5 minute read
Following the Unifying Threads of the Culture of Peace by David Wick
by David Wick
~Steve Jobs
I am trusting the inherent unifying thread of the Culture of Peace. United Nations Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury spoke to the Rotary E-Club of World Peace on 1 September 2020 on “Peace, Peacebuilding and the Culture of Peace” at my invitation. Given that his roles at the UN have included Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations, President of the UN Security Council, President of the UNICEF Board, and co-founder of the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace, I virtually introduced Ambassador Chowdhury to Rotary International President-Elect Shekhar Mehta on February 14, 2021. This was an intentional step to enhance the relationship between the United Nations and Rotary International, raise Rotary’s profile within the UN, and to introduce the UN’s Declaration and Programme of Action on the Culture of Peace (A/RES/53/243) to the leadership of Rotary International.
Following and co-manifesting the high vibrational thread of the Culture of Peace has been a continuous journey for me which now led me to serving as the President of the Rotary E-Club of World Peace 2021-2022. This is a capstone to my 40 plus years of peacebuilding dedication.
I am currently seeing the emergence of more dots and threads to be connected. As I explored the Light on Light website, I came across and watched the video on Unitive Justice and Global Security where Bob Atkinson said, “We are living in an unprecedented dark night of the collective soul…. A holistic vision prioritizes the whole, brings about cooperation and harmony and places a unity of purpose above all else. This consciousness calls for a complete shift in how we related in all things. A new story of wholeness is emerging, a global community built upon a Culture of Peace is forming.” I have experienced first-hand the emergence and evolution of this global community.
While living in the San Francisco Bay Area I became a member of the UN NGO Pathways To Peace (PTP) since 1980 when it was coming into being and I collaborated with co-founder and president Avon Mattison until her recent passing. I continue today as the current president of PTP. Avon and PTP helped to establish the International Day of Peace (IDP) at the UN in 1981, and we organized the first major civil society IDP celebration in San Francisco in 1984. PTP helped evolve the concept of the Culture of Peace in the 1980’s and subsequently collaborated with Ambassador Chowdhury and others to provide wide-spread education and inspiration.
I understood the fundamental importance of the concept of the Culture of Peace, and I knew that it must be grounded and made practical on a day to day, personal and community-wide basis to realize its promise. When I moved to Ashland, Oregon my partner Irene Kai and I inspired the Ashland city and community to learn about and support the idea of the Culture of Peace. We co-created the Ashland Culture of Peace Commission (ACPC) as a citizen’s commission in 2015 as a proof of concept. The intention was to manifest the Culture of Peace in a small city and community and demonstrate how essential this is to be created on both the local and global levels. Among others our initiatives included working with the Ashland City Council, public schools, police department, homeless shelter, Southern Oregon University, chamber of commerce, service clubs, and contributed bi-monthly newspaper articles about the many faces of the Culture of Peace for six years. One of the highlights was installing the World Peace Flame Monument, only the 2nd in the United States, which became a beacon of light for the Culture of Peace. Ambassador Chowdhury was so impressed with ACPC’s groundbreaking work that he flew to Ashland from NYC to experience the accomplishments for himself. After providing a virtual presentation about ACPC to the Rotary E-Club of World Peace in 2018, I was invited to join and subsequently invited to serve as its 2021-2022 president. I did so predominately because of the opportunity to work with Rotary’s amazing global organizational structure and reach, its true dedication to service, the EClubs leadership role, and the evolving openness and support of peacebuilding and the Culture of Peace. The EClub is influential within Rotary International which is itself evolving to be known as a global peacebuilding organization. Among the dots and threads which are now being connected because of my participation are the following.
• Co-Lead strategic planning for peacebuilding • Connect our EClub and members to Rotary International (RI) peacebuilding activities • Introduce the Culture of Peace to the EClub, District 5330, and RI • Engage the EClub in World Unity Week 2021, 2022 • Introduce International Cities of Peace • Engage in International Day of Peace and 11 Days of Global Unity • Initiate presentations for UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW66) • Co-lead The Heart of Peace music concert fundraiser for Ukrainian refugees Whether at the UN, City of Ashland, Rotary EClub of World Peace, or UN Yoga Day, the Culture of Peace creates and unifies more dots.
Given that, “The term yoga is derived from the Sanskrit root yuj which means meeting, union, communion, consummation,…”* what threads and dots can come from initiating, Yoga of the Culture of Peace?
* Singh, Sant Kirpal, The Crown of Life, Franklin: Sat Sandesh Books, 1973, pg. 4
David Wick has held the vision and values of personal and societal evolution to our highest and best. He currently serves as Immediate Past President, Rotary EClub of World Peace; Executive Director, Ashland Culture of Peace Commission; and President, Pathways to Peace. David has over 30 years of executive and management training and organizational development consulting experience, and has held important positions within Sun Microsystems, Stanford University, and Levi Strauss.
