InSpiritry Podcast: Peacemaking
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Twenty Minutes to Rekindle Your Spirit!
Theme: Peacemaking
Are you disturbed by the conflict in the world or maybe even the conflict in your own life?
Join Anne McCrady for this as she takes a look at how we can be peacemakers for ourselves and others.
Anne shares how peace is not just the absence of global violence, peace is a choice we make about how we live each day. In this compelling program, Anne McCrady inspires listeners to make peace a personal intention and peacemaking a daily practice. She reminds listeners that if we join forces for peace, the outcome can be a better world, a healthier society, a more loving family and that greatest of blessings: a peaceful heart.
Quotes by: Mahatma Gandhi, Howard Hunter, John F. Kennedy, Deepak Chopra, Isabel McCrady
An Inspirational Story about: Betty Williams, Northern Ireland Peace Activitist, 1977 Nobel Peace Laureate
Books Recommendations for: Peace Is the Way by Deepak Chopra; The Search for a Non-Violent Future by Michael Nagler; Speak Peace by Marshall B. Rosenber
Poems: What I Tell Children and Sus Madres by Anne McCrady
Read the complete text for this Podcast!
Today’s Theme: Peacemaking
In a world of conflict and violence where power has become a weapon, peace has its own kind of power: power over hatred, over anger, over injustice, over despair. Peacemaking challenges us to do more than mourn over our frustration or the sad state of affairs of others. We can take action to make a difference; we can begin to live each day as true peacemakers!
Wisdom Quotes: On Peace
I object to violence especially when it appears to do good. The good it does is temporary; the evil it does is permanent. Mahatma Gandhi
We need a more peaceful world, growing out of more peaceful families and neighborhoods and communities. To secure and cultivate such peace, we must love others, even our enemies as well as our friends.” Howard W. Hunter
Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures. John F. Kennedy
Most violence in the world is not committed by bad people. It is commmitted by people who are expressing what is inside them, and what is inside them is rage and fear. Deepak Chopra
Encourage one another. Find the time. Keep a promise. Forgive a grudge. Listen carefully. Think first of others. Laugh a little. Take pleasure in the earth. Speak your love. Speak it once again. Isabel McCrady
A Story for the Heart: Betty Williams and the Peace People
In 1976 in Northern Ireland, British troops were battling the hit-and-run tactics of the Irish Republican Army, who were demanding a break with English rule. On a hot August afternoon, British soldiers in Landrovers were speeding through western Belfast in pursuit of a car driven by a young IRA member, Danny Lennon, who had a passenger on board. Speeding through the neighborhoods along Finaghy Road North, the soldiers opened fire. Danny Lennon was shot and killed, even as his car continued on.
Also out on along Finaghy Road that sunny day was Anne Maquire and her four children. Anne was pushing little Andrew in a stroller while her youngsters, Joanne, John and Mark rode their bicyles alongside.
Suddenly, the car containing Danny Lennon’s body swerved into the family, slamming into the school behind them. The carnage was horrific. Eight-year-old Joanne and six-weeks-old Andrew were killed immediately. John died the following day. Anne, herself, had leg, pelvic and brain injuries. Unconscious for days, she awoke to the news of her children. She never did recover from the emotional scars and took her own life months later.
What happened next could only be described as miraculous. Neighborhood shrines were set up for the lost family. Chapels were packed with mourners. A petition was begun to end the violence and protest plans were made. Enraged by the senselessness of the mounting violence, a woman who lived near the accident, named Betty Williams, contacted the media and ask those interested in taking action to call her. At the same time, Anne Maguire’s sister Mairead made an appeal to the world on television. Further away, Ciaran McKeown, an Irish newspaper correspondent who had begun to write about a “philosophy of peace” was covering the story. In the local church, a visiting missionary was in while the regular priest was on vacation; his mission field had been India where he studied the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. He shared his thoughts with Betty and Mairead and Ciaran.
The seeds of peace were in place. Over the next few weeks, these three blessed people came together to found a movement called the “Peace People.” The people of Ireland rallied behind them in marches across the country. Within six months, there was a 70% drop in violence and destruction. Following those days, the Peace People went further, seeking to address the root causes of conflict and calling for nonviolence, justice and peace. Their work was nothing short of courageous. For that, Betty Williams and Mairead Corrigan were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1977.
InSpiration: Are you a Peacemaker?
Ten years before Betty Williams made her heroic efforts, I was ten years old. The United States was deep in its own struggle with civil rights, racial turmoil and the War in Vietnam. That year (1966) my beloved school music teacher, Mr. Martin, chose as the theme of our annual music program, World Peace. With xylophones, keyboards, recorders, drums and voices, we paid tribute to the idea of harmony with songs like “If I Had a Hammer” and “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing.” What I remember most though and what brings me to tears still today is the closing number we sang as hopeful fifth graders, a song that went on to become an anthem for the world:
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth, the peace that was meant to be…
Today, years later, world peace is still beyond our grasp, but like so many countries in the world, Northern Ireland is making its way toward a truly peaceful, vibrant, democratic society. That was made possible because in the darkest days, Betty Williams and others like her had the compassion to care, the courage to speak, the creativity to see solutions, the wisdom to collaborate with others, the knowledge that truth is the best force for good and the ability to celebrate life even in the shadow of death.
Now living in the United States herself, Betty Williams continues her work as the President of the World Centers of Compassion for Children and other groups. She appeared in July, 2007 as an honored guest at the Dallas International Peace Conference, an event I attended. It was a moving presentation, as were the speeches of so many other women who are working for peace in Africa and Azjerbijan and Russia and Palestine.
That is the power of InSpiritry: each of us can act on a very personal level to make a difference in our corner of the world! So, what about you?
- What is your message of peace?
- Who in your community needs your help?
- How can you use become more compassionate?
- How can you be more creative in your approach to conflict?
- Who is ready to collaborate with you?
- How can you bring together science, knowledge, wisdom and insight?
- In what ways can you be more courageous in seeking peace?
- What peacefulness in your life could you celebrate now?
Book Recommendations:
Here are three inspiring books on peace you may find helpful:
Peace is the Way - Bringing War and Violence to an End
by Deepak Chopra
This book by one of the world’s bestselling spiritual authors challenges to move away from the idea of ending war and toward the non-violence ideas of Gandhi, who said “There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” With commentary by Desmond Tutu, the Dalai Lama, Betty Williams and Dr. Wayne Dyer, this book is both visionary and provocative. Chopra ends by offering a seven step plan for personal peacemaking.
The Search for a Non-Violent Future: A Promise of Peace for Ourselves
by Michael Nagler
Dr. Nagler is a professor emeritus at the University of California in Berkely, where he founded and still teaches at the University of California Peace and Conflict Program. In this book, Nagler offers his philosophy of conflict resolution and details the history and heroes of the non-vioence movement from Gandhi to the present day. He calls readers to five ways we can “do something” to hasten a peaceful world.
Speak Peace in a World of Conflict: What You Say Next Will Change Your World
by Marshall B. Rosenberg
Dr. Rosenberg is an international mediator and healer who has concentrated his work on how words can be both weapons and tools. Using his forty years of experience with international conflict mediation, he offers practical peacemaking methods. If used on a personal level, his suggestions could transform our relationships, especially those damaged by anger or conflict. Speak Peace inspires readers to choose their words carefully while growing into a conscious practice of peace.
Poetry:
Though Peace alludes us, I believe we know what to do!
Sus Madres
Staring into the mirror
of an early morning’s moon,
our days already pregnant
with causes to feed,
there are hopes that we hum
while we work, wanting
to encourage, to be encouraged.
At the end of the day,
when tears are all we can spare,
there are soft thoughts that float
above us in the night
as we wait for men
to learn what we already know.
Let us promise each other
that one day soon we will leave
our kitchens, our desks, our bedsides
and wearing sweet-mama smiles
settle the backyard brawl
our world has become.
Like bishops let us lay hands
on the shoulders of leaders,
look deep into the eyes of kings
and offer them the same
patient divine wisdom
that raised our children
and their troubled friends:
Taste one another’s tears.
Sing the song of laughter.
With all gifts, share generously.
Hatred never heals anything.
The world can be better.
Peace is possible.
You can believe these things.
We know. We are your mothers.
What I Tell Children
When our minds are tired
of sorting pieces of evening news,
what to keep, what to throw away,
we must say the names
of the things inside us:
fear, passion, anger, loss, joy.
Our mouths must taste the sounds
of them so that we can choose
between the bitter and the sweet.
Our ears must hear the hard truth
of every consonant, voice
the wisdom of each vowel.
Above the machine gun chatter
of battle field commentators,
we must call out the names
of the miracles we have pulled
from the rubble of hatred.
We must live out loud.
We must speak of peace.
Ten Ways to Become an Instrument of Peace
The mystic poet Rumi wrote that there are “a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground,” a hundred ways to be holy, a hundred ways to bless the earth. Here are ten of the hundred ways to become an instrument of peace.
1. Seek Internal Peace - meditate, pray, release, forgive, repent, heal
2. Think Peace - read, study, consider, internalize, practice
3. Experience Peace - feel deeply, care, remember, worship
4. Share Peace - converse, collaborate, listen, tell, write
5. Speak Peace - kindness, joy, beauty, hope, love, patience
6. Exhibit Peace - humility, wisdom, patience, friendship, compassion
7. Create Peace - imagine, invite, empower, tools, set example
8. Act for Peace - courage, speak up, take action, avoid conflict, heal
9. Spread Peace - word of mouth, email, internet, phone, letters, messages
10. Celebrate Peace - laugh, sing, hug, pleasure, optimism, gratitude, praise
Today’s Promise:
InSpiritry requires us to act in order to inspire others. Will you join this promise?
This week I will become a Peace Person. I will seek peace in the thoughts I allow, in the words I use, in the actions I take and in the prayers of my heart. While living for peace, I will also look for ways to inspire others to do the same. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.
This week may you be a peacemaker
blessed by your practice of InSpiritry:
Compassion, Creativity, Collaboration,
Consilience, Courage, Celebration
Blessing to you
Anne McCrady
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September 3rd, 2007 at 8:17 am
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