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A group of us...
sometimes just a few...
other times a good crowd...
meet on most Thursday nights.
At the end of our evening
we circle and join hands
and sing this song:
Let there be peace on earth and
let it begin with me.
Let there be peace on earth,
the peace that was meant
to be.
With God as our Father,
family* all are we.
Let me walk with my family
in perfect harmony.
Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now.
With every step I take,
let this be my solemn vow.
To take each moment and live each
moment in peace eternally.
Let there be peace on earth,
and let it begin with me.
(*we sing "family" instead of "brothers")
Sometimes we have trouble getting on key. And sometimes
one of the little ones gets cute and gets us laughing. And sometimes,
when memories flood in,
there is an occasional tear.
One line which gets to us is "Let peace begin with me,
let this be the moment now..." because it makes us realize
that peacemaking is not for some other time or place. The seeds of
conflict are with us. Each of use struggles with these in ourselves
as we long for peace thoughout the world. |
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The text made
famous by Christmas
– improperly called
a "prophecy"
of the coming of Christ
–
raised a hope hymned
to an about-
to-be-crowned king:
For to us
a child is born
to us a son is given;
and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called
'Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father,
Prince of Peace.'
Each new president offers
himself
as a peace president...then
usually
bends to the will
of the Pentagon
is adding still more
weapons to our
national arsenal.
Rarely does an administration
pass
from power without
at least one effort
involving use of those
weapons.
And the leader ends
up as a war-maker
instead of a peace-maker.
It is almost unavoidable.
We add to the war memorials
in nearly
every decade.
Yet each Christmas
and each election
time, we search out
the words that
promise..."Prince
of Peace."
Will that hope ever
come to pass?
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