“In order to know where you are going, you must understand where you have been.” This is so true when speaking about peace and our International Day of Peace Celebration.
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Matt "Big Beats" Franklin |
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| Bruce E. Smith |
The auditory pleasure received a compliment of exquisite Japanese cuisine provided by the best seafood restaurant in Indianapolis, Ocean World on 86th Street and Ditch Road.
Twenty-one (21) members of the Lovin’ Life Ministries congregation and seven (7) guests including the two guest speakers were in attendance. Five (5) young people between the ages of 11-24 of the Lovin’ Life Ministries were among the participants. Next we viewed a video from a group called Peace One Day. It showed how these celebrations of peace around the world began through petitioning the United Nations to adopt a unanimous day of peace celebrated on Sept 21 each year. The second was the UN Promo video featuring this year’s UN theme of Peace=Future. After that we settled in for a night of education on the road toward Peace. Peace One Day Video
“This may have ended the war, but the resentment and anger is still felt to this day,” said presenter Bruce E. Smith. He pointed out that member in the audience may have relatives who were in those Japanese cities and still harbor ill will towards the United States. The next look back to where we came from on our road to peace was where we are presently standing.
He looked not only at the rates of victims by others at the hands of guns, but he began examining the rates of suicides as it relates to gun prevalence and the deadly and senseless outcomes the role that guns have on the everyday occurrences that escalate when guns are readily assessable. He now is a Staff Psychiatrist part time, but serves as a Board Member and Past President, Hoosiers Concerned about Gun Violence and a Member of the Family Violence Committee Indiana state Medical Association. His presentation was a serious wakeup.
(If you would like a copy of his presentation, email a request to: bsmith@lovinlifeindy.org). This was a look at the present - where we need to go to secure Peace.
The following speaker took us to the Future.
Charlie Wiles holds a degree in Political Science from Indiana University. He spent several years working for the Indiana State Legislature from 1981-86, started a general contracting business renovating older homes, and served as a combat medic in the US Army Reserves from 1991-1999. From 1997-2003 he served as executive director of Peace Learning Center, a not-for-profit organization focused on teaching youth conflict management and diversity appreciation. It was in that capacity that I met Mr. Wiles in 2006. During that year he started the International Interfaith Initiative. International Interfaith Initiative (III) is designed to foster interfaith cooperation and strengthen civil society. He talked about the work that III did in 2006 when 5th graders from the three religions attributed to Abraham, came together to pick topics that they wanted to know about, such as Faith and Media, Television and Religion, etc. He said he became frustrated in that it was hard to find schools and churches that would like to participate in such a program. But he forged on.
“One way to bring about peace is through Interfaith, Interreligious, and International cooperation, even though it is not easy”, said Mr. Wiles.
His slide presentation was moving as he shared one story that occurred in Damascus. Displaced Iraqis confronted the camera man about him being American. The group wanted to know why he was in the Middle East. He shared about the work that the team was doing to create a peaceful atmosphere to replace the one created by the war. This, Mr. Wiles said was a revelation.
They also brought medical supplies collected from local hospitals as a way to help medical team treating victims of war.
Reverend Moon’s quote from his autobiography titled “As a Peace Loving Gloabal Citizen” read,
"God is warning us that He will no longer tolerate separation and division...It will tear down the man-made walls of race, culture, religion and country, and establish the kingdom of the peaceful, ideal world that has been God’s cherished desire. In this age, war is the most primitive and destructive means of resolving conflict, and will never lead to lasting peace. Humankind should end the perverse cycle of war, which only sacrifices the lives of our children and squanders enormous sums of money. The time has come for the countries of the world to pool their resources and advance toward the kingdom of the peaceful, ideal world desired by God, the Master of this great universe.”
"God is warning us that He will no longer tolerate separation and division...It will tear down the man-made walls of race, culture, religion and country, and establish the kingdom of the peaceful, ideal world that has been God’s cherished desire. In this age, war is the most primitive and destructive means of resolving conflict, and will never lead to lasting peace. Humankind should end the perverse cycle of war, which only sacrifices the lives of our children and squanders enormous sums of money. The time has come for the countries of the world to pool their resources and advance toward the kingdom of the peaceful, ideal world desired by God, the Master of this great universe.”
This handout, presented to all, was well received as was a copy of the autobiography which was given to the guests and speakers.
To learn about International Interfaith Imitative visit: http://www.internationalinterfaith.org/
To learn about Hoosier Concerned about Gun Violence visit: http://www.hcgv.org/
To learn about the work of Reverend Sun Myung Moon, Unification Church and Lovin’ Life Ministries visit: http://www.familyfed.org/
“This program was very well presented. I see that to many guns are truly in the wrong hands. Dear God show us the way to make a change for a better world.”
-Crystal Mitchell
“It was a wonderful event, we will do more!”
-Luther Mitchell
To spend an evening reflecting about the sad reality of a world full of conflict to visualizing a world of peace was good for me. I learned something about issues of gun control in urban America. The speaker on interfaith issues showed some experiences of interreligious activities in the Middle East that were hopeful and exciting. The starting point to World Peace is believing it is even possible. This evening definitely helped me see a peaceful future.
-John Triggol