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People
Tell Their Stories: Building A Peace Consciousness: A
Personal Perspective on the Peace The
morning started out like most Tuesday mornings. My friend Pripo
and I completed our yoga session by After
yoga, I headed off to pick up my mail at the post office, where I ran into Judi
and Spence. Seeing them together in their bright and shiny
new relationship always made me glow from the inside out. But this
morning it was different. They were grief stricken and their mood was not light
but dark. Their faces were filled with horror as they told me about the
terrorist attacks in Spence
and Jude said they were going back up to their house to sit in meditation and
invited me to join them. I agreed, but first I wanted to run back to Pripo to tell him what had happened. When I got to him, it
was obvious by the radio he was kneeling next to and the look on his face that
he knew. We hugged a hug of knowing that life was now very different, the world
was forever changed. In that simple knowing, there seemed to be hope. And in that hope, a light of expectation of a better world, an
awakened world. I
realized very quickly that I wanted to know what my job would be. In the past,
I had been content to sit back and wait for others to take care of problems in
the world. "Why don't they do something to fix this?" or some such
thought would roll around in my head and spill out of my mouth. Not this time.
This time I knew I must do something. But what? My
work of Verbal Remedies was doing alright but I still wasn't earning a living
with it. That fact alone seemed to tell me that I had to do more. Maybe I had
to do something very different, which I was now ready to do. But
what? Driving
up to Jude and Spence's place on the top of a hill, my prayer was to give me
work that contributes to the world, work that I love, and work that will bring
abundance into my life. That is the prayer I sat down with in meditation. What
I heard was "peace and love". What I thought was
"bullshit"…more of my ego speaking, more Verbal Remedies work that
wasn't working as it was. I stubbornly resisted the voice in my heart. Tuesday
night I decided that at the very least I could sit down and write for my web
site and so I did. What came up during the writing was more "peace and
love". That was twice and that was enough. Peace The next
day I went into the studio with the idea of selling the peace and love pins and
magnets I had made more than a year ago, and giving the money to the relief
efforts. One thing led to another and pretty soon three friends and I were
headed to I feel a
call to do work that supports the building of a peace consciousness. Part of me
feels a bit like my Pollyanna-like “practice positive” cartoon character, Lorelie, but I am willing to take the chance that what I
feel is real…a real pull from spirit to step up to the plate. So what have I
decided is my work? It is to be part of putting a symbol out into the world
that represents the longing of our collective soul…seeking joy through peace
and the love that brings it, in whatever way we individually determine to get
there. I watched
faces light up when looking at the peace and love symbol and
this is enough for me. Small miracles that support a
very large one, peace in our world. An age of enlightenment seems to
finally be upon us. I saw people of so many different countries, cultures,
religions, ages represented in the One of
the small miracles I witnessed that touched me on a very personal level was
during the second march in DC. My friend Luisa and I walked for many miles
surrounded by sounds of chants for peace. (My favorite was a sort of
mantra…”Hold on. Hold on. Hold the vision until it’s born.” It had the
resonance of an “ommm”, a prayer of high vibration.)
Along the way and near the end of a 3 hour march, Luisa and I began to think of
our stomachs. I wished out loud for some bread. Not five minutes later, a very
old man of Middle Eastern descent rushed up to me with a beautiful and freshly
baked loaf of bread. He was running up and down along side the march offering
loaves to marchers from a very large bag being pushed on a cart by who seemed
to be the man’s granddaughter. I got my bread. Luisa and
I realizing what had just happened could only laugh and be amazed at the very
real miracle that had just occurred. We were immersed in a flow of love,
brought about by thousands of people all focused on one thing…peace. A Visit to Ground Zero In Denise, Pripo and I took a walk down to the place called “ground
zero”. It is a name I don’t like because it makes me think of a place where
nothing exists. In fact, it is a place where love lives. So much pure love has
been poured into the ruins of buildings, digging at first for survivors, now
digging for the comfort of loved ones left behind. The hush on the sidewalk for
5 or 6 blocks before the first view of the site was reverent. The pace was
measured and slow. I heard it compared to a funeral procession. It was like
that. Within
view of the site we stood shoulder to shoulder, patiently waiting our turn to
see. And behind us, as we looked, were storefronts that had their glass intact
but ash and debris covering shoe and jewelry displays. I imagined the doors
being blown open by the fall of the towers…a billowing cloud of ash and smoke,
whooshing through the streets. Somehow the picture of those storefronts brought
the reality more into focus for me than the twisted remains of the towers. While in We must
be strong In our resolve for peace… Standing
tall in belief, Taking up
our right space On a
planet calling for A rising
peaceful and
loving consciousness. My love
of We must
be a force for change. Imagine
peace. Imagine
love. “Imagine
all the people, living
life in peace…” Hold on. Hold on. Hold the
vision Until it’s born. © 2002 Breah Parker. Written for www.verbalremedies.com and reprinted
by permission of the author. All rights reserved. Breah Parker is the author/illustrator of Dare to Dream: Verbal Remedies to
Light You Up and Set You Free She lives and works in the mountains of
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