A Question of Peace

In passing …

Philip was an extraordinary peace builder who dedicated most of his life to global and local peace initiatives. As the Director of Peace at The Shift Network, he was the chief architect of the Summer of Peace, Yoga Day Summit, and World Peace Library and was the co-lead faculty of the Peace Ambassador Training. These peace programs provide skills training, inspirational stories, and powerful solutions from the world’s top peace builders, social change leaders,

scientists, Indigenous elders, and spiritual mentors. He spent four years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sierra Leone where he lived and worked in remote villages, and fourteen years with Search for Common Ground. He traveled extensively to international areas of war and conflict to assist in peace building initiatives. The world has lost one of its champions for peace.

Ubuntu: I am because we are.

Ubuntu is a Nguni Bantu term which asserts that society, not a transcendent being, gives human beings their humanity (Wikipedia). It is the belief in a universal bond of sharing that connects all humanity,” and perhaps is best described by Desmond Tutu, the South African theologian and human rights activist:

“A person with ubuntu is open and available to others, affirming of others, does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole and is diminished when others are humiliated or diminished, … tortured or oppressed.”

As the world gets smaller and online communities replace village cultures, perhaps the world at large needs a common guiding principle. Clare Kelley, writing on the Virgin Unite website, suggests ubuntu as a possibility. She calls it the “essence of a human being, the divine spark of goodness inherent within each being.”

“Consciously embracing Ubuntu,” she states, “means being optimistic, courageous, self-confident and evenminded in all circumstances. A life lived in reverence of one’s true self and that of others.”

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… people creating a more peaceful world

World Unity Week

was eight days of inspiring, engaging and interactive events, presentations and co-creative opportunities.

While you may have missed the live events, you can still have an amazing experience on World Unity Week’s “The One Stream.”

An exciting part of World Unity Week was that it launched 99 Days of Peace through Unity Towards a Thriving World for All of Life

The culmination of these 99 days is Peace Week: September (17-24)

Dot Maver, Founder of National Peace Academy explains:

The “99 Days of Peace through Unity” calls out to all individuals, groups, networks, platforms, initiatives and institutions dedicated to unity and peace, and poses the following questions:

What is our potential as we unite and come into coherence together to build a community expressing Peace through Unity, holding each other and all of Life in our hearts? What can happen when we collectively and intentionally place our vast potential, resources and creativity – in the spirit of cooperation and right relationship –for 99 days – in a shared experience of creating the world we want to live in together?” Spring in Barbara’s Garden Spring in Barbara’s Garden