Dreaming Big for December Peace Challenge: Celebrating a World United By Love 8

After last month’s challenge of loving thy enemy, Kozo wants to give you a party.  

So this month’s challenge is to plan a party that will ripple peace to the world. Use everything in your imagination for this peace party. Here are a few ideas:

  • You can hold your party anywhere. Where would you host your peace party? How many people would be at the party?
  • You can invite any guest you want from the past, present, or future. Who will play music at the party? Who will contribute artwork for the party? Who will give speeches?
  • What food can you serve that would bring peace in its consumption?
  • What about a group activity at your party? Would you have everyone at the party participate in one action for peace?
  • Feel free to use images, videos, or music in your post to give others the idea of what your party would be like.
  • What combination of events, people, and place would bring about the most peace at your party? What if you had Bob Dylan perform a duet with Ysuf Islam (formerly Cat Stevens)? What if you had a panel on compassion featuring Jesus, the Buddha, Muhammad, and Mother Teresa? Let your imagination run wild for peace.
  • What would you have at your party that would bring more joy, smiles, love, and peace into the world?

Don’t forget to link to at least one other B4Peace post and add your post to the Linkz collection.

A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination. — Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela’s life inspired many including me, so I dedicate this fictional post to his memory and the memory of everyone who has used peaceful means to change the world in a positive direction. I’m also taking creative liberties here and writing about a party after peace is a fact instead of a party to create peace. After all, if you’re going to dream, why not dream big?

Finally the world is at peace. Abusers and abused have all let go of their anger and replaced it with true forgiveness. All children now experience unconditional love and nurturing from the moment of conception allowing them to spread the love and nurturing to everyone they encounter. Religious, ethnic, and economic intolerance have vanished as people now see hearts and souls not just outer trimmings.

It’s time for a virtual world party. Everyone’s invited. Those who do not have Internet can go to public forums in their neighborhoods. Many are also holding mini-gatherings. His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Pope Francis, and many other world leaders will address the world via a live broadcast. It’s a two-day holiday, a time for everyone to express their gratitude for a peaceful way of life.

We’re having close friends and family over, but we will also be connecting virtually with those who previously let us down and even with those who previously wounded us. It is time to celebrate change and the rebirth of kindness. We’ll be steaming the live performances of all of the wonderful parties that are taking place live in Sydney, Los Angeles, London, Kabul, Buenos Aires, Vienna, Beijing, Prague, Kuala Lumpur, etc.

Some famous musical artists are even performing new songs they wrote for the events. One of these is a song written and performed by Zhou Bichang of China, and Taylor Swift of America. Yo-Yo Ma will be performing with the Beijing Symphony Orchestra in Pyongyang, North Korea. Five years ago who would have thought this was possible?

Every city is serving ethnic foods that represents other parts of the world and many are serving dishes that represent sticking together like Japanese mochi and Cantonese gau (aka nian gao). The world plans to stick together for good this time.

And when the celebrations end, world leaders will continue organizing their communities to address global environmental issues. Most of the huge power companies have already switched to cleaner energy sources. Humanity is finally working together to heal all aspects of the world.

Life? Do We Learn From Our Past or Are We Condemned to Repeat It? 2

The Quote

Most of us know some variation of the famous line by George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Yet, we keep repeating past mistakes again and again.

Those We Admire

Most of us admire people like His Holiness, the fourteen Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King, Jr. and others who showed the world that there are gentler solutions to problems facing society. So, why do we continue to support meanness by failing to speak up when we see it and when we know it is wrong? How can we teach our children to learn from their mistakes if we fail as citizens of the world to learn from ours?

Mistakes

You may be asking yourself, “What mistakes?” Only you can answer for yourself. Let your heart be your guide.

I firmly believe mistakes are our best teachers. I hope so anyway since I have made more than I like. However, this post is about our future, our children.

The Way We Fail

We are failing the next generation when we say things like:

  • What’s the big deal?
  • Bullying has been around forever.
  • Kids will be kids.
  • That kid had it coming!
  • That kid is strange!
  • Don’t play with that kid!
  • I don’t like their parents.

or

When we say:

  • The school is responsible.
  • The parents are responsible.
  • I blame the Internet.
  • I blame social media.
  • That kid just needs a spanking!
  • That kid should be expelled!
  • Those parents should be sued!

or

When we are silent.

The Truth

The truth is everyone in society plays a part. Look around you! Work toward becoming a more compassionate person and setting a better example for our children by speaking up when your heart says:

  • This does not feel right!
  • Why would this be okay?
  • Should we really do that?
  • What happened to liberty and justice for all? That is what it says right? Not liberty for the majority, or just some, or just the ones who are like us?

Make a Difference

Refuse to believe those who say:

  • What can I do?
  • I’m just one person!
  • No one will listen to me!
  • What is the point?

Here’s what you can do if you do not trust your own voice:

  • Support those in your community who speak out if you are not comfortable speaking out yourself.
  • Contact someone you admire who is speaking out and let them know that you are grateful for their voice.
  • Tell your children why it is important to speak out and to back up other children who speak up if they do not feel they can do it themselves.

Inspiring Quotes From Those We Admire

Because we all share this planet earth, we have to learn to live in harmony and peace with each other and with nature. This is not just a dream, but a necessity.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.  ~ Dalai Lama XIV

A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

The difference between what we do and what we are capable of doing would suffice to solve most of the world’s problems.  ~ Mahatma Gandhi

I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.  ~Nelson Mandela

There is no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children. ~Nelson Mandela

I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.  ~Mother Teresa

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.  ~Mother Teresa

Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., The Purpose of Education

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’  ~Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream, 1963