Keith and a Prayer for Peace:This is my portrait of Keith and my prayer for peace. I want Peter's two minutes of peace. And I want a lot more than that.
I would like the killing to stop.
I would like for children to be able to play and not be blown apart by friendly or unfriendly fire and by bombs buried along the roadside or dropped to look like toys.
I would like for preganant women to stop being blown up or shot at checkpoints on their way to the hospital to give birth.
I would like for our troops to all come home safe and unharmed and not in body bags.
I would like for the people of other lands to know freedom to choose their own leaders, and for leaders to be free to govern their own countries.
But first, let's start with two minutes of peace at 8:00 PM December 30. It would be nice if it could be at the same time all around the world. But having two minutes of peace that jumps from time zone to time zone will also be nice. Weill you join us? Click here.
1 comment:
If I were a 12 year old child, I would heartily admire your lofty goal and look forward with great anticipation not only to the 2 minute miracle on 12/30 but to the day in my lifetime when the planet might sustain peace and harmony among its inhabitants and within its environments.
I am no longer 12 but closing in on 4 times 12 and yes along with that comes the residue of years of life experience and observation. I do not own a gun and hope never to have to. This has been the subject of many a debate with some who suggest [in today's world] I'm as good as dead without one. Thankfully I don't live in Camden, NJ or Los Angeles or Washington DC where violence is for some a way of life. It is not a "choice" but a symptom
of a larger pathology. Guns there are, like in any war, a necessary tool for survival. The language of negotiation and diplomacy assumes that there are 2 or more interested parties with something to gain by sitting down at the negotiating table and compromising a win win situation. The problem here is that those who are "left" to fend for themselves are competing for their own very survival or supremacy. Anyway, I stray from the point.
How do you define Peace? Does every person on the planet define peace the same way? There are many for whom peace is not even a word in their vocabulary. They opt for words like "Victory" or "Prevail". You know [who] I'm talking about.
Peace is not a momentous or "loud" occasion. Rather it is quiet. It springs from within. from a quiet place and reaches out of its own volition. Peace is attractive in its nature but not overtly overpowering. It has to be nurtured and cannot be betrayed or taken for granted.
History is repleat with examples of great peacemakers from the Iroqouis Confederation to Lincoln to Ghandi to Mandela just to name a few. And though those notable histories saw violence, their namesakes attempted to make peace through the process of making change.
Part of the human experience of relating involves tension. Healthy relationships have a necessary amount of tension like the tuned strings of a violin. The key is to tune the instrument correctly so as to play the harmony/melody correctly. The same can be said of human tension. It has to be retuned at each "playing" so as to make the experience positive and rewarding. Like the violin, if you wind the string too tight, it will break and be of no value or use. Conversely, if you tune the string too loosely, it will not resonate and will be of no present use or value.
The point is that Global peace might one day be achieved when we as "orchestra members" take time to tune our own instruments and look to the [almighty] conductor (our creator however you define that to be) to guide us in the stewardship of our planet and our social health. I suppose a two minute reflection at any time would be a start.
Post a Comment