I have turned off the television and radio.
I don't want
to hear any more bad news. It upsets my whole day because I
can't do anything about it. I don't need any more upsets in
my life.
I don't even have peace in my family. How
can I do anything about the stupid world if I can't have a peaceful
life at home?
I think we should take the world leaders
and lock them all in a big room. They wouldn't be allowed to
get out until they come up with a solution to world peace.
You know, if the individual lives a life
that is a good
example for his or her children, then that is a wonderful start.
The adults can pass on the idea that peace is a better alternative
(to war) and then the children will want peace.
We have better communication in our world
today. It is
better or maybe I should have said we get the news faster today.
Faster doesn't mean better. We know what is happening and it
leads to frustration. It doesn't promote peace that way. May
be we should put a ban on the Arab news to see if that would
stop the kidnaping. They do it for publicity.
You can't be peaceful if you have to fight
for food. Why not take the war budget of the big countries and
help feed the people who need it?
I think I can think peaceful thoughts when
I am in a
conflict with anyone. It may not promote peace in the
world but it would help the immediate situation, my situation.
Maybe everyone has given up on peace. Some
days it seems that everyone is looking out for number one and
you have to fight for your job, and your way home from work.
If you aren't a peaceful person to begin with then you can't
teach it to others.
Maybe we should put Dr. Phil in as Secretary
of State.
He might tell Bush to smarten up. Then he could straighten up
the rest of the world.
It isn't enough to tell people to think
and pray for peace. You have to have results, immediate results
or people don't bother to continue thinking and praying. We
aren't used to long term solutions. We feel that it is out of
our hands. Maybe we should protest in a meaningful way, the
way Thoreau did by refusing to pay his taxes. I honestly don't
know if I would be willing to go to jail for a cause like that
but if we had enough people they couldn't put us all in jail
could they?
Look how people rally around for a cause
like Research for Breast Cancer. Saying you are for world peace
doesn't mean anything anymore. It (world peace) has to be sexy,
has to be the thing you can do something about. We have to have
short term goals and then results will change for the better.
Don't tell me to write to my politician.
They can't do
anything unless the president or the prime minister tells
them to do it. Tell me what I can do at home. Tell me how I
can make a difference in my own neighborhood. Where I live there
are street gangs. Nobody can control them. If my life and my
peace are at risk around my home, how can I live peacefully?
Give me some practical advice.
Maybe the clue is that we all start out
as babies. Give each newborn a chance to grow up peacefully.
Feed the child nourishing food. Keep it safe. Educate it in
the ways of peace not war. Teach conflict resolution. Start
now and we may have a more peaceful world in twenty years.
I think there will always be evil in the
world. The way
to fight evil is not head on but in a round-about-way.
Let us clean up ourselves first. We have horrid examples of
very large companies out of control. Greed seems to be the way
to go. How can we say that we are better than the rest of the
world if we defend the greed either through small punishments
or no punishment? How can we defend that way of life and promote
world peace?
We have to start with ourselves. I have
to start with me. Tell me what I can do. If I think it's workable,
then
I'll do it. I won't march for peace but I will give some
money to CARE or some organization I trust. If we don't solve
the problems of the children then there is no hope for the future.
