This time around, Friday the 13th took us by storm. Japan. Lebanon. Baghdad. France. It seemed that all at once the good people of this world were being attacked from all sides.
Interestingly enough, in my international development class we discussed peace just a few days ago so it was fresh on my mind as I contemplated these recent events that will mark history.
She then told us what peace meant to her. Though she made the argument that peace is dynamic and changes from day to day, hour to hour, at the moment peace, to her, meant being able to sing happy birthday to her little nephew via Skype. You see, she is British and has only been here for a short time. This was her first year away from her nephew and she felt a bit uneasy all day. She decided to call him up. After seeing his face and singing a few verses of the popular song, she suddenly felt a warming pace come over her. Her universe was back in line.
In the end, I guess that is the beauty of peace. It is extremely personal and dynamic. It can warm our hearts and calm our fears. A life full of cumulated moments of peace and tranquility is a life well-lived.
As I think of the crazy world we live in, I can't help but think of an unforgettable experience I had in Japan about three years ago. Somehow, as a little freshman I found myself on an Asian study abroad visiting six countries and about thirty of the most influential companies including Amazon.com, Marriott, Nike, NuSkin, PWC, etc. I did not even intend on studying business at that moment in my college career but merely decided to go because I wanted to learn to use chopsticks effectively. by the way, I totally did. In between our many business visits, we tried to sandwich in as many cultural experiences as possible, one of which being Hiroshima.
I wandered around for hours horrified. I learned that day about the devastating power of nuclear weapons. Not even President Truman knew how that atomic bomb would obliterate Tokyo. Soon after the bomb was dropped, those who did not die started to notice the many negative effects of exposure to the bomb's radiation ranging from nausea, bleeding and loss of hair, to death. The daunting list of effects also includes cancer, mental retardation, lower IQ, delayed development, blindness, spinal bifida, cleft palate, and birth defects for the future generations.
I was humbled, traumatized, and for a moment even a bit embarrassed of my nationality. How could we have done something so horrific to our brothers and sisters, even during wartimes.
In a moment of reflection I stepped out of the museum doors and walked along the river. The sun shone on the water making it sparkle. As I thought, I passed a single-filed group of Japanese children on a field trip. They said hello and I said こんにちは (Kon'nichiwa.) . I sensed no signs of resentment. Not even a little bit. I marveled at their ability to accept the past as just that. The past. I thought of their good teachers and parents who had successfully taught them about the devastation and los associated with war without expressing nay sort of bitter sentiment. Though I could not entirely understand the warmth and love they showed me as an American given what they had just learned and saw, I appreciated it. In that moment I felt peace.
So, as for the events of Friday the 13th, specifically the anguish in Paris, I can't help but think of the children who have just lost their mommies and daddies. I shutter to think that those malicious individuals responsible for the attacks will get away unharmed. But I can trust that with time a healing process will begin to take place there just as it did in Japan or even in our country after September 11th. We forgive so that we can have peace. We build that peace piece by piece and sometimes it can be hard work. But we do it because the alternative is dark. And as the most famous of peacebuilders once said,
"darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." Martin Luther King Jr.
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