The last few days we have been talking about where to find peace. Many said that there is a need for inner peace before there can be world peace. Even that seems elusive. Risa talked about respect. David also talked about respect. Judaism stresses this concept when it talks about creation. Each of us was created b’tzelem elohim, in the image of G-d. Each of us has that spark of the Divine. For that reason alone, we need to find respect for each person. Each person is a reflection of the Divine.

Sometimes that reflection is hard to see. Maybe when Ken holds that high bar, high standard of inner peace and talks about it being like a Monet painting, it is refracted light. It is our job to put those little pieces of peace together to make a bigger peace.

Sharon made the point that it is easier when there are enough resources. In particular she cites getting enough sleep. She is right. Maslow’s pyramid lays this out. People need enough food, water, air, even sex. They need safety and security. They need a sense of love and belonging. Only then can people move further up the hierarchy to self-esteem and self-actualization. I know this is true for me. If I don’t get enough sleep, if I don’t eat on a regular schedule, I get cranky. When I get cranky I can act in a less peaceful manner toward those who are closest to me. If I feel unsafe, then I am afraid and not at peace. That fear can be from an external source or an internal source. That fear can come from walking through a parking structure alone at night, or driving through the “wrong neighborhood”. It can be because of a health scare or not having enough money (another resource). We know that more couples argue over money than over anything else.

Fear is an impediment to peace. We began this blog with the words of Rabbi Nachman of Bratslav said, “Kol ha’olam kulo gesher tzar me’od. The world is a narrow bridge. The central thing is not to be afraid.”

Exercise, meditation, prayer can help. Those are resources too. Most of us are not monastic. We don’t have all day to meditate or pray. Sometimes it is hard to find the time to get in the exercise—even when we know it would be good for our own mental health.

We don’t live in a vacuum. We come into contact with other people. Some of those people have the ability to push our own buttons. Learning what those hot buttons are, can help us achieve our own sense of peace.

Leviticus teaches us, “You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Hillel said that loving your neighbor as yourself is the whole Torah, the rest is commentary go and study it. Others have said that before you can love your neighbor, you need to love yourself.

Perhaps then, this is what peace is: having enough resources, not living in fear, not holding a grudge against those who push our buttons, learning to love ourselves individually so that we can love our neighbors as ourselves.