Paiva Netto Writes: In praise of Peace

José de Paiva Netto is a Brazilian writer, journalist, radio broadcaster, composer, and poet. He is the President-Preacher of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit.

Under the example of perseverance of those who believe in Fraternal Love and practice it, Paiva Netto presents in this article the secure paths to the so longed-for social harmony.

The text we shall read comprises the enlightening teachings that Paiva Netto—who is also the President-Preacher of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit—has been directing at peoples and nations for decades on the idea of building bridges over which understanding can pass. “In a future which we, civilians, religious people, and military men and women with common sense, hope to be near, Peace will no longer be established under the caterpillar tracks of tanks or with the boom of cannons . . . ,” he affirms.

This ground-breaking invitation to act for Peace—added with new teachings—needs to be urgently spread beyond fences and borders by the valiant Brothers and Sisters of Good Will, who fearlessly fight for a better world.

Enjoy your reading!

The Editors

The specter of wars, both big and small and in different forms, still prowls around us. It is, therefore, an equally opportune moment to speak of Peace and to fight for it without cease, until it is attained, including peace in traffic, where accidents make so many victims.

One of the dangers faced by Humanity is the vulgarization of suffering. From watching it so much in the media, some people may come to consider it something that cannot be changed. This is the assassination of tranquility among people and nations when they let themselves be swept away by the “irremediable.” Nevertheless, everything can become better or be corrected in this life, as in the case of Bogotá*, for example, with the reduction of criminality.

If, by this massacre of tragic news, families become accustomed to the absurd, it will take over their existences. 

Rui Barbosa

If we are not yet able to avoid World War III, which is the result of what millennia of human madness has sown, we do not wish to regret not having done our very best, our uttermost, to remind the world of the Peace of God. For a long time, by all ways and means, we have opposed the Latin saying “If you want Peace, prepare for war” (“Si vis pacem, para bellum”), by proclaiming the spirit that inspired Rui Barbosa (1849-1923), the brave Eagle of The Hague, when he said:

“If you want Peace, prepare yourself for Peace.”

In my book Reflections and Thoughts—The Dialectic of Good Will (1987), I wrote:

In a future which we, civilians, religious people, and military men and women with common sense, hope to be near, Peace will no longer be established under the caterpillar tracks of tanks or with the boom of cannons, over piles of corpses or crowds of widows and orphans, nor even over magnificent accomplishments of material progress without God. That is, without a corresponding spiritual, moral, and ethical progress. Human beings will discover that they are not only sex, stomach, and intellect, subjugated by what they consider to be the only reality in the world. Within themselves, dwells the Eternal Spirit that speaks to them of other lives and of other worlds, which they seek either through Intuition or Reason. Even today, the peace of men is still the peace of wolves and of some crazy short-sighted individuals that rule people on Earth. 

Alziro Zarur (1914-1979)

Peace, true Peace, arises first from the pure hearts of human beings. And only Jesus can remove all hatred from the hearts of Humanity, because He is the Lord of Peace. And He Himself says, as Alziro Zarur (1914-1979), the late Proclaimer of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit, reminded us so many times:

“I am the Vine; you are the branches. Apart from me you can do nothing. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. For I will be with you, each and every day, until the end of the world. I will not leave you as orphans. A New Commandment I give you: love one another, as I have loved you. Only by this shall all of you be recognized as my disciples, if you have the same Love for one another. There is no greater Love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (The Gospel according to John 15:5, 14:27 and 18, 13:34 and 35, and 15:13; and Matthew 28:20).

Another Paradigm  

There should be a paradigm for Peace. Who? The political leaders of the world?! Yet, in the contemporary era, while they debate about it, their countries progressively arm themselves! The history of “civilization” has been like this. “Quousque tandem, Catilina, abutere patientia nostra?” (“How long, Catilina, will you abuse our patience?”).

How about trying this very new paradigm?

Peace: the Personal Work of Jesus

In the 20th Biblical Key of the Triumphal Return of the planet’s Supreme Leader, Zarur wrote:

“No man, no strong group, no people, no superpower, whether communist or capitalist, will ever be able to establish Peace on Earth. This is the personal and non-transferable work of Jesus. Only Christ has the power—in Heaven and on Earth—to achieve this wonder.”

Therefore, the Religion of the Third Millennium humbly makes a suggestion: Humanity wants to live in Peace, correct? So, experience and inspire yourselves on the teachings of Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of Peace, so much so as to say:

“My Peace I leave to you, my Peace I give to you. I do not give you the peace of the world. I give you the Peace of God that the world cannot give you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid. For I will be with you, each and every day, until the end of the world.” (The Gospel of Christ according to John 14:27 and 1 and Matthew 28:20)

In other words, this Peace exists, it is not a utopia. To deny it is to deny Jesus, to underrate civilization. It is up to the human being to find it, while there is time.

The Peace of God may seem to defeatists something very distant, considering how beautiful it is . . . However, eliminating this gulf depends solely on us. Just because it seems so far away, it does not mean that we should give up looking for it. On the contrary: let us work for Peace now! The greatest challenges are our greatest friends, since they prevent us from giving up on Life. Let us, therefore, move forward because God Is Present!

Everyone is deeply concerned with the savagery that is spreading over the Earth, looking for a solution that at least reduces the violence, which has come out of hidden places, from the shadowy dawn, and taken over streets and homes, for it has invaded minds. However, today, understanding is growing that if there is violence, it is not just the problem of governments, of police forces, but evidently a challenge for all of us, for society. If it came out of the dark night and came to show itself in the light of day, it is because it lives in our innermost selves. By existing in our Souls and hearts, it will manifest itself wherever human beings may be. We must deactivate the explosives remaining in our hearts.

Solidary, Altruistic, and Ecumenical Society 

The unchecked brutality is debated everywhere, and people are ever more perplexed as to why no effective solution can be found, despite so many brilliant ideas. It is because the answer is not far away; it is right next to us: God, who is not an illusion. Paul the Apostle said:

 “You yourselves are the Temple of the Living God.” (First Letter to the Corinthians 3:16)

And John the Evangelist, in his First Epistle 4:8, asserted that 

“God is Love.”

Jesus, the Ecumenical Christ, the Divine Statesman, through the millennia has been patiently teaching us and waiting for us to at last learn how to live in community. This is a solidary and altruistic perspective born from His heart, established in His New Commandment—“Love one another, as I have loved you” (The Gospel according to John 13:34)—the Law of Spiritual and Human Solidarity, without which this planet will never know real social justice. Without Fraternal Love, we will never know Peace.

Abraham Lincoln

As I wrote in Reflexões da Alma [Reflections of the Soul] (2003), unarmed Peace will never come about solely from political agreements, but rather from a deep sublimation of the religious spirit. As great achievements often have their roots in simple, but practical and truthful initiatives—by people who, with great courage have gone from theory to action, using the strength of the authority of their acts universally recognized—we should avail ourselves of this lesson from Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865):

“When I do Good, I feel good. When I do bad, I feel bad. That’s my religion.”

And nobody could call old Abe an unbeliever.

The Danger Is Real

Pope John Paul II

The risk of a Third World War is no illusion. Humanity flirts with death. One only has to remember the way it mistreats its own dwelling. Peace is almost nothing more than a figure of speech. For a large part of human History, the period in which it has prevailed is extremely short. If there has ever been true Peace in this world . . . It has only managed to live in the Soul of some blessed people. . . . This is undoubtedly why Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) in a memorable speech in the 1980s warned that “the danger is real.”

Harmony between religious people is the first to be achieved. The peace of mind of earthly beings created by a new universalist, ecumenical stance, inasmuch as it is highly fraternal, assures social peace, peace between institutions, and the so longed-for world Peace, under the protection of the Heavenly Father, the Greatest Diplomat in the History of this planet, notwithstanding our recurrent bad use of free will. For those who laugh at this reality, a small recollection from skeptic Voltaire (1694-1778): 

Voltaire

“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent Him.”

John Kennedy and Peace 

Many nations are not directly involved in the armed conflicts that plague this world, but all of them suffer the oppression of fear or of poverty, because of the violence of the new arms or the massive misappropriation of funds for the death industry, to the detriment of instruction, education, spiritualization, food, and health for people. Therefore, war affects all of us in these times of rapid communication and storms of information, which threaten to short circuit our brains with their thunder and lightning. For this reason, I would like to include in this article this quote by John Fitzgerald Kennedy (1917-1963): 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“But arms alone are not enough to keep the Peace—it must be kept by men. . . . The mere absence of war is not Peace.”

Earth will only know Peace when it experiences Spiritual Love and learns how to recognize the Divine Truth. But the Divine Truth of a God who, as we recall, is Love, not the truth of a brutal and vengeful being invented by human foolishness. In fact, the danger is still very real. And we, like fools, are in the midst of it all, getting hit and not knowing where it came from. “Quousque tandem, Catilina?”

 To Build Peace 

In the Globalization of Fraternal Love magazine (in English, Esperanto, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish), handed by the Legion of Good Will to Heads of State and delegations present at the 2007 High-level Segment, in the United Nations Headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, I present from my aforementioned book Reflections of the Soul a notable extract taken from the Preamble to the Constitution of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which was approved on November 16, 1945, because I consider that any other path will lead Humanity to destruction: 

“Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of Peace must be constructed.”

It is essential to highlight the proposals and actions of true understanding. A different route will be bitter medicine for people. That is why we must not lose Hope. Let us keep on working “for a better world and a happier Humanity.” That is the direction toward victory. And this is not a simplistic argument. Life teaches us, but how many of us learn in time? 

The solutions to the serious problems of our society require that we duly value the Capital of God, that is, human beings’ Eternal Spirit. Otherwise, we shall end up facing a bigger world conflict than the two great wars of the 20th century which, analyzed historically, can be classified as just one war divided into two parts. May God spare us from the third!

* Example of Bogotá — In the 1990s, leaders from the Colombian capital implemented urban planning, education, and social inclusion measures. As a result, homicide, truancy, unemployment, and even suicide rates reduced considerably.