| Living peacefully with others in our world presents challenges. Meeting these challenges calls for new theories, language, and action. This three-volume creative work draws upon the metaphor of weaving to advance the theory that peace is the presence of just and faithful relationships with our self, with each other, with all people within and between nations, with all of creation, and with a Spiritual Being who both gives life and gives life meaning.;Volume One, The Weaver's Ponderings, poses questions; identifies challenges; analyzes expressions of peace as absence or as presence; and offers reflections to broaden our understanding of peace as more than absence.;Volume Two, The Weaver's Artistry, introduces spiritual, world order, and feminist core value systems that frame a culture of peace; identifies seven strands---value, image, language, system, policy, education, and action strands---important for weaving a culture of peace; and analyzes the interdependence between core value systems, the seven strands and a culture of peace.;Volume Three, The Weaver's Tapestry, provides insight into ways that people of all ages and across the world integrate core value systems and the seven strands as they name, discern, and engage in personal and public peacemaking activities within their homes, their communities, and their world.;This holistic work intersects Peace Studies with Spirituality and Transformational Leadership, as distinct from Peace and Conflict Studies. The thesis has been educed using Educative Theory Formation, analyzed using the tools of the bricoleur, and coded using procedures adapted from Grounded Theory.;Two new terms for peace are proposed. Integral Peace expresses the concept of peace as whole, entire and complete. Actualized Peace expresses the concept of peace as positive, engaged human activity directed toward the process of making peace a real presence in our individual, our family, and our communal lives.;Conceptualizing peace as presence, as integral, and as actualized---or with the potential to be actualized---frees us to imagine new possibilities, and empowers us to value peace; to promote peace with our images, and language; to protect peace by establishing and monitoring just systems and policies; and to preserve peace through education and actions. Working together we can transform relationships within our families, our communities, and our world and sustain a culture of peace with justice for today and future generations. |
