Peacemaker

What comes to mind when you hear the word Peace? Antiwar slogans? Peace signs? Hippies and flower power? Violence? Protests? John Lennon’s “Give peace a chance” or “Imagine”?  

What does the word Peace mean to you? Do you find yourself reflecting on your state of being and your inner conscience as well as your recent behaviour and activities? 

21st September was World Peace Day, an annual day reserved for the observation of peace. Fast forward a few weeks and here we are: Yoko Ono relights the Imagine Peace Tower on the 9th of October, violent protests continue due to the several strikes taking place and the week when this years’ Nobel Price Laureates are announced.

I decided to visit the newly opened Peacemakers Museum at the Nelson Mandela Square in Sandton.  The museum displays all the Nobel Peace Price Laureates from the inception of the Nobel Price in 1901 until 2011. The 2012 Nobel Peace Price went to the European Union, I believe the museum will be adding the new receipient to the exhibition soon. I’m curious to know what your thoughts are about the EU receiving the Nobel Peace Price this year.

The museum also exhibits a detailed history of the South African Laureates and the role they played in bringing Peace to this beautiful country of ours: Albert Luthuli who received it in 1960 for his role in the promotion of non-violent struggle against apartheid, Desmond Tutu in 1984 as well as Nelson Mandela and F.W. de Klerk in 1993. 

If you ever find yourself in Sandton City or Nelson Mandela Square, maybe you can pop into the museum and spend a few minutes enthralled by the experience while thinking about all the individuals, famous and not famous who have put themselves at potential risk for the sake of the greater good of humanity.

Quoting the Dalai Lama, a laureate of the Nobel Peace Price in 1989, “if you think you're too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito". It is imperial that now, more that even, we take an active role in world activities. We live in “relatively” peaceful times compared to other periods in human history, and learning from history, things can turn around overnight. A question I pose is: what can I do today that will allow me to leave the world a better place than how I found it? Like the Nobel Peace Price recipients, they not only fought for peace, but fought for equality, solidarity, tolerance, world hunger while struggling against violence, intolerance, prejudice and hate. Our actions may not seem like a big deal on their own but everything counts. An important think to remember is that we should not only think about what the individual is doing but the impact the action may have on the next person and the next and the next. That's how social change starts. That's how we can get the ball rolling.

So, what small (and big) changes can you incorporate into your life that will contribute to Peace?