In The Peace Book, Louise Diamond offers scores of suggestions on ways to wage peace in daily life. The wisdom of the first suggestion offers sweet and complete validation of the next 107.

First step?

“Breathe,” Diamond writes.

This is a perfectly sane, perfectly normal, perfectly human thing to do, and a wise first step in any endeavor. Her blueprint for action makes clear that peace is not merely about the absence of war. It is about “the quality of our relationships.” The culture of competition is so deeply ingrained in so many modern societies that we are scarcely aware it exists. But increasingly people are searching as communities and as individuals for another way of life, she says.

“People are yearning for ways to make a difference, to contribute to greater justice, tolerance, and peace in their lives and in the world,” Diamond writes. The Peace Book encourages us to be “peacebuilders,” to begin by trying to find peace with ourselves and then to build bridges to others and other communities. Diamond provides a banquet of contacts, books, Web sites, organizations and examples from everyday life that makes the unrealistic stunningly real. She also defines the Four Principles of Peace:

Community—Realizing we are all in this together.
Cooperation—Finding common ground and working together so we can all win.
Nonviolence—Choosing not to use force or coercion as a basis for relationships.
Witness—Being the peace we seek.

After you breathe, consider just a few of the other 107 ways you can practice the principles. Diamond suggests that you let nature nourish you; listen, really listen to children; enjoy teamwork; have a process for conflict resolution; see work as service; seek common ground and consensus; engage in honest conversation; apologize; forgive; become a voice for the voiceless; take an interest in world affairs; grow food, give thanks and laugh a lot.

This review originally appeared in the September/October 2006 issue of World Ark, the magazine of Heifer International. Reviewed by Michael Haddigan. Used with permission.