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Old 09-19-2012, 12:08 PM   #39
aiki-jujutsuka
 
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Re: The Restoration of Peace

If I may be permitted to add a Judeo-Christian perspective on peace, the Hebrew word for peace is Shalom. The concept of Shalom in the Hebrew Bible conveys more than just absence of war or conflict. It is the well-being and wholeness of the entire person. Shalom bears connotations of to be made whole, without deficiency.

The Shema, the central prayer of Judaism "Hear O Israel the Lord is our God, the Lord is One", is followed by the command to "love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." Jesus positively affirmed that this was the greatest commandment in the Hebrew scriptures. Thus the Judeo-Christian view of the person is one of wholism, rather than the dichotomy of body and soul. The command to love God found in the Shema, which is taken from Deutoronomy 6 is expressing the view that Jews (and through Jesus - Christians) should love God with their whole being.

To be at peace therefore, is to have all your needs - emotional, spiritual and physical met. Many people do not know true shalom, there are many people who are spiritually poor while being materially wealthy; there are some people who value meditation and contemplation over physical exercise; there are some who are neglected emotionally and are not given the love, affirmation, kindness and friendship they deserve.

Aikido helps to create shalom. Aikido promotes love and harmony and the Bible says that whoever loves has been born of God for God is love (1 John 4). Aikido is good for your physical and emotional health, flexibility, balance,motor-skills, co-ordination and good mind-body connection (not to mention protecting yourself). However, true shalom comes only from God. God is one and so shalom is not about becoming one with the universe (although man is "of the dust", Genesis 2, and indeed the Hebrew name Adam means 'to be red' and is a play on the Hebrew word for earth Adamah). Shalom is being one with God. The root word of shalom is shalam which means restitution. True shalom is having our broken relationship with God restored.

Jesus proclaimed he was the bread of life (John 6), the true manna from Heaven (an allusion to the bread the Israelites ate in the wilderness after Moses led them out of Egypt). Jesus was teaching that everything we need in life can be found in him. This is why at the Last Supper he referred to the bread and wine as his 'body' and 'blood'. In ancient Israel people believed bread was essential to life of the physical body. Blood was necessary for the atonement of sin and it was in the blood that the soul was found, explaining why Jewish food laws about kosher meat were so strict. Body and soul cannot exist without one another as the person is more than just the sum of his parts. Body and soul, as well as heart and spirit make up a person. In Jesus there is restitution with God and wholeness once again.

Last edited by aiki-jujutsuka : 09-19-2012 at 12:19 PM. Reason: misspelling
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