Tuesday, July 15, 2008

It's Peace Tuesday!

The purpose of this blog is to have people focus on Peace each Tuesday! They can focus for a moment, several moments or all day. They can meditate on it or take a small, medium or large action for Peace. They can look to see how they could bring more Peace into their lives, and by doing so, bring more Peace into the world! This last sentence is really the point. I believe that world Peace begins with each human being making a commitment to Peace in their own lives FIRST. You can look at my first blog for a full explanation of what I'm up to with this blog.

Did you know that the U.S. government funds something called the United States Institute for Peace (USIP)? Well it does, or we do! It works internationally bringing people in conflict together to talk in order to avoid war or physical conflict. It's philosophy is that international peace is possible and that conflicts can be managed, examined, reduced and eventually eliminated. And it just broke ground on a new headquarters in D.C. on the mall near several war memorials and it will house a public education center, on the national mall near several of our war memorials. How fitting that we will have a Peace Center in the midst of war memorials!

There is also an amazing organization called The National Peace Foundation, founded by Rosalynn Carter and Betty Bumpers 26 years ago, working to get our government to have a focus for world Peace. The Peace Foundation's mission is to rid the world of nuclear weapons and educate children as a way to expand Peace in the world. And there are several U.S. universities, UC Irvine, UC San Diego who work with grants t0 study and further the cause of Peace. I'm thrilled and moved that we have even a small part of our government bueuracracy focused on Peace.

I also want to clue you into a local teacher, Nesreen Khashan who teaches an on line global studies course in Peace at Mission College in San Jose! She was one of 17 community college teacher who went to Washington to a USIP conference recently to learn creative ways to teach peace.

So, our federal government has a Peace focus in the form of the USIP. And above that the United Nations was formed to mediate and prevent conflict, and so it also has a Peace focus. Yahoo! What's missing though, is a local focus, at the state, county, city, individual level. I say that if Peace isn't showing up in the world, it is because everyone isn't taking it on, isn't focused on it or willing to be responsible for it, even in small ways.

That's the purpose of this blog. To have you and me and your Aunt Tilly and Uncle Phillip focus on Peace and see how we can further Peace in our lives, our community, our country and our planet.

Here are some suggestions for this week.

1. If you haven't already done this, I recommend you go to www.tut.com/about_nftu.htm and check out this site. It's Thoughts From the Universe and when you sign up you get daily messages that inspire you.

2.Another site is www.zaadz.com where people interested in personal and community transformation can hook up.

3. I'm reading a great book called Wisdom for a Liveable Planet by Carl McDaniel, which gathers stories of inspiring people across this country who work to create a sustainable, and Peaceful, environment for us to live in.

Lastly, I leave you with a Buddhist definition of compassion. Compassion involves the willingness to feel all pain, universal pain so as to let fear SOFTEN US, rather than harden us into resistance. It is the recognition that anyone's darkness is ours. It seems to me that this is the place to start personally being more peaceful. If we can recognize and stay or sit with our fear and the fear we see in the world, we are less likely to react by running away or getting angry. When I meet people who are angry, particularly people who are angry with me, what there is for me to do is be with their anger (making sure that I am physically safe) and allow it. When I resist it, insist that they are wrong or stupid, I kill Peace for both of us. I can allow people's anger without agreeing that they are right and without changing course.

Eleanor Roosevelt said, "It isn't enough to talk about Peace". It may not be enough, however I would add that thinking about it, focusing on it and talking about it ALOT is a great place to begin. Then comes passion, commitment and action. What's one thing you will do for Peace today?

Love,

Darlene