Peace One Day

You know, it’s amazing.  I never thought about peace or world peace before this year.  I always thought it was such a nebulous idea – one that I only heard about from the Miss America pageant.  But I saw this film one day and it changed my whole outlook.  Peace begins with each and every one of us.  We CAN make a difference.

British filmmaker Jeremy Gillies had a huge vision – to make peace for one day.  Through hard work, dedication, and talking to people all over the world, he got the United Nations to pass a resolution that on one fixed day – September 21^st – the world would recognize the International Day of Peace. His dream was realized on September 7, 2001.  Four days later, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was going to announce the day to the press and ring the peace bell.  However, as two planes crashed into the World Trade Center, this call to peace was disrupted.  Peace days came and went, but every year more and more is being done and more and more awareness is happening.

Jeremy Gillies in front of a UN plane
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At St. Pius V School, I was able to lead the 4^th graders in learning about Peace One Day.  We watched Jeremy Gillies’ documentary, The Day After Peace.  The film documented Jeremy’s journey of talking to UN representatives, the Dalai Lama, and celebrities like Jude Law, Annie Lenox, and Angelina Jolie.  This was all to build up his vision of creating peace for one day.  He wanted to do the impossible.  He wanted to go into Afghanistan for Peace Day in 2007 and get the fighting forces to agree to a ceasefire for one day.  He didn’t stop at that! He also paired up with the World Health Organization to have doctors and nurses go into those troubled areas of Afghanistan to administer Polio vaccinations to the children.  Not only did he receive a letter from the leader of the Taliban agreeing to a ceasefire, but then thanks to Peace One Day’s efforts, the WHO was able to save lives that day.  Many more life-saving activities took place on Peace Days.

Administering Polio vaccinations in Afghanistan
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Jeremy Gillies of course does not want to stop at that.  He is marking today the 365 day countdown to Global Truce 2012.  He wants the entire world to call a ceasefire on September 21, 2012.  One day where the whole world is not subject to violence.  One day where life-saving activities can occur without fear.  One day of peace.



Jeremy Gillies discussing peace with children in Somalia
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After watching this inspiring film, the 4^th graders took Jeremy Gillies’ challenge (how can you promote peace for one day?) to heart.  They wrote down their peace pledges next to a peace symbol of a dove and posted them around the school.  They also created posters showing how they can promote peace in their home, school, neighborhood, and the world.  The class is also going to stand in the shape of a peace sign in the parking lot today to spread the message of peace to the school. Many students took extra initiative outside of school by telling their friends and family about Peace One Day, hanging posters throughout their neighborhoods, and some have even tried to spread this message of peace by telling people in other countries! 

My 4^th graders have one question for you – how will you celebrate peace day this year?  For more information, please visit http://www.peaceoneday.org/!

How can we find a way to make peace a verb?

On September 11, 2011, the tenth anniversary of the tragedy on September 11, 2001, all I can say is that it was strange not being in New York.  However, being in Chicago during this time gave me a perspective I feel I could have only gotten from being away from it all.  I was able to read amazing articles in Time Magazine's special edition and see some great documentaries through iTunes (free might I add).   May we never forget those who we lost or those that were affected.


On Tuesday, September 6^th, I was able to attend one of Dominican University’s Siena Center Program and Lecture Series entitled: “Peace is Possible. Peace is Practical.”  In the light of the ten-year anniversary of the tragic events of September 11, 2001, this talk is still obviously relevant in our world.  Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love, whose credentials are too many to name, talked to us about her experience on September 11, 2001.  She was on her way to the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. to teach her off-campus Catholic University of America class on terrorism.  Luckily, her car stalled and she did not make it to work that day when a plane flew into the Pentagon a few inches away from her classroom (amazingly all her students were not only spared any harm, but became heroes going back in to save others).  Among other things, she argued that involving interfaith leaders and groups in the talk about peace could help save us in anti-terrorism efforts in a post-9/11 world.  She also mentioned how women are often left out of peacemaking efforts, especially in the Catholic church, since there are few women (more now than in the past) in official leadership positions.  This is something I had not thought of before.

Dr. Maryann Cusimano Love
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Some points of the talk that I left with:

• In order to create peace, we MUST not kill civilians.
• A war against terror is very difficult, as this is not a battle with an enemy that is fighting on a battlefield. 
• We must work with local religious leaders and groups.
• We must work with local peace grassroots operations.
• We must begin rebuilding the human infrastructure before rebuilding other infrastructures.
• Terrorism will always be around; we must learn to manage risk as opposed to try to eliminate it.
• We need a whole government approach – increasing communication and collaboration of different governmental agencies in peacemaking efforts.
• In rebuilding nations, it is wise to give the local community ownership of the efforts – for example, CRS (Catholic Relief Services) in Afghanistan asked the people what they want, when they said schools, CRS said, where should it be, who will donate the land, what resources do you have to help us start it, we will fill in the gaps.  They don’t go in and rebuild, they help the community rebuild themselves.

So true
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The following anecdote that the speaker told is COMPLETELY paraphrased, as I have little ability to memorize aspects of talks:

Her son, who is four, started playing games pretending him and his friends have “guns.”  When they visited historic sites in Virginia (Williamsburg, and various war battlefields) the ranger in his spiel said how George Washington longed for the war to be ended, since they had fought for SO long; he couldn’t believe the war had lasted SIX years (here we are ten years into war and there is not yet a huge public outcry).  Her son turns to her and says along the lines of “Mommy, sometimes us kids fight. When we fight, it’s over toys.  When adults fight, it’s over the Earth.  When we war, it makes George Washington sad. Actually it makes God sad.  We need to stop war-ing, and start peace-ing.”

I wish this was the only "war" that was played...
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The speaker said, “How can we find a way to make peace a verb?”

I say, let’s start “peace-ing!”

Next blog: International Day of Peace, September 21st and Peace One Day  

My Personal Mission Statement

This year, each Dominican Volunteer was asked to create our own personal mission statements.  We went through a series of exercises to get to our final product.  This is meant not only to serve as our mission statement for this year during our ministry, but also for our entire life.  It is a living, breathing document that may change over time.  Here is mine, and I hope you will hold me accountable to it:

My Mission:

I will live simply – realizing that this is not always in terms of money or possessions.

I will always share my God-given talents with others.

I will avoid judgment at all times.

I will learn about my surrounding community and the issues that arise as part of that community.

I will actively strive to make a difference in this world, even if that means affecting one person at a time.

I will make routine prayer a part of my life.  I will find some way to pray every day.

I will not only meet my job’s expectations, but go above and beyond expectations.

I will always ask questions if I do not know the answer.

I will strive to further my education, in the classroom and beyond.

I will be available to friends and family, always remembering to reach out, not only in times of need, but also just to enjoy each other’s company and gifts.

I will take the time to recognize Jesus Christ in all creation, especially in every person I see.

I will step in whenever I see injustice, intolerance, or bullying, especially in the poor and marginalized of this world.

But above all, I will make God the driving force for everything I do in my life and every choice I make.

Thank you for taking the time out to read this mission statement.  If you haven't done so already, try writing one of your own. It's something useful to check in every so often and see how you're doing in life.