Peace From The Inside Out

Sunday was International Day Of Peace, so today Westwood-Bales students sent 'whirled' peace out into our community by planting nearly 1000

Pinwheels For Peace.

I can't wait to talk with our Peacemakers in class this week about what they drew on their pinwheel papers to symbolize what peace means to them; how it looks, sounds, and feels.

If you've not experienced Reba's ballad Pray for Peace yet,

do yourself a favor and watch it now.

As many of you know, I spent a few days unplugged because I was out of town, at home for a high school class reunion. I won a door prize for knowing that the minimum wage in 1979 was $2.90.

My takeaway from that gathering thirty-five years after we graduated from high school is that everyone seemed so nice. We had a blast reminiscing and laughing together. The theme that the committee had selected was Operation Relaxation. They asked that we come together to do just that: Just Relax.

So relax we did, with laughter and love.

Belly laughter. Bonding laughter.

But not at one another, like we did in high school.

Instead, it was with one another.

Here now, some of the thoughts that I found in the booklet that our reunion committee put together which, interestingly enough, parallel our prayer for peace.

What we want to do is not nearly as important as what we want to be. The longer I live, the more significant that becomes. It's possible to do lots of things, yet be zilch as a person. Doing is usually connect with a vocation or career, how we make a living. Being is much deeper. It relates to character, who we are, and how we make a life. Doing is tied in closely with activity, accomplishments, and tangible things, like salary, prestige, involvements, roles, and trophies. Being, on the other hand, has more to do with intangibles, the kind of people we become down inside, much of which can't be measured by objective yardsticks and impressive awards. But of the two, being will ultimately out-distance doing every time. It may take half a lifetime to perfect, but hands down, it's farm more valuable. And lasting. And inspiring.

Don't you love that?