In my humble opinion, the majority of people in the world prefer Peace on Earth to the alternative. I’ve asked around, not exactly a scientific survey, and everyone I’ve asked prefers Peace on Earth. What exactly are we preferring when we contemplate this ever-prayed-for dream?
Peace on Earth is way more complex and soulful than just the absence of war. It is a state of harmony and goodwill. It is creating a world of kindness, forgiveness and reconciliation. It is a desire and a willingness to do what doesn’t always come naturally. It creates a world of physical, emotional and spiritual safety.
It will not be the end of our disagreements. Thank God! We’d become robots. But we will continue to learn how to disagree more peacefully. Peace requires letting go of something in order to get something that is even more important.
PEACE ON EARTH
You can’t always get what you want, but if you try some time, you might just find you get what you need.
~The Rolling Stones
Peace requires us to give at least as much as we wish to receive. Peace is created by folks like you and me. It is a combination of holding on and letting go.
Can we do it?
Yes, and we will continue to learn how to do it better! And sometimes it is seemingly impossible to accomplish. There is no straight line to anything important.
Now, The Daily News. Again, this is my opinion.
Early in my career, I created a TV news segment called “Successful Living,” a spot on the Sunday news in Flagstaff, Arizona. I spoke of different ways to become a better human being, which I still try to do today, 40 years later. One day prior to filming my spot, a horrible event took place — a young girl was kidnapped and murdered. Upon arriving at the station, I heard the news director say, “Today is a great news day!” His words made me sick. At the same time, I understood what he was telling us. Thousands of people in Flagstaff will be watching.
That was when the news was on once a day. Today it is on all day long!
But the rule is still the same.
Bad news is good news. The worse it is, the more people watch.
Humans are wired to attend to the worst, and there are reasons for this which I will go into another time.
The key here is that TV floods us with conflict and atrocities. Wherever there are wars, weather catastrophes, earthquakes and destructive fires…we tune in. Danger and conflict make a good news day. Very occasionally a peace treaty makes it into the headlines.
All these negative stories train our brains, and get us to believe that the news is what is mostly happening.
The world is falling apart.
Peace on Earth is far away. Then we… Talk about it. Worry about it. Argue about it.
This phenomenon both energizes and drains us.
It can become addictive, and is NOT the entire truth.
There are countless wonderful things going on in our world, too!
…And now, you and me!
Each one of us has both limited and infinite powers to create peace in our world. I say limited because most of us won’t have a huge impact on the news we watch. We can have some, for sure. I say infinite because in the world of our interactions, it can be infinite. We have no idea who might benefit from our words and actions of good will.
Anyone we interact with — spouses, children, doctors, Uber drivers or strangers, will leave our interaction and go on to touch untold numbers of other folks. The more positive vibes we put out, the more we put into our peace-hungry world’s hearts and minds. We just don’t know how much or for how many generations.
You and I absolutely have an impact on world peace, in the piece of the world we live in and beyond. This reality of our potential influence then gives us a responsibility: to work daily, in our own way, toward what we all desire…Peace on Earth.
Let’s do our duty!
Burt Gershater is a local counselor, leadership trainer, speaker and writer. He can be reached at info@burtgershater.com
This article appears in the Source February 5, 2026.
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