HAPPY VALENTINES' DAY!
It's Feast of St. Valentine's, and it's an excuse to spread love, joy, and peace throughout your home, neighborhood, community, your city, state, country......the world. It begins with a smile, a hug, a kiss. C'mon, celebrate Valentines'Day!
Checkout my other blog, Lisa Allender Writes, for an article on kissing!
Peace, kids.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
PEACE VIA PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA!!!!!!!I still love saying that, though I never doubted he would win, and win big!
The Inauguration is still on the TiVo--I cannot bear to remove it.
I was still ill, stuck in bed, but this time when I cried, it was not from pain resulting from my recovery from abdominal surgery, it was crying for sheer release. For release from the straitjacket of tension we've all been in, the past eight years of George W.'s Administration.
Even the folks I know who voted for George W., and claimed to love him, have confided to me they "wish he'd never been elected....we were wrong..."
This is no time to be looking backward, however. It's time to LIVE IN THIS AMAZING MOMENT--to Carpe' Diem'(Seize The Day!) and make the choice most of us made back on November 4th, YOUR choice, too. Even if you were unsure, or fearful, even if you could not bear to HOPE, you can, now.
You can, because "Yes, We Can", won.
That's not arrogance, it's bright confidence, infused with the humbleness of a man who asks, wants, and IS, your public servant as President.
If you have not yet visited the streamlined new link to your Federal Government, where The White House is actively recruiting YOU and YOUR SUGGESTIONS, please go to:
www.whitehouse.gov
God Bless President Barack Obama, and God Bless Us All!
Peace, kids.
The Inauguration is still on the TiVo--I cannot bear to remove it.
I was still ill, stuck in bed, but this time when I cried, it was not from pain resulting from my recovery from abdominal surgery, it was crying for sheer release. For release from the straitjacket of tension we've all been in, the past eight years of George W.'s Administration.
Even the folks I know who voted for George W., and claimed to love him, have confided to me they "wish he'd never been elected....we were wrong..."
This is no time to be looking backward, however. It's time to LIVE IN THIS AMAZING MOMENT--to Carpe' Diem'(Seize The Day!) and make the choice most of us made back on November 4th, YOUR choice, too. Even if you were unsure, or fearful, even if you could not bear to HOPE, you can, now.
You can, because "Yes, We Can", won.
That's not arrogance, it's bright confidence, infused with the humbleness of a man who asks, wants, and IS, your public servant as President.
If you have not yet visited the streamlined new link to your Federal Government, where The White House is actively recruiting YOU and YOUR SUGGESTIONS, please go to:
www.whitehouse.gov
God Bless President Barack Obama, and God Bless Us All!
Peace, kids.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
"A Persistent Peace"
I am currently reading Fr. John Dear's "A Persistent Peace", a book which speaks about the life of a deeply humble, engaged and engaging, peace-filled, peaceful man. I received the book from one Michelle Halm, who ran across this blog, and when she read I could not attend(on account of my extreme illness) Fr. John Dear's appearance/book-signing at The Carter Center(a few months ago), she kindly and generously offered to send an autographed copy to me!
I'm learning the healing process from my surgery is much like the healing process we must all go through, where war, and our learned behaviors are concerned.I reframe pain as a challenge, not a difficulty, and we must re-frame, I think, what it is to be peaceful, to want peace, to create peace. We can begin to do that, by using the word Peace as a verb, anytime the opportunity arises.
We are fortunate to live in a world where literally, anything is possible. Let's reflect that reality--literally, in a literal way--by incorporating peace as a much-used verb.
Here's to 2009, and each of us stating we'll "Peace with one another, often and wisely."
Peace, kids.
I'm learning the healing process from my surgery is much like the healing process we must all go through, where war, and our learned behaviors are concerned.I reframe pain as a challenge, not a difficulty, and we must re-frame, I think, what it is to be peaceful, to want peace, to create peace. We can begin to do that, by using the word Peace as a verb, anytime the opportunity arises.
We are fortunate to live in a world where literally, anything is possible. Let's reflect that reality--literally, in a literal way--by incorporating peace as a much-used verb.
Here's to 2009, and each of us stating we'll "Peace with one another, often and wisely."
Peace, kids.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
ASKING AND RECEIVING.
Lately, it seems like as soon as I ask for something, it mystically appears. It's mystical, but not a "mystery", because I know this moment, like many others, are what I call "God moments". Moments where in one second, the very thing I wished for, appears.
For example, I knew Fr. John Dear was coming to feature here in Atlanta at The Carter Center, and I could not go because I had to go see my family before returning to Atlanta to prepare for my trip to, and surgery in, Cleveland Ohio.The ache and throbbing in my left side continued to worsen, but I meditated on the concept of "A Persistent Peace", Fr. John Dear's latest book, a memoir of his life as Peacemaker. I began to feel the persistent pain, lessen. I told no one about these moments, and have never revealed them, until now...
I prayed deeply for there to be some way for me to have a contact of some kind with Fr. John Dear--and viola'-- only a few hours after I asked, with much humility, I received an e-mail(and I can now feel tears forming in my eyes.let me take a breath)from a Michelle Halm, and I nearly deleted her e-mail(because I did not recognize the url), but the subject mentioned Fr. Dear, so I clicked it on.....
It seems she'd run across my blog, "Practice What You Peace", and she WORKS FOR THE COMPANY WHICH PUBLISHED HIS BOOK--AND SHE WORKS ALONGSIDE HIM, and she noticed I'd said I was unable to attend his book-signing appearance at The Carter Center, and she wondered, "Could I send you a copy--an autographed copy to you?" My goodness. Goodness. Goodness. Goodness.
Of course I said yes. And I sent her several Thank You's....
I'll be receiving the autographed book, "A Persistent Peace" sometime after my surgery, around Christmas-time.
Thank you, Fr. John Dear, for your lifetime of hard work for Peace, and Ms. Michelle Halm, for your assistance in that endeavor, and for your extreme kindness.
And God, for listening....
Peace, kids.
Lately, it seems like as soon as I ask for something, it mystically appears. It's mystical, but not a "mystery", because I know this moment, like many others, are what I call "God moments". Moments where in one second, the very thing I wished for, appears.
For example, I knew Fr. John Dear was coming to feature here in Atlanta at The Carter Center, and I could not go because I had to go see my family before returning to Atlanta to prepare for my trip to, and surgery in, Cleveland Ohio.The ache and throbbing in my left side continued to worsen, but I meditated on the concept of "A Persistent Peace", Fr. John Dear's latest book, a memoir of his life as Peacemaker. I began to feel the persistent pain, lessen. I told no one about these moments, and have never revealed them, until now...
I prayed deeply for there to be some way for me to have a contact of some kind with Fr. John Dear--and viola'-- only a few hours after I asked, with much humility, I received an e-mail(and I can now feel tears forming in my eyes.let me take a breath)from a Michelle Halm, and I nearly deleted her e-mail(because I did not recognize the url), but the subject mentioned Fr. Dear, so I clicked it on.....
It seems she'd run across my blog, "Practice What You Peace", and she WORKS FOR THE COMPANY WHICH PUBLISHED HIS BOOK--AND SHE WORKS ALONGSIDE HIM, and she noticed I'd said I was unable to attend his book-signing appearance at The Carter Center, and she wondered, "Could I send you a copy--an autographed copy to you?" My goodness. Goodness. Goodness. Goodness.
Of course I said yes. And I sent her several Thank You's....
I'll be receiving the autographed book, "A Persistent Peace" sometime after my surgery, around Christmas-time.
Thank you, Fr. John Dear, for your lifetime of hard work for Peace, and Ms. Michelle Halm, for your assistance in that endeavor, and for your extreme kindness.
And God, for listening....
Peace, kids.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Fr. John Dear Coming To Atlanta!!
THE CARTER CENTER.
Fr. John Dear, one of the strongest, if not THE strongest proponets of PEACE we have, and a Jesuit priest, will be Featuring at The Carter Center, this Wednesday night, kids.
I'll be unable to go(sigh), but please, if you are able, attend this event!
He'll be speaking, and reading from, and signing--his newest book, "A Persistent Peace". Fr. John Dear has written/edited 25 books, and been nominated(By Archbishop Desmond Tutu) for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Visit his website, at:
www.fatherjohndear.org
Peace, kids!
Fr. John Dear, one of the strongest, if not THE strongest proponets of PEACE we have, and a Jesuit priest, will be Featuring at The Carter Center, this Wednesday night, kids.
I'll be unable to go(sigh), but please, if you are able, attend this event!
He'll be speaking, and reading from, and signing--his newest book, "A Persistent Peace". Fr. John Dear has written/edited 25 books, and been nominated(By Archbishop Desmond Tutu) for a Nobel Peace Prize.
Visit his website, at:
www.fatherjohndear.org
Peace, kids!
Thursday, November 6, 2008
GRATEFUL FOR THESE DAYS!
PRESIDENT-ELECT OBAMA!!!!!
I have been remiss in posting for nearly a month here. I think we're on a clear, joyous path to peace--or at least--more peace than we've had lately, and I will endeavor to post more regularly here, both on the days when peace looks likely, and as I have in the past, when it seems difficult.
For now, let us pray and thank God for the gift of a truly compassionate, kind leader, and one who is committed to working WITH, not against our friends and allies, and working TOWARDS a future with our "enemies". President-Elect(How I love saying that!!)Barack Obama is going to help us turn this around, so we can look to the future, and go forward into this world. We truly have much for which to be grateful!
Peace, kids.
I have been remiss in posting for nearly a month here. I think we're on a clear, joyous path to peace--or at least--more peace than we've had lately, and I will endeavor to post more regularly here, both on the days when peace looks likely, and as I have in the past, when it seems difficult.
For now, let us pray and thank God for the gift of a truly compassionate, kind leader, and one who is committed to working WITH, not against our friends and allies, and working TOWARDS a future with our "enemies". President-Elect(How I love saying that!!)Barack Obama is going to help us turn this around, so we can look to the future, and go forward into this world. We truly have much for which to be grateful!
Peace, kids.
Friday, October 10, 2008
NOBEL PEACE PRIZE GOES TO.....
_____________________________
__________________
Finland's Martti Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize
By DOUG MELLGREN and MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Writers
Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to build a lasting peace from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Middle East.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Ahtisaari for important efforts over more than three decades to resolve international conflicts.
"These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel's spirit," the committee said in announcing the prize.
By selecting Ahtisaari, 71, for the prize, the Nobel committee returned its focus to traditional peace work after tapping climate campaigner Al Gore and the U.N. panel on climate change last year.
"He is a world champion when it comes to peace and he never gives up," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel awards committee.
The award, he said, was in line with recent Nobels to other peace mediators, notably Jimmy Carter in 2002 and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001.
Ahtisaari told AP Television News that while winning the prize would help his future mediation work, he is looking to other challenges, too, particularly youth unemployment worldwide.
But he also conceded that the decades of work have taken a toll.
"I have to start realizing that I am 71" and maybe it's time to stop "traveling 200 days a year outside Finland."
The secretive five-member committee said Ahtisaari's work across the world — Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East — proved that such efforts can have a profound effect on peace processes.
"Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts," the committee said in announcing the 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) prize.
"For the past 20 years, he has figured prominently in endeavors to resolve several serious and long-lasting conflicts," the citation said, mentioning his work in conflicts from Namibia to Aceh, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq.
Ahtisaari had been mentioned in speculation as a possible Nobel Peace Prize candidate since 2005, just after he negotiated an end to a conflict in Indonesia that began more than 140 years ago, bringing together the Indonesian government and the leaders of the separatist guerrilla movement in Aceh. He initiated and mediated peace talks in Finland, and a peace agreement was signed in Helsinki.
"He has also made constructive contributions to the resolution of conflicts in Northern Ireland, in Central Asia, and on the Horn of Africa," the citation said.
Speaking to NRK Norwegian TV, Ahtisaari said he "was very pleased and grateful" to receive the prize.
Asked what work he considered the most important, Ahtisaari, the first Finn to win the prize, said that "of course Namibia is absolutely the most important because it took such a long time." He also singled out his work in Kosovo and Aceh.
Ahtisaari was a senior Finnish diplomat when in 1977 he was named the U.N. envoy for Namibia, where guerrillas were battling South African apartheid rule. He later rose to undersecretary-general, and in 1988 was dispatched to Namibia to lead 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers during its transition to independence.
Ahtisaari said he hoped the prize would make it easier to attract financing for his peace work.
"There are always many possibilities. I really hope now that I receive the prize that it makes it easier to finance the organizations that I chair," he said. "It's very important to be able to act properly, you need financing and you never have enough."
Ahtisaari has had a broad career in politics and peacemaking.
A primary school teacher who joined Finland's Foreign Ministry in 1965, he spent 20 years abroad, first as ambassador to Tanzania and then to the United Nations in New York.
In 1994, Ahtisaari accepted the presidential candidacy of Finland's Social Democratic Party and won the election. He did not seek re-election in 2000 and has since worked on international peace efforts.
In 2007, Ahtisaari's office — Crisis Management Initiative — started secret meetings in Finland between Iraqi Sunni and Shiite groups to agree on a road map to peace. Those talks, based on the format of peacemaking efforts in South Africa and Northern Ireland, included 16 delegates from the feuding groups. They "agreed to consult further" and begin reconciliation talks.
"He managed to get 36 senior Iraqis to Helsinki in April 2008, and is now working on a next meeting in Baghdad," Mjoes said of the efforts.
Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who was part of the Acehnese delegation during the Indonesia peace talks said Ahtisaari started off "from a very naive position. He was, by definition, pro-Indonesia, supporting the integrity of the state and dismissing Aceh's insistence on independence."
The Acehnese vehemently criticized Ahtisaari's position. But Kingsbury, in a telephone interview from Australia, said he "helped broker an agreement between the two parties that has proven to be sustainable."
Ahtisaari was chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina working group in the international peace conference on former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993, and was special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on former Yugoslavia in 1993.
Serbia bitterly rejected his attempts to forge a compromise settlement on Kosovo, which declared independence in February, but his blueprint forms the essence of Kosovo's constitution.
Vojislav Kostunica — who led Serbia's government as prime minister during the Kosovo talks — saw the award as political and a sign of further pressure on Serbia to give up Kosovo.
"Serbia must fight for Kosovo even more firmly and strongly," he said.
Ahtisaari's plan also laid down the guidelines for the deployment of a European Union police force in Kosovo and other key aspects of the way today's Kosovo is run day to day.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci hailed the Nobel selection as "the right decision for the right man."
"We proclaimed independence of Kosovo in accordance with the document of President Ahtisaari and Kosovo appreciates very much" that he won, Thaci told the AP.
The peace prize is presented in Oslo. Nobel prizes for medicine, chemistry, physics and economics are handed out in Stockholm, Sweden. The ceremonies are always on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
___
Associated Press writer Matti Huuhtanen reported from Helsinki, Finland. Associated Press reporters Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, William J. Kole in Vienna and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm also contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
http://www.nobelpeaceprize.org
http://www.prio.no
___________________________________________________
________________________
My own connection with Peace continues to be Pax Christi.
Read more about Pax Christi, at:
www.paxchristiusa.org
www.paxchristiinternational.org
Peace, kids.
_____________________________
__________________
Finland's Martti Ahtisaari wins Nobel Peace Prize
By DOUG MELLGREN and MATTI HUUHTANEN, Associated Press Writers
Finland's ex-president Martti Ahtisaari won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for his efforts to build a lasting peace from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Middle East.
The Norwegian Nobel Committee said it honored Ahtisaari for important efforts over more than three decades to resolve international conflicts.
"These efforts have contributed to a more peaceful world and to 'fraternity between nations' in Alfred Nobel's spirit," the committee said in announcing the prize.
By selecting Ahtisaari, 71, for the prize, the Nobel committee returned its focus to traditional peace work after tapping climate campaigner Al Gore and the U.N. panel on climate change last year.
"He is a world champion when it comes to peace and he never gives up," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, the chairman of the Norwegian Nobel awards committee.
The award, he said, was in line with recent Nobels to other peace mediators, notably Jimmy Carter in 2002 and U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in 2001.
Ahtisaari told AP Television News that while winning the prize would help his future mediation work, he is looking to other challenges, too, particularly youth unemployment worldwide.
But he also conceded that the decades of work have taken a toll.
"I have to start realizing that I am 71" and maybe it's time to stop "traveling 200 days a year outside Finland."
The secretive five-member committee said Ahtisaari's work across the world — Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East — proved that such efforts can have a profound effect on peace processes.
"Through his untiring efforts and good results, he has shown what role mediation of various kinds can play in the resolution of international conflicts," the committee said in announcing the 10 million kronor (US$1.4 million) prize.
"For the past 20 years, he has figured prominently in endeavors to resolve several serious and long-lasting conflicts," the citation said, mentioning his work in conflicts from Namibia to Aceh, Indonesia, Kosovo and Iraq.
Ahtisaari had been mentioned in speculation as a possible Nobel Peace Prize candidate since 2005, just after he negotiated an end to a conflict in Indonesia that began more than 140 years ago, bringing together the Indonesian government and the leaders of the separatist guerrilla movement in Aceh. He initiated and mediated peace talks in Finland, and a peace agreement was signed in Helsinki.
"He has also made constructive contributions to the resolution of conflicts in Northern Ireland, in Central Asia, and on the Horn of Africa," the citation said.
Speaking to NRK Norwegian TV, Ahtisaari said he "was very pleased and grateful" to receive the prize.
Asked what work he considered the most important, Ahtisaari, the first Finn to win the prize, said that "of course Namibia is absolutely the most important because it took such a long time." He also singled out his work in Kosovo and Aceh.
Ahtisaari was a senior Finnish diplomat when in 1977 he was named the U.N. envoy for Namibia, where guerrillas were battling South African apartheid rule. He later rose to undersecretary-general, and in 1988 was dispatched to Namibia to lead 8,000 U.N. peacekeepers during its transition to independence.
Ahtisaari said he hoped the prize would make it easier to attract financing for his peace work.
"There are always many possibilities. I really hope now that I receive the prize that it makes it easier to finance the organizations that I chair," he said. "It's very important to be able to act properly, you need financing and you never have enough."
Ahtisaari has had a broad career in politics and peacemaking.
A primary school teacher who joined Finland's Foreign Ministry in 1965, he spent 20 years abroad, first as ambassador to Tanzania and then to the United Nations in New York.
In 1994, Ahtisaari accepted the presidential candidacy of Finland's Social Democratic Party and won the election. He did not seek re-election in 2000 and has since worked on international peace efforts.
In 2007, Ahtisaari's office — Crisis Management Initiative — started secret meetings in Finland between Iraqi Sunni and Shiite groups to agree on a road map to peace. Those talks, based on the format of peacemaking efforts in South Africa and Northern Ireland, included 16 delegates from the feuding groups. They "agreed to consult further" and begin reconciliation talks.
"He managed to get 36 senior Iraqis to Helsinki in April 2008, and is now working on a next meeting in Baghdad," Mjoes said of the efforts.
Damien Kingsbury, an Australian academic who was part of the Acehnese delegation during the Indonesia peace talks said Ahtisaari started off "from a very naive position. He was, by definition, pro-Indonesia, supporting the integrity of the state and dismissing Aceh's insistence on independence."
The Acehnese vehemently criticized Ahtisaari's position. But Kingsbury, in a telephone interview from Australia, said he "helped broker an agreement between the two parties that has proven to be sustainable."
Ahtisaari was chairman of the Bosnia-Herzegovina working group in the international peace conference on former Yugoslavia from 1992 to 1993, and was special adviser to the U.N. secretary-general on former Yugoslavia in 1993.
Serbia bitterly rejected his attempts to forge a compromise settlement on Kosovo, which declared independence in February, but his blueprint forms the essence of Kosovo's constitution.
Vojislav Kostunica — who led Serbia's government as prime minister during the Kosovo talks — saw the award as political and a sign of further pressure on Serbia to give up Kosovo.
"Serbia must fight for Kosovo even more firmly and strongly," he said.
Ahtisaari's plan also laid down the guidelines for the deployment of a European Union police force in Kosovo and other key aspects of the way today's Kosovo is run day to day.
Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaci hailed the Nobel selection as "the right decision for the right man."
"We proclaimed independence of Kosovo in accordance with the document of President Ahtisaari and Kosovo appreciates very much" that he won, Thaci told the AP.
The peace prize is presented in Oslo. Nobel prizes for medicine, chemistry, physics and economics are handed out in Stockholm, Sweden. The ceremonies are always on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death in 1896.
___
Associated Press writer Matti Huuhtanen reported from Helsinki, Finland. Associated Press reporters Slobodan Lekic in Brussels, William J. Kole in Vienna and Louise Nordstrom in Stockholm also contributed to this report.
___
On the Net:
http://www.nobelpeaceprize.org
http://www.prio.no
___________________________________________________
________________________
My own connection with Peace continues to be Pax Christi.
Read more about Pax Christi, at:
www.paxchristiusa.org
www.paxchristiinternational.org
Peace, kids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
