up, look up, and smart up. So it’s the time to dream. It’s the time to check out what just might be possible if we could…

First, dreaming is done by folks…folks with imagination. Folks who can imagine what is possible but not yet. Folks who can even imagine what needs to be done to get there. Dreamers can even gauge the cost. Dreaming is done by human beings with hope and passion. They can imagine human life with the wildest and most wonderful possibility.

Second, the place to start is not with problems, planning, programs, or policies. The place to start is people. It is people who have problems, who then plan, who create programs, and then form policies to make sure others will not have to start all over from square one.

What does it mean to dream a peace economy by starting with people? It means to look, listen, and learn from our looking and listening. Real listening is done with both head and heart. Real people aren’t served by merely meeting needs. People are served by being offered meaning and value as needs are met. Real people are horrified to learn that the US has tortured prisoners to “protect” us. What does it mean to do this in our name? What values are being communicated to the world about us in this behavior?

Third, if we are to begin with people, we need to begin with ourselves. What kind of person am I? What meanings and values direct my living?

Finally, I’m going to suggest that the people we need to be to build this peace economy will be dreamers who are grateful, compassionate, and generous. Gratitude protects us from cynicism. The grateful person knows the shadow sides of events full well, but intentionally focuses on the day to day efforts, events, grass-roots activity, self-sacrifice, courage, and good will that is evident everywhere. Gratitude protects us from cynicism. It is grateful that one little candle is still burning which means the darkness hasn’t won.

Compassion means we are big enough to know what struggle means and how it can wear you down. Compassion protects us from the arrogance of judgment and the rage it spawns. Compassion keeps us strong and steady, shoulder to the wheel, for the long haul. It sends us to bed at night exhausted with a good tiredness to sleep in gratitude’s arms.

Then there is generosity. To build a peace economy we’re going to need plenty of this. The cost to us is not only the sharing of resources, but the giving of ourselves for the sake of people like ourselves. If people become the focus of our efforts, then human needs line up fast. If people are first, then problems are second, and meaning and value come out the shadows to stand with people. Problems, planning, programs, and policies then serve an end beyond themselves and the self-interest that might otherwise drive them. Self-interest can then break out of the prison of its narcissism into the sunlight of we-consiousness.

How do we build a peace economy? We dream about people. We dream possibilities for people who are healthy, happy, whole, and dare we say…holy? Then we check ourselves and our support communities out: gratitude, compassion, and generosity, both individual and communal. Then we say, “Go!”