The Peace We Can’t Reach: Confronting Narratives That Deny Our Conditions, Jam Our Spiritual Frequencies, and Defile Shalom
Ebook
Propelled by George Floyd's murder in her hometown of Minneapolis, Meg Gorzycki addresses the question of why peace is difficult to cultivate and sustain, and finds that America has always had a love-hate relationship with peace. The Peace We Can't Reach posits that peace is more than the absence of war and aggression, and in its most profound sense is shalom, the commitment to live for the well-being of all so that compassion and justice might prevail. Exploring shalom from the perspective of war, police brutality, mass shootings, and economic injustice, this book offers evidence that neither democracy nor Christianity as Americans have known them are capable of achieving peace. It asserts that the keys to peace are personal and social narratives that give people a sense of identity and their highest purpose, and concludes that gaining control over these narratives is vital to shalom.
“Meg Gorzycki’s The Peace We Can’t Reach is a provocative and poetically beautiful reflection of the intersection of American civil religion, normalization of violence, and the quest for ‘peace’ that seems elusive yet achievable. This reflection is as much about the cultivation of human empathy as it is about achieving peace—personal or societal. More importantly, it is about realizing that small moments and efforts in our lives when we choose to act for a greater good, while infinitesimal in impact, are infinitely powerful sources of hope for humanity.”
—Jonathan H. X. Lee, professor of Asian American studies, San Francisco State University
- Title: The Peace We Can’t Reach: Confronting Narratives That Deny Our Conditions, Jam Our Spiritual Frequencies, and Defile Shalom
- Author: Meg Gorzycki
- Publisher: Resource Publications
- Print Publication Date: 2023
- Logos Release Date: 2023
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Ebook
- ISBNs: 9781666783452, 9781666783445, 1666783447, 9781666783438, 1666783439, 1666783455
- Resource ID: LLS:9781666783452
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2023-10-03T20:43:02Z
Meg Gorzycki is a native Minnesotan with deep roots in the progressive Benedictine and Jesuit traditions. She is an educator, historian, and author whose works examine the human condition, spirituality, and American culture. She has taught secondary and tertiary courses in history, psychology, and ethics in media, and has taught in Russia and Saudi Arabia. She is currently an educational consultant.