submitted by Robert Wertz
District 5495 Peacebuilder Chair
Dear Friends of Peace,
If you are able, please consider practicing the:
99th Ripple of Peace: Host an exchange student in your home.
Having someone from another country live with us provides us with an exceptional opportunity to learn about that person and her or his homeland. The experience also gives us a chance to promote Peace and understanding on a personal level.
Inquire about exchange student programs in your area. Read available literature and talk to others who have hosted a foreign student in their homes to clarify what you might expect and what is expected of you.
When you are ready, open your door and your heart to an exchange student.
From Ripples of Peace: 111 Ways You Can Help Create Peace in the World, by Rae Thompson
May you know and be Peace.
Robert
Dear Friends of Peace,
Please take time to practice the:
100th Ripple of Peace: Join with others to pray or meditate on Peace in the world.
The inner Peace of a single individual can often be felt by the people nearby. Similarly, the Peaceful energy generated by a group of people meditating together can have an effect on the surrounding population. For example, when a large group of meditators met a number of years ago in Washington, D.C, the crime rate in the city went down nearly 20 percent while the practitioners were holding their meditation sessions.
When the consciousness of a small group of people helps alter the thoughts or behavior of a large number of people outside the group, the situation is often referred to as having reached critical mass. This phenomenon raises the possibility that, if enough people attune themselves to Peace at the same time, the energy of Peace can radiate out from the group to envelope and enrich the lives of people outside the group.
Participate in group contemplative activities, such a s the Slow Walk for Peace sponsored by the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Or organize group meditations or prayers for Peace in your place of worship or with organizations working for Peace.
When praying, give thanks for Peace, love, harmony and unity. When meditating, build up the group's energy of Peace and send it out to those in need within your community and around the world.
From Ripples of Peace: 111 Ways You Can Help Create Peace in the World, by Rae Thompson
May you know and be Peace.
Robert
***
Dear Friends of Peace,
Inner action of prayer and meditation are powerful practices. If you are inclined, please practice the:
101st Ripple of Peace: Support changes in government that you believe will facilitate Peace.
Our democratic form of government gives us repeated opportunities to contribute to Peace in our country and around the globe. They include electing officials we believe are committed to Peace and supporting proposed governmental changes that make world Peace more possible.
Follow your heart and take an active role in assuring that your government keeps Peace on its agenda. Support local, state and federal candidates whose views are aligned with yours, by contributing your time and money to their campaigns.
Vote in every election.
Consider lending support to the establishment of a cabinet-level U.S. Department of Peace, such as the one introduced to the House of Representatives in July 2001 (HR 2459). The stated purpose of this Department of Peace is to make nonviolence an organizing principle in our society, to help create Peace in homes, families, schools, neighborhoods, cities, and the nation, as well as worldwide.
From Ripples of Peace: 111 Ways You Can Help Create Peace in the World, by Rae Thompson
May you know and be Peace.
Robert