Previous Issues of Active for Peace
"Is there any solution?"
Throughout the violent conflicts and divisions which threaten our world a question echoes in countless minds and hearts, "Is there any solution?"
Chiara Lubich: "There is only one solution - universal brotherhood! In revealing to us that God is our Father and we are all brothers and sisters, Jesus introduces the idea of humanity as a family. The one who brought this essential gift to humanity was Jesus. In revealing to us that God is our Father, and consequently, that we are all brothers and sisters, he introduces the idea as humanity as a family"
Following 11th September, the Dalai Lama wrote to his followers, " We have forgotten the most basic human truth. We are all one. Forgetting this truth is the only cause of hatred and war, and the way to remember it is simple: Love in this moment and always!"
A PRECIOUS MISTAKE
Soon after starting out in a new job, I made a big mistake that cost my company a lot of money. The mistake was all mine and I could tell that relationships with people in the office had soured because of this.
I apologized to everyone but for many days I was still caught up in the fear of making another mistake. Then I realized we can always start again and I felt the Holy Spirit was saying to me, "Don't try to be perfect. Just try to love."
I could do this by answering every phone call, responding to every person, making every cup of coffee and doing every simple thing with love and care. I found that by the end of the day my relationships with everyone in the office had been restored. I also found that while concentrating on others my fears were completely driven away.
Like so many people, I had been praying for peace and I suddenly saw again the very real way that peace comes into our little worlds - in my case the world of the office - and how this, multiplied can really help to bring peace to the whole world. It is NOT just a drop in the ocean because I am united with everyone who is doing the same thing all over the world.
Mary Wintringham, New Zealand.
"I FELT WE WERE BROTHERS"
I work for an overseas airline and our General Manager is a very devout Muslim. Unfortunately on the very day that the planes flew into the Twin Towers in New York, one of our passengers died on the plane coming into Sydney. She was an elderly lady and had died of a very severe asthma attack.
Apart from all the practical arrangements we organized for the family to say their last farewells to their mother on the plane and cared for them with as much love as possible.
The funeral notice appeared in the paper three days later and I suggested to my boss that we should go to the funeral. He was a little hesitant and worried that the family may not be happy with the airline, but finally he agreed. After the simple but beautiful ceremony, I encouraged my boss to come and speak to the family. They were so happy that we had come and felt overwhelmed that we had gone out of our way to pay our final respects to their mother and to console them as a family.
On the way home, my boss commented, "Only God knows when we are going to die." I told him I believed that too. In that moment, I felt we were brothers.
He is now overseas for two weeks, but his wife who is pregnant has remained behind. My wife and I will take her out for lunch because she is alone and has no one in Sydney. We are glad of this opportunity to love once more in a practical way.
P H (Sydney)
If so please contact us at: newhumanity@focolare.org.au
Website: http://www.focolare.org.au/NewHumanity/Active_for_Peace.htm