Why Do We Only "Rest in Peace (R.I.P.)?"

LinkedIn post by Terrell Fure' - Sony Music Songwriter/Artist

The other day I was perusing my social media sites as I do on a daily basis and came across the question in the photo displayed to your left in a LinkedIn post by Sony Music Songwriter/Artist Terrell Fure'. The question leaped off of the screen at me because I've asked this same question for years and was glad to see that I do not think about this by myself. 

Seriously, think about what the question is asking. It's amazing how our final wish for the deceased is for him/her to rest in peace. In many instances, the deceased did anything but live in peace and yet we are wishing for him/her to rest in peace. Now, I'm not wishing anything bad on anyone who is deceased or alive for that matter, but the post does beg the right question. What is it that is stopping us from living in peace?

I write this in the wake of yet another deadly shooting; this time it was five killed and others wounded in a shooting at a Maryland newspaper, The Capital Gazette. As of this writing, there have been 154 mass shootings in the US so far in 2018.  So why is it that we can't seem to live in peace? Is it that hard to love our neighbors as ourselves or could that be the problem, too many of us don't love ourselves. We hate ourselves so much that it does not phase us to spew that same hatred onto others who have absolutely nothing to do with us. Most of the victims who are killed in these mass attacks have never met the shooter or attacker. The victims are in most cases innocent bystanders who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

For many, it seems that they are just not happy unless chaos is going on(our President notwithstanding). They are not happy unless we are living in discord. I don't get it. Ironically, I'll bet all of those who sow disharmony at one point in their lives have wished for a loved one to "Rest in Peace."

There is a verse in the Bible that says "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."  Maybe that's it! Maybe there are a significant number of people who don't want to be called "children of God."  There has to be a reason for us not being able to live in peace. Our families, communities, states, and countries would work so much better if we all indeed found a way to live in peace. Why wait until we are in our final resting places to have peace?

Maybe some of you readers out there can help me and Mr. Fure' out. If you think you have the answer, please leave a comment in the comment section of this blog. I also invite you to hear me live each Saturday from 6-9 a.m. ET as I web stream around the world on gobrave.org and locally in northern NJ on FM radio WP88.7 FM. I also invite you to follow me on Twitter @thinkcritical01 and @readingcircle01.  Let's all make every effort we can to live in peace!