In the month of February, I was privileged to spend two weeks in Antarctica. During the lead-up to the trip we were coached on the things that would make our trip the most enjoyable and personally profitable. At the top of the list was Safety. Safety would guide all our movements. If at any moment a boat ride or a landing became unsafe, the outing would be aborted, and we would return to the boat immediately. When the boat rocked and rolled while crossing the Drake Passage, I really gained a visceral understanding of the meaning of safety. Passengers remembered to stay in contact with a wall, to latch doors after ourselves, not to leave precious objects unsecured. It’s a challenge to feel Peace when a ship is rocking and rolling, yet trusting the advice and skills of the crew make it a possibility.
Even though the temperatures were mild for Antarctica (it was summer after all), we wore our winter outer-garments. We built trust with our group members and with our guides and the ship’s staff. Encountering the reality of this vast, cold, beautiful land surrounded by very cold, very pure and very dangerous waters, we trusted the safety rules to allow us to experience Antarctica’s beauty. Being Present to the Awe and Peace of this magnificent land and seascape was only possible when we depended upon and trusted the community of passengers and staff.
On the surface, this far off danger seems very alien from the seemingly gentler Pennsylvania world we inhabit. Working in the hospital, I’m beginning to understand the gentle weather that comes as spring arrives can be very dangerous, if people pay little attention to possibilities of danger. Peace is hard to find in these circumstances.
In the hospital, as the weather warms and then again when the fall days are delightful, we call this Trauma Season. Serious accident after serious accident appear in the Trauma. Particularly while enjoying pleasure vehicles, people don’t want to be bothered with thinking about precautions. But it’s a mistake, I promise you.
The Teams are very skilled, yet things happen that shake our hearts. People — adults and children — are injured or even die. Emergency Department staff struggle to deal with the constant barrage of trauma. The families who are suffering often remind us of our own families. These comparisons both deepen our compassion and raise our fears. Sometimes what happens in the ED can be nearly overwhelming, even for all of us who trained to deal with such incidents.
I can’t count the number of truck, car, motorcycle, scooter, and ATV accidents. It’s gorgeous, you’re outside, and so happy to be there that you don’t grab the protective equipment. And when accidents happen, families are devastated and the hospital staff suffers from caring for traumatic injuries over and over again.
It’s only taken two weeks of trauma season for me to remember how much safety matters in my lovely Susquehanna valley. There can be no Peace, unless we are all participating in it. Slow down. Wear your protective equipment. Ensure your children are old enough to be operating equipment or trying feats of daring unsupervised. They often need to be far older than you might think. Protect yourself, your families, and your friends. All the care teams in the world can’t always make things right after the fact, as much as we want to. Safety plays a much bigger role in Peace than we ever consider.
As for Peace, when we care and prepare for ourselves beforehand, we enter into our encounters with our communities, solicitous of one another and ready for people to thrive. The armor of Peace lies in our physical safety and our courageous hearts. Our world is very confusing right now. Politics and religion are pushing us into factions, threatening even the most tentative civility. Many things we held to be true may no longer be so.
Often when we think of Peace and Peacemaking, we think about the end of war, violence, and fear. We may think of Peace globally or closer to home in the healing of personal relationships, reconciliation with neighbors or political adversaries. In my writings on Peacemaking, I rarely ponder how Peace relates to following common sense tactics for our physical wellbeing. Yet to live in a Peaceful community means to utilize safety equipment and follow operating instructions properly. Accidents and death shatter our Peace. Blame and regret hinder the forgiveness and understanding that make Peace of mind, body, and spirit possible.
In Antarctica, where the experience of Sacred Peace was only made possible by everyone’s participating in the safety requirements, knowing that is Possible, I now want that Peace and that safety for us right here. Peace depends upon our common-sense application of safety in work and play.
We are neighbors. We live in community. Our communities will be better for our acts of kindness, and — my dear friends — for our wearing our seatbelts and helmets, when undertaking feats of daring. This is the body we have. Let’s protect it. Let’s live in Peace with ourselves and with each other. Salaam, Shalom, Peace, Blessed Be.