Praying for peace is about more than absence of war.

Praying for peace does not simply suggest the absence of war but rather a balance of mutual love and total respect for all life. When you encounter violence, the proper response is never violent. Those who commit crimes against other human beings are shouting out in ways that are not readily heard about deep needs that create those behaviors. Indeed, such needs are often difficult to connect with the deeds that are observed.

Actions by anyone have as part of them many interrelated layers. Those layers are the subject of much debate, and the pursuit of such understandings form the basis for many careers. If someone does something that is clearly opposed to the presence of God, the dominance of love, it is easy to quickly condemn the person, not just the actions, and there is precious little effort exerted to dig more deeply into the roots of behavior.

Even if you consider your own behaviors, you have done or said things that you later came to realize were not good choices, and it is easy to condemn oneself. It is easy for others to condemn someone, but in reality, the actions that you take or actions that any human being takes are the consequences of much that is felt within. So many deny the opportunity to explore that basis to further understand the roots of behaviors or the roots of words.