“Act the way you’d like to be and soon you’ll be the way you act.”

– Leonard Cohen

Today is September 21 — the International Day of Peace.  With all the war and all the hatred and all the separations that are very real in our world, it might seem futile to celebrate such a day.  We have become hardened to hope and accustomed to conflict.  We have forgotten to love our neighbors as ourselves.  We have hardened our hearts and found ways to justify our anger and to allow ourselves to perpetuate the division we experience that denies our human bond with all others who inhabit our planet.

I cannot think of a single time when closing the shutters has encouraged the darkness to go away  It is only Light that can overcome darkness; and it is only Peace that can end War.  On this day of honoring the dream of Peace for our world, let us remember to shine Light where darkness rules.  Let us heal anger with compassion.  Let us remember to not only do unto others as we would have them do to us, but remember to do unto others as they would have them do to them.  Let us honor our differences but acknowledge our sameness.  Let us feed the hungry and comfort those who suffer.  Let us shine the Light and act the way we would like to be.  Wouldn’t it be incredible if we discovered that we soon could be the way we act?  Let us act as though there could be Peace on Earth — maybe, someday, it will become real.