A CHANCE FOR PEACE by Peggy Wolf We sang it. We chanted it. We hollered and screamed. John Lennons “Give Peace a Chance” was our anti-war anthem during the late 60s and into the 70s. We didnt achieve true peace then, and now more than four decades later, we are still at war. Ever expanding technology opened unpredicted avenues for us to communicate, to understand, to reach out, and to come to agreements with both friends and foes. We have become a global society. We are intertwined and more dependent on our foreign neighbors, and they on us, than ever before. Yet like school kids on the playground, we fight, call each other names, and become bullies as we struggle for control and power. We sacrifice our fit and young citizens to man the front lines because we let our differences divide us. Different skin colors, different cultures, different deities combine to implant a wedge between us for the sake of power, for the sake of dominance and superiority. Many of us struggle to find peace within our families, brother against brother, mother against father. So how can we expect to achieve peace in our communities, our country, and on our Earth? Several wise men said, in so many words, that we can only have true peace when the power of love overcomes the love of power. Many factors gnaw away at love and fuel the flame of power, especially revenge and retaliation. World War I, coined “the war to end all wars,” didnt live up to its epithet because Germany, in an effort to overcome its humiliation, retaliated less than two decades later. This cycle of revenge feeds on itself and opens the door for hatred. After World War II the United States broke the cycle of aggressive revenge and hatred. Formation of the Atlantic Charter, United Nations, the Marshall Plan in Europe, and the occupation of Japan paved the way for peace, helped to meet the basic needs of people and their governments, and nurtured lessons in love and forgiveness. The threat of advanced nuclear warfare drastically changed the face and repercussion of war since the times of primitive tribes. Have our lessons been learned well enough to prevent the destruction of our Earth? Are our hearts big enough to accept others as they are? Can we turn our enemies into friends? This time can we really give peace a chance?
Posted on: Fri, 05 Dec 2014 17:38:17 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015