Day 47: March 17
The thought for today is DISARMAMENT.
“Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man’s creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world.” - Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you say, “I am a realist. Peace in the world is not possible,” then it will not be possible for you. Quantum theory suggests that all possibilities exist simultaneously and it’s the focus of the observer (you and I) that causes one possibility to manifest and all others to fall away. If you put up a block within your mind that says that Peace cannot happen in the world, then you are sabotaging the very possibility of Peace before you begin; and if Peace cannot exist ‘out there’, then it’s because you have closed your heart and mind to it within yourself.
“When faced with world problems – like hunger, overpopulation, nuclear weapons, the arms trade – you may be among those who are overwhelmed by a feeling of “Help! What on earth can I, just one person, do about this?” Take heart. That’s a sane response. It’s the basis for a whole new attitude to world problems, where change at the level of the individual is more and more recognized as essential to change in huge world systems.” – Scilla Elworthy
It is possible to choose Peace right here and right now as your reality. That is the only way it can take root in the world. When enough individually choose it, we will reach critical mass – a tipping point – where all other possibilities fall away.
“A civilization built on dualism and war within and between persons, one that puts its most creative minds and its best engineers to sadistic work building more and more destructive weapons, is no civilization at all. It needs a radical transformation from the heart outwards.” – Matthew Fox
There are more than thirty armed conflicts taking place around the world right now. Hundreds of billions of dollars are spent globally on military action and rebuilding what was destroyed. Can you imagine what we could do with the money we spend on war and maintaining our weapons of mass destruction? In short, we could allow Peace by addressing those conditions that drive the people of the world toward armed conflict in the first place. Weapons do not build anything; they are tools of destruction, not Peace.
“We spoke out, committed civil disobedience, and went to jail because the peace hangs senselessly and precariously upon weapons costing billions to build and billions to improve — weapons which become more useless as we add to their destructive force. With this money we could have fed the world’s people. Half the children on earth go to bed hungry — millions more have retarding and stunting protein deficiencies. Instead of building the peace by attacking injustices like starvation, disease, illiteracy, political and economic servitude, we spend a trillion dollars on war since 1946, until hatred and conflict have become the international preoccupation.” – Daniel Berrigan
“If the entire history of mankind were condensed into a single year, our knowledge of how to destroy life on earth with weapons of mass destruction has been acquired in the last thirty seconds. Never again will we lack the knowledge to eliminate the world in a single act of madness. Therefore, we are faced with a dilemma unique in our history. We must not only control the weapons that can kill us, we must bridge the great disparities of wealth and opportunity among the peoples of the world, the vast majority of whom live in poverty without hope, opportunity or choices in life. These conditions are a breeding ground for division that can cause a desperate people to resort to nuclear weapons as a last resort. Our only hope lies in the power of our love, generosity, tolerance and understanding and our commitment to making the world a better place for all of Allah’s children.” – Muhammad Ali
What if we chose Peace and treated it as our only option? What if we as a human race stopped misusing our minds and gifts to create weapons that could destroy the entire world and focused our efforts on issues like hunger, clean water, health care, education, cleaning up our planet, and building sustainable economies? What if we took the resources that were wasted on conflict and put them toward a Higher Good? What if we allowed for the possibility? What part can you play in this?
breathe Peace ~
Rev. Rebecca
