A Conversation on PEACE II Let's Talk Again... Monday, October 1st, 2001

As a prelude to reading this article the author/editor recommend that you read the Declaration of Interdependence available on this website.

“When in the course of human evolution, it becomes necessary. . . . . Peter Eichten begins this meeting by reading the Declaration of Interdependence, author unknown, but based on Gandhi’s principle beliefs that were played out in every aspect of his life.

Approximately 25 persons are gathered in Hospitality Hall with Peter on this night to continue the first Conversation About Peace held last week. He introduces Margaret Lulic, MA, and co-founder of ThoughtCasting.com., who becomes our facilitator for the evening. “It’s one thing to say to our government, don’t go to war, we want peace. It’s another to say what we want to do instead.” She goes on to say that we have to ask new questions to put us on a different path of thinking. She put some of her own questions to those she met in the course of her week.

“If my shoulders were the world right now, what would you do for them?” she asked her massage therapist. After some thought, the masseuse answered, “I would soften them.”

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that our planet is one interdependent and interrelated life support system. . . . Margaret then reads a quote given by the Dalia Lama to the U.S. Congress on his recent trip to this country: “The salvation of this world lies no where else than in the human heart.”

“What do you already know in your heart from your life experience or your profession that might shed light on our present state of affairs?” she asks us. “How then could we go from the truth of your story, the micro, to a truth for the world, the macro?”

She begins by telling a story of her own: She was at home one day when she heard her puppy barking in the back yard. She was busy at first and didn’t go out immediately to see what was wrong. When she did, she was horrified to see a stranger choking her dog. After she rescued her pet and expelled the man from her yard, she was shaking with anger. Immediately she called the police, wrote the man a condemning letter, called a lawyer, and later, still filled with rage, recounted the whole episode to her husband.

What stopped her in her tracks and broke her heart, she says, were these words from her small daughter, who was standing nearby “I’ll go kick him for you, Mommy,” she declared stoutly. Margaret says she was stunned to learn what her behavior had done to her child. She was stunned and also ashamed, because she realized that wasn’t who she professed to be, or who, deep down, she really was. She and her husband canceled the call to the lawyer, then composed another, very different letter. With a full explanation to their child, in this letter they told him they were really upset and convinced they were right, and figured he felt the same way on his side, but, they said they were willing to sit down and talk about the incident if he was. He was, and they talked.

“I can’t say that we became friends after that,” Margaret confesses, “but we eventually settled our differences in a peaceful, non-violent way.” Margaret explains that she wants us to think how we could extrapolate our experiences so that they could be played out globally.

We, the human beings of this generation, are at a crossroads in human history: we must choose between life and death. . . .

Now it’s our turn to tell our own stories. We split up into groups of 4 or 5 and begin.

One woman in our group tells of working in a place that seemed to have more than its share of closed minded people. Some petty cash disappeared, and immediately the blame went to the Hispanic crew who cleaned after hours. “I just know those people took it.,” one person said. Our friend, who says that she is normally not out-spoken, felt compelled to protest. She did so by explaining that she teaches English as a second language to many Mexicans living in this city and had found them generally to be kind, considerate and honest. Her words started many discussions, so that eventually co-workers began to come to her with their stories and asking her advise about all kinds of things. When we ask why she thought this change occurred, she says she believes that it was because she listened, really listened to them, and because she spoke up in the first place.

We must therefore, recognize that the resolution of conflict through violence is not acceptable. . .

The stories fly around the room, then it’s time to gather and describe them in a word or two. Here is a partial list of what we came up with:

• Have the Declaration of Interdependence be required reading for Congress
• Create departments of Peace and Forgiveness
• Appoint a commissioner of Peace
• Believe that peace is possible
• Try to take the other side’s perspective
• Be respectful of those with whom you disagree
• Don’t assume that we have all the answers
• Look at this as a wake-up call for us to become citizens of the world
• Treat other countries as equals
• Review our foreign policies regularly
• Become better informed about current affairs
• Institute a global Marshall Plan
• At what price is safety?
• Hasty alliances - what comes next?
• Make coalitions with other churches doing peace work
• If you want peace, work for justice
• Take responsibility for our actions as a country
• Recognize the power of forgiveness
• Be careful of words we use, ex., “War,” “Ethnic scrutiny”

Jo Youngren and her husband,Dave, have been members at SJA for a little over a year now. However, about 20 years ago Jo was a member and worked with Harvey Egan and Cy Speltz for 4 years. Her first husband, Jack Welch, was buried from there, and later Jo and Dave were married in what is now The Itaska, but at the time was a warehouse with a large gathering of SJA folks attending and Fred & Anna supplying the music - the church in a slightly different setting at the time giving us their blessing. Jo and Dave have been married for 19 years and back in Minnesota for the last 13.

Margaret gives us some parting advice: “Take good care of ourselves and everyone we know. Help us come to a place of love, not fear. Everyone has a sphere of influence - focus there. Ask the different questions. If we did bomb Afghanistan, what would happen then? Try to envision a different strategy. Try not to say this is the only right path, but listen to what others have to say. Feel empowered by the fact that you are not alone in your desire for peace.”

Let this be our assurance and insurance against war - that each one of us asserts:

Within me, I am fostering and making peace. And I pledge to spread peace around me. . . .