What Is Peace, Really? Lessons for Zimbabwe and Beyond: Reflections inspired by this story, and by real life.
What is peace? It’s a word we all use, but few can define. Peace is not just quiet or the end of conflict. It’s a journey, a search for meaning, calm and something real, even when life feels noisy and uncertain.
Peace. It’s a word we use everywhere at rallies, in church, around the dinner table, and even in WhatsApp groups. Politicians promise it, parents beg for it, artists sing about it and all of us hope for it. But for all our talk, peace is still one of the most misunderstood and elusive gifts of life, especially here in Zimbabwe.
Not long ago, I wrote a novella called Peace. It’s not a book of easy answers. It’s a story that invites us to wrestle with the hard questions. What does peace really look like for an ordinary Zimbabwean? Why does it feel just out of reach, no matter what we do? And what brings it closer or drives it further away?
In this guide, I want to go beyond the pages of my book and share what I’ve learned about peace in real life. Some lessons come straight from Peace, and some from the streets, churches, kombis and homes all around Zimbabwe. My hope is that you’ll come away not just understanding peace a little better, but wanting to find and build it in your own life. Even if it never looks exactly as you imagined.
Peace Means Something Different to Everyone
If you ask ten Zimbabweans to define peace, you’ll get ten different answers. In Peace, my narrator Percy faces this himself, trying to find his own center while everyone around him pulls in another direction.
“Ask different people what peace is, and you’ll get different answers. Sometimes, answers that seem to contradict each other.” Peace: Chapter 1
For some, peace is the absence of violence or noise. For others, it’s financial stability, family harmony or just a quiet moment in the middle of chaos. Peace changes with age and circumstance. For a child, it might be freedom to play without being scolded. For an adult, it’s freedom from the next bill, the next crisis, or the next WhatsApp rumor.
Peace Isn’t Always Permanent
One truth that comes up again and again in Peace is that peace isn’t permanent. Sometimes it’s just a pause in a moment of calm between storms.
Percy is always chasing after peace, only to watch it slip away when he thinks he’s caught it.
“Why is it that peace seems so close one moment, and then just slips away the next? Why can’t we ever hold onto it?” Peace: Chapter 10
It’s not just Percy’s struggle. It’s everyone’s. The world is noisy and unpredictable. Even when things are calm, most of us know not to relax for too long. Peace at home can be followed by chaos at work. Sometimes your world looks fine from the outside but your heart is unsettled inside.
Maybe, as Percy finds out, peace isn’t about getting rid of every problem. Maybe it’s about finding those small pockets of calm, even as life rages on.
Peace Isn’t Just the Absence of Conflict
We’re taught that peace means “no fighting.” But real life is rarely so simple. In Peace, sometimes the silence after an argument isn’t really peace, but just an uneasy quiet.
One turning point is when Percy deals with a rural protest at work. The official plan is to “restore order”—usually by silencing the noise. Percy pushes for something deeper: listening, honest talk, and real understanding.
“If you send in police or army, people will fight back, or scatter and return angrier. The media will eat it up. You’ll get temporary silence, but no real peace. I know these people—they want to be heard, not crushed.” Peace: Chapter 8
Too often, in families, at work, or in politics, we settle for quiet rather than real peace. But the silence after a fight can just be a cold war—a truce waiting to be broken.
Sometimes, real peace means facing conflict, speaking truth and letting people be heard. It’s uncomfortable, but pretending everything is fine rarely leads to real calm.
You Can’t Buy Peace
One of the running jokes in Peace is how people chase after things: money, jobs, cars, respect and hoping for contentment. Yet the story is full of characters who “have it all” but are still restless.
Jessica, Percy’s wife, remembers her Uncle Samuel, a respected man who never found peace.
“Maybe peace isn’t about having everything. Maybe it’s about letting go of what you can’t control.” Peace: Chapter 11
In Zimbabwe, we love appearances the latest phone, best suit, fanciest car, all for the WhatsApp group or the neighborhood. But after the applause fades, many are left asking, “Is this it?”
Peace can’t be bought, borrowed or won by impressing others. Sometimes, peace is about letting go: of grudges, expectations or things you were never meant to carry.
Faith and Peace: The Hard Questions
For many, peace is tied to faith. We look for it in church, in prayer, in the Bible. But, as Peace shows, even the most spiritual people can’t always find lasting rest.
Percy wrestles with this, thinking of the Apostle Paul, a man of great faith who still battled with a “thorn in the flesh.”
“If anyone should have found peace, surely it was Paul. Yet he too wrote about a thorn in the flesh, a trouble that never left him. He begged God to take it away. But God’s answer was not, ‘Here, be at peace,’ but ‘My grace is sufficient for you. My power is made perfect in weakness.’” Peace: Chapter 11
Maybe peace doesn’t mean all our problems go away. Maybe it means finding strength, standing, trusting—even when the thorn remains.
Death, Legacy, and the Real Lesson of Peace
There’s a chapter in Peace inspired by something I wrote called “Who Are You Living For? A Zimbabwean Truth About Life, Death, and Legacy” In Zimbabwe, funerals are big—crowds, tears, stories. But life always moves on.
“The world is quick to return to its daily rhythm, no matter how much it paused for you… You spent your whole life worrying about what people will think about you, and the sad truth is, they don’t.” Peace: Chapter 9
Legacy isn’t about what people say at your funeral. It’s about the lives you touch, the love you give, and the courage you show. Peace comes from living honestly, planting seeds that grow after you’re gone.
So, Is Peace Possible? After all this, can we ever really find peace? Here’s what Peace and my own life have taught me:
- Peace isn’t permanent. Treasure it when it comes.
- Stop living for other people’s approval.
- Have the hard conversations.
- Let go of what you can’t control.
- Invest in legacy, not applause.
- Nourish your faith, but know that even the faithful struggle.
- Don’t chase perfection: you can live with the struggle and still find peace.
Final Thoughts
There’s no formula for peace, especially in Zimbabwe, where challenges come fast and life rarely slows down. But maybe that’s the point. The search for peace is what makes us human. It’s about finding quiet moments in the chaos, holding on as long as you can, and passing them on to someone else.
If you’re looking for a story that doesn’t preach but invites you to search, I invite you to read Peace. And if you’ve already read it, share your thoughts. What does peace look like in your world? What lessons have you learned along the way?
The journey never ends, but we don’t have to walk it alone.
