 |
| The World Harmony Peace Statue, Cardiff |
A week ago today I sat writing our Remembrance Day post. The post ended with an adaption of A Litany of Peace:
for peace-makers and peace-keepers,
who seek to keep this world secure and free;
for all who bear the burden and privilege of leadership,
political, military and religious;
asking for gifts of wisdom and resolve in the search for
reconciliation and peace.
We hope for Peace.
and my own words:
If we are to maintain our peace and freedom, we must always remember.
We will remember them.
 |
| “Peace for Paris” Illustration by Jean Jullien |
One week on and peace (“Peace for Paris” and “Peace for the World”) is heavy on our hearts once more.
Just in the last three days, we have seen suicide bombings in Beirut, the terrorist attacks on Paris and now the bombing of the Syrian training camps (by France). I know these are only the widely reported ones. I know that these wars have been going on for many years. But just these three events alone are shocking enough for us to see we need world change.
People ask, “Are you scared?” I’m not scared of being hurt or killed (we live every day knowing that anything can happen) but I am scared of living in a world where our leaders seem incapable of making world peace a possibility. It’s something I have always believed in and never want to stop. We can attend protests and vote for different political parties, but at the end of the day, the world decisions are out of our hands, out of our control. That’s scary.
On a simplistic level, surely everyone has the same goal of world peace, but geography, economics, politics and religion complicate the situation. It can be disheartening.
However, seeing so many people sharing the #peaceforparis and #worldpeace emblems does give me hope that it is still possible.
The Dalai Lama believes that we can all do something to contribute to world peace.
“Peace in the world relies on individuals finding inner peace”
and reminds us all of
“the human values that unite us all as a single family on this planet”
in his essay titled A Human Approach to World peace , which ends with the following words:
I have written the above lines
To tell my constant feeling.
Whenever I meet even a ‘foreigner’,
I have always the same feeling:
‘I am meeting another member of the human family.,
This attitude has deepened
My affection and respect for all beings.
May this natural wish be
My small contribution to world peace.
I pray for a more friendly,
More caring, and more understanding
Human family on this planet.
To all who dislike suffering,
Who cherish lasting happiness –
This is my heartfelt appeal.
I remember when Danny was a baby, I would sit cuddling him, listening to his cot mobile play “Imagine” by John Lennon, as I imagined what sort of world he would grow up in.
I still hope it will be a peaceful one.
