Student Essay on The Path of Concordia

As world-renowned poet Ralph Waldo Emerson so wisely stated: "Peace cannot be achieved through violence; it can only be attained through understanding." Concordia, or "oneness of heart", may also be translated into terms of "mutual agreement" or "harmony." In the same spirit, parents tell their children not to judge or quarrel with another child unless they have, "walked a mile in their shoes." These are simply modern-day versions of the original moral taught by Saint Augustine, who accurately believed that concordia is the root of peace. From poets to parents, it is obvious how far the influence of this "harmony" can spread. Augustine believed that as the source of peace, it is the essence of friendship and that it is possible at every level of human society.

A friendship typically involves two parties that share a common bond and have some degree of good will toward one another. It would be difficult to imagine a friendship in which neither of the two parties involved harbored any kind of good feeling toward the other. It is difficult because a friendship is inherently a shared relationship, having a type of "harmony" or "mutual agreement" between these parties. Without this Concordia, there would be a disharmony, there would be no peace between the parties, and the relationship would fail. It would cease to be a friendship. It would fail because of a lack of tranquility, a loss of peace. If all men had such Concordia, such "harmony" between them, then there would be peace between them as well. And logically, if all men of all nations were in a perpetual state of "mutual agreement" then there would be universal peace.

Augustine stated that concord is at the root of peace of every human society whether it be the family, the state, or voluntary associations. In the family: the parents, bound by the sanctity of marriage in a form of eternal friendship, try to raise their children to imitate their Concordia. Children, given time, will become much more inclined to, "walk a mile in another's shoes," rather than feel the pangs guilt and remorse brought on naturally to one locked in unjust disharmony with another. It is in this way that the family becomes harmonious and attains the "oneness of heart" required to remain at peace and continue to function as a whole. Without this Concordia the family would cease to function and therefore no longer be a family. Similar to the failed friendship, it would be because of a lack of peace that this family crumbled.

Likewise, a state consisting of functioning friendships and families, and strong bonds between them tempered by concordia, would function well and in peace. A state founded on discord and a lack of peace would enjoy no such tranquility. Projected on a larger scale, on voluntary associations between such states, only states that possess an "oneness of heart" are capable of "mutual agreement." The fallen states would only arise when they have evolved according to the path of Concordia, in order to be in harmony with the world around them.

Concordia is defined as the "oneness of heart" that is the source of friendship. Friendships exist, and always have existed, at every level of society. The family is one large unit functioning as one. The state is a connection of these families and forged friendships. The alliances of such states are large scale friendships, brought on by harmony, brought on by Concordia. They function in peace because of their "oneness of heart." Therefore it is logical to assess that such "harmony" has the potential to exist at every level of society. It is because of this mutual agreement, this possibility of peace, that we enjoy peacetime and partnerships in so many places of the world today.