Celebrate Peace Day

For the invitation to participate and for sharing wonderful quotes and reflections.

Peace to all.

is in my thoughts, words and deeds.

It may not change the news headlines, but I have to believe that every time we make an effort for peace, no matter how small, the world moves just a little closer to heaven and farther from hell. May our children play together in a world without strife. Namaste, teammates.

Thank you, Wren, for the invitation. I did not know about International Peace Day.

The following is an excerpt of a lecture I have read and reread multiple times. Every time I read it, the words go directly to my heart and mind. My celelebration of International Peace Day included working towards establishing inner peace. I actively sought to love others today and spread kindness to those with whom I came in contact.

The 14th Dalai Lama
Nobel Lecture – December 11, 1989

“Responsibility does not only lie with the leaders of our countries or with those who have been appointed or elected to do a particular job. It lies with each one of us individually. Peace, for example, starts with each one of us. When we have inner peace, we can be at peace with those around us. When our community is in a state of peace, it can share that peace with neighbouring communities, and so on. When we feel love and kindness towards others, it not only makes others feel loved and cared for, but it helps us also to develop inner happiness and peace. And there are ways in which we can consciously work to develop feelings of love and kindness. For some of us, the most effective way to do so is through religious practice. For others it may be non-religious practices. What is important is that we each make a sincere effort to take our responsibility for each other and for the natural environment we live in seriously.”

http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1989/lama-lecture.html

but the day is over. New goal: support the Iraq Moratorium, especially on the 3rd Friday of each month.

http://www.iraqmoratorium.org/

Peace

So today I’m just thinking about peace and what it means.

I grew up Mennonite, and one of the main values of Mennonite-ism (apart from some fairly standard Protestant theology) is pacifism. I guess I’ve always been anti-war, then (although I do have a bloodthirsty streak that sometimes enjoys fictional violence…sorry). Pacifism is relatively easy now that we have conscientious objector status (not like my grandfather’s time when folks were routinely imprisoned for refusing to fight, although that still happens, too). It’s relatively easy to say “I’m for peace.”

The thing about true peace, though, is that it’s not just the absence of war. It’s the presence of justice. Violence comes in many insidious forms – social. Emotional. Economic. Being an advocate for peace doesn’t just mean ending this latest war; it means fighting for the right of all human beings to be able to survive and thrive, to choose their own destinies, to speak their own minds, and to do all this without fear of reprisal from governments, corporations, or other humans. It means sharing the wealth. It means not taking advantage of those less fortunate.

And most of all, it means recognizing the other as self. It’s a hard thing to do – one of our most basic leaps of consciousness is learning that we are separate from others. But it’s this illusion of separation that makes all violence possible. The truth is, we all want the same things, or at least, there are some wants that we all share. There is more common ground than we think. We’re all connected, and when others suffer, I suffer. And when others laugh in sincere joy, I laugh too.

In that spirit, here is a link to a remarkably simple and moving street art project that explores the idea of common ground in Israel-Palestine. I heartily recommend the short films posted, even though many are in French without subtitles. The idea comes across just fine.

I just gave money to Move On in support of their work to end US occupation in Iraq.

informing him that today is “Peace Day” and urging him to support American troops by voting to end the war in Iraq as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, my Congressman, Jon Porter, is one of Bush’s rubberstamps. He doesn’t like listening to constituents, just to his commander in chief. I guess we will simply have to remind him who he is supposed to be working for come the next election.

Current Cost of the War in Iraq
$453,464,230,000
To see more details, click here.

little black ribbons at work to-day,
because it is also the first Iraq Moratorium Day.

Part of me suspects I am an idiot, but I do these things, nevertheless.