Peace On Earth

July 20 2009 marked the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing on the moon. I can vividly remember the awe and excitement as I sat in my Year 4 classroom and watched the first moon walk in black and white. It was mind blowing to see people walking upon another world. The plaque that Armstrong and Aldrin left on the moon reads:

"Here men from the planet Earth first set foot upon the moon July 1969, A.D.

We came in peace for all mankind."

We came in peace for all mankind! Ironic that at the time, the Vietnam War was raging and violence, oppression and inequity were rife here on Earth.

For many people who were much older than I at the time, the moon landing seemed to symbolise the hope for a brighter future. Surely, they thought, if we can put a man on the moon, we can do anything. We can solve all the disagreements and inequities around the world and create a lasting peace.

So, what happened? Today, we still ask the same question: how will there ever be real, all-pervasive, lasting peace here on our little planet? Philosophers and theologians will probably debate this question for centuries to come. To me the more productive pursuit is for each of us to promote peace within our own families and communities. Christianity is a religion of hope. If each of us actively promotes peace within our families and communities, we can have the realistic hope that this peace will spread.

Peace is not something that just happens by chance. The Christian perspective is that true peace can only exist when people are at peace with themselves and live in a community where all relationships are built on respect, justice and goodwill.

For us to be at peace with ourselves, we have to take time to nurture not only our physical and mental faculties but also our spiritual selves. We often forget this or deliberately neglect it. We must develop a balance in our lives and establishing that balance requires spending time regularly in self-reflection, prayer and meditation.

To ensure that our communities are places where relationships are built on respect, justice and goodwill, we must actively strive to put these values into practice in all our interactions with others, no matter how we are feeling personally, no matter what is happening in our own lives. We must stand up against injustice and unfairness wherever we find it. We must try at all times to treat others as we would like to be treated ourselves. It is a valuable practice at the end of each day to spend a few minutes in quiet reflection and ask ourselves this question: "Was everyone I came into contact with today better off for having done so?" If the answer is no, we have some work to do.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi)