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The greenhouse was quiet in the early January evening, its patched glass fogged with the breath of winter. Emil sat at the scarred table, the ledger open to the Forest Takes Root entry, its pages now filled with notes on Kyiv’s upcoming pilot. The seedling tray beside him held basil and beans, their roots weaving deeper through the soil, a silent reminder of growth in cracked ground. The laptop screen glowed with Ukrainian news—air raid alerts, displaced youth, shattered homes—stirring doubts in Emil’s mind.

Grandfather Tomas entered, his stick tapping softly on the floor, a mug of tea in hand. He settled on a stool, his eyes warm in the lamp’s glow. “You’re deep in thought again, Emil. Kyiv weighs on you?”

Emil nodded, rubbing his brow. “The UN wants us there in March. East Riverton’s 15% drop was hard enough—gangs, mistrust. But Kyiv? War’s rubble isn’t a lunchroom fight. How do I apply the Four Absences to something so big? I need to see how it works at scale, or I’ll fail those kids.”

Grandfather sipped his tea, his voice steady. “Scale begins with understanding, Emil. Let’s apply the framework to a case like the Fractured Peninsula—the Korean War. It’s a story of absences that turned a nation’s fracture into an enduring scar. Walk with me through it, and you’ll see the roots for Kyiv. But first, remember this about peace: it’s the product of a positive mental attitude, while violence stems from negative thinking. Peace is nature’s plan—violence disrupts it. In peace, society thrives with creativity; in violence, it falters. We often misread suffering as cosmic injustice or someone else’s fault, not a summons to mend.

Emil leaned forward, the ledger ready. “Start with Absence One—forgetting life’s design.”

Grandfather nodded. “Absence of Wisdom: The Korean War began after World War II, when superpowers forgot life’s impermanence. The US and Soviet Union divided Korea at the 38th parallel, treating it as a permanent conquest rather than a temporary trust. They ignored interdependence, chasing ideological victory—communism versus democracy—as if empires and superpowers last forever. This absence bred arrogance, and that arrogance fed directly into Absence Two.”

Emil scribbled. “How does it feed into Absence Two?”

“Absence of Values,” Grandfather explained. “When wisdom fades, values like justice, mercy, cooperation, trust, and dignity erode. The arrogance of permanent division led the North to invade the South in 1950, driven by vengeance for colonial wounds and ideological zeal. The UN coalition responded with force, but mercy was absent—civilians caught in crossfire, cities bombed to rubble. Cooperation faltered as allies pursued their agendas, trust shattered in armistice talks that dragged for years. When foundational values erode, the vulnerable suffer silently. And power profits from the stalemate. This loss of values set the stage for Absence Three.”

Emil nodded. “So Absence Two leads to Absence Three?”

“Yes,” Grandfather said. “Absence of Humanity: When values are abandoned, people are reduced to labels. Koreans became ‘Communists’ or ‘Capitalists,’ ‘enemies’ or ‘allies.’ Soldiers were tools in a proxy war, civilians collateral. The US labeled the North ‘aggressors,’ the Soviets called the South ‘puppets.’ This dehumanization fueled atrocities—mass executions, forced labor—closing doors to positive living, which peace naturally opens. When we forget who people are, we reduce them to what we fear. And that dehumanization flowed into Absence Four.”

Emil leaned in. “How does Absence Three lead to Absence Four?”

“Absence of Awareness,” Grandfather replied. “When humanity is stripped away, primal instincts for love, safety, recognition, and purpose twist into greed for power, fear of loss. The North’s leaders craved recognition as liberators, the South safety from invasion. Unchanneled, these instincts drove division—the DMZ a scar where purpose became perpetual standoff, stifling the creative potential peace nurtures. Safety turns to arms races. Recognition becomes parades and prestige or pride that hides inequality. Purpose hardens into slogans—‘protect the revolution,’ ‘outcompete forever.’ Love is redirected—toward the leader or toward oneself alone. This chain—wisdom to values, values to humanity, humanity to awareness—turned a fracture into a war. “

Grandfather’s eyes held the lanternlight. “Ignored instincts become shadows. Honored, they become lanterns.”

Emil closed the ledger. “So for Kyiv, we address the absences: wisdom in remembering impermanence, values in mercy, humanity in seeing stories, awareness in channeling instincts toward safety and purpose. But how do we plant peace there?”

Grandfather smiled. “Peace is the soil, Emil—not a seed with conditions. It’s the natural state, where positive attitudes flourish and violence’s negativity fades. When peaceful conditions prevail, all activities—mural boards, quiet boxes, circles—take their proper form, opening doors to creativity and healing. Violence in Kyiv has disrupted this, but your Accord can restore it. Plant peace organically, without interference, and let justice bloom as both sides nurture it. Go as gardeners, not enforcers, and the absences will lighten.”

Emil exhaled, the weight lifting slightly. “Then we’ll tend it, like the seedling here.”

Grandfather smiled. “Now you are not prescribing victory. You are preparing weather—soil, water, shade—so that justice has a place to sprout.” He tapped the lantern. “A nation is not its flags or fences. It is grandmothers who remember the same lullabies.”

Emil closed the ledger gently. “Then the path is not a treaty alone,” he said, “but a thousand tended tasks that make reunion imaginable again.”

“And that,” Grandfather answered, “is how you will carry yourself in Ukraine—or anywhere war has left its shadow. Not with answers, but with conditions in which answers can take root.”

They sat until the lantern dimmed and dawn pressed softly through the glass. The seedling did not move, but somehow looked steadier.

Ledger Entry — Lighting the Rooms (Korea)

Date: January 10, 2026

Symptom: Need to scale comprehension before Kyiv; practice applying the Four Absences to a long, frozen conflict.

Disease — The Four Absences (Global):

• Absence 1 (Exclusion/Wisdom): Division treated as destiny; suffering normalized as fate rather than a call to heal.

• Absence 2 (Vengeance/Values): Justice, mercy, trust, dignity eroded by prisons, punitive laws, and profit from stalemate.

• Absence 3 (Dehumanization/Humanity): Kin reduced to enemies; families die apart; heritage erased or commodified.

• Absence 4 (Unheard Cry/Awareness): Safety, recognition, purpose, love distorted into arms races, prestige, slogans, and isolation.

Investigator’s Response:
Built a Comprehension Protocol:

1. Set shared background;
2. Map Absence 1→Absence 2→Absence 3→Absence 4→Cycle;
3. Pair each Absence with its Root—Inclusion, Restoration, Recognition, Resonance;
4. Design “peace as soil” pilots—humanitarian corridors, funded reunions, shared heritage work, twin-city exchanges, joint learning zones;
5. Define dignity metrics;
6. Pledge non-interference while the soil sets.

Outcome:

Framework tested on a global case without side-taking; concrete, tenderable steps identified. Team readiness for Kyiv strengthened; Winter Ledger to include the protocol.

Note:
No peace paper outlasts unlit rooms. But one lantern—held by hands on both sides—can show the floorboards again. Peace is the soil; justice is the harvest. Guard the soil.