World Peace Day #1 or #2

"Some say I'm a dreamer" Alley, West Odessa, Texas

"but I'm not the only one" HEB, Odessa, Texas

I hope one (or both) of these photos invokes a sense of peace. Which photo do you prefer?

Because the World Peace Day begins at 12:08 a.m. CST December 22 this year, I have opted to post Saturday's post of This or That a day ahead! (Thank you to Sue at Sacred Circle Mandalas for alerting us.) This is in case you want to participate at exactly 6:08 UT, the Winter/Summer solstice.

Yes, that's right. I hadn't thought of that before, that it is both the Winter and Summer Solstice. Having Lisa from New Zealand as a bloggin' friend has made me very aware of that fact. And if I was Queen of the World, I would declare we make both the Winter/Summer and Summer/Winter Solstice World Peace Day. Peace deserves more than one day, why not two? Or more. Everyday would be better.

So how to celebrate and pray for World Peace Day?

• Hum, sing, shout along with John Lennon's Give Peace A Chance in this video of his second Bed-in for peace, recorded on 1 June 1969 in Room 1742 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Canada. (Also, his Imagine would be an excellent choice.)
• Memorize a Peace quote from WagingPeace.org. Then vow to live it.
• Learn the word "Peace" in many other languages.
• Donate to your favorite organization that promotes peace and non-violence. My personal choice is Amnesty International. Or maybe NonViolence.org. Rest assured you are "not the only one."
  
• Think back to when you were a kid and loved browsing your grandmother's National Geographic. Keep learning more about other cultures at Centres for International Cultural Learning out of Canada. This is an awe-inspiring site where you have your choice of countries, and a pull down menu with different cultural questions discussed.
  
• Avoid an "us" and "them" attitude. Familiarize yourself with the vast array of religions in the world, and such varied ways of rejoicing and honoring our Universe. Try the site ReligiousTolerance.org. As Ghandi said, "All religions are different roads converging to the same point; what does it matter that we take different roads, so long as we reach the same point?"
• Fold white paper cranes (a symbol of peace) using this splendid animated instruction.
• Plant something. Yes, even in the dead of winter you can plant. See Trudi Davidoff's wonderful instructions and devotion to winter sowing in all sorts of recycled containers (that's part of the fun) at WinterSown.org. The solstice is the traditional day allotted for this adventure for those in winter.
  
• And lastly, if none of these ideas appeals to you, there may be one more option for joining in on December 22, albeit usually a rather privately shared one (or not shared,as the case may be). "One" spelled with a Big O.
• Of course, you can always post about Peace on your blog. Any day. Any time.
  

I'll close with the first lines from an excellent poem and poet I just discovered while surfing for this post. "Pray for Peace" by Ellen Bass (you can read all of it here.)

Pray to whomever you kneel down to:
Jesus nailed to his wooden or plastic cross,
his suffering face bent to kiss you,
Buddha still under the bo tree in scorching heat,
Adonai, Allah. Raise your arms to Mary
that she may lay her palm on our brows,
to Shekhina, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
to Inanna in her stripped descent.

Then pray to the bus driver who takes you to work.
On the bus, pray for everyone riding that bus,
for everyone riding buses all over the world.
Drop some silver and pray.

Waiting in line for the movies, for the ATM,
for your latte and croissant, offer your plea.
Make your eating and drinking a supplication.
Make your slicing of carrots a holy act,
each translucent layer of the onion, a deeper prayer.

Here's to praying deeply, however you choose to send out and up your prayers today.