When ceasefires collapse within hours of their announcement, when both sides claim the other struck first, when the intervals meant for healing become windows for recrimination, we confront the question that has haunted every generation: what makes peace stick? The preacher’s observation—that there is a season for war and a season for peace—may seem obvious until we live through the moment when two sides have declared a truce and still cannot agree that it exists. We might wonder, standing in this particular hour, whether the desire for peace and the momentum of conflict can truly occupy the same space, or whether we are witnessing the ancient struggle between what we wish for and what we seem unable to resist.