Reflecting on annual International Day of Peace

Every year, September 21st is a day to remember. While there are 365 days in a year, each day presents us with different opportunities. That day I reflected on the 20th Anniversary of the United Nations Assembly declaring the day the annual International Day of Word Peace.

The theme this year was Peace among Races. There are many events around the world to mark the occasion and create awareness of the Power of Peace. Some are large and some are small events. Everyone was asked to have a moment of silence at noon in their towns across the world to say a prayer for Peace and harmony.

It is another opportunity to help one another person in need or simply an opportunity to reflect on our own Blessings.

A friend of mine was driving home recently and saw a homeless man walking on the roadside. She stopped to pick him up and discovered he had not had breakfast, so she took him to a restaurant she bought him lunch and a dinner to-go. I’m sure he considered it a good day and felt valued as a human being.

Like my friend, we are all faced with opportunities where we can either share our gifts freely or let others know we see the worthiness in them or chose to turn away from our brother.

Yet in America, one of the world’s richest countries, we are facing many challenges that threaten our quality of life and our globe. Each year we pause to celebrate our Blessings on Thanksgiving and pray for Peace. And in the midst of our celebrations, we also realize that our Peace is transitory.

Peace is difficult to be realized when we continue to spend our resources to develop and produce atomic weapons that are capable of destroying our world. Once we see each other as Brothers and Sisters will we have the reverence for life that we will cease pursuing atomic weapons and find true Peace.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, considered to be “the father of the atomic bomb,” acknowledged later in his life that he regretted his role in developing such a destructive weapon. His sense of humanity and World Peace changed after deep reflection on his previous “opportunities” and “choices.”

On the other hand, Floyd Schmoe, who was a Quaker living in the Seattle during World War II, saw the dropping of the atomic bombs in Japan, as an opportunity to choose Peace. Schmoe earned Japan's highest civilian honor for his peace activism and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize three times. He also was instrumental in collecting donations and approval from the Seattle mayor to rebuild homes in Japan and create what is known as Peace Park in Seattle, located by the University of Washington. This little known sanctuary of Peace should be a reminder of the destructive power of atomic weapons and that Peace is our human birthright.

Hopefully, there will not have to be an International Day of Peace in the near future. My dream is that every day is a Day of Global Peace and Harmony. We all have a choice how we want to live our lives and how we respond to life’s challenges. We can all do something as simple as give a smile to one another. It does not cost us anything and can be given anytime. As Mother Teresa once said, “Peace begins with a smile.”