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September/October 2001 Spirituality
Educating for Peace

by Larraine Brannan and Mary Button

Children come into the world as open, trusting innocents, ready to smile at anyone. Race, religion and social status mean nothing to them. Unfortunately, society seems intent on instilling fear and suspicion in them. The messages our children absorb from TV, radio, newspapers, movies are saturated with images of violence, hunger, disaster and strife. They such paint a picture of hopelessness that kids grow up resigned to a cynical attitude of dog eat dog and survival of the fittest.

When do we see peace being modeled for us or hear inspirational stories of people helping each other? All too rarely, but when the Dalai Lama visited Portland, the word PEACE was on front pages and rolling off the tongues of newscasters for days. It seemed like the whole city was thirsty for the simple messages he offered about celebrating what unites us, rather than bemoaning what divides us.

It was just this feeling that motivated a group of dedicated adults and hundreds of school children who had a vision for a new national holiday. With incredible perseverance, they convinced the US Congress to unanimously pass a resolution on December 15, 2000, proclaiming January 1^st of every year as “One Day of Peace and Sharing.” (See: www.millenniummeal.org.) People in 100 countries around the world shared this vision. Our dream is that this holiday will be celebrated in the hearts, homes, and communities around the world. Oregon’s One Day of Peace Coalition decided to take the Resolution and make it a reality by working to create a model for an annual celebration of peace at the community level, starting with the children.

“In the 20^th century, parents, teachers and society were the educators of the children, and the children were always in the position of being taught. In the 21^st century, adults shall learn from the wonderful qualities of children, such as their purity, innocence, radiance, wisdom and intuition, to inspire and uplift one another. The young generation shall play a leading role in the creation of peace for a bright future.”

From a declaration of the Sept. 2000 Tokyo conference on Creating a Culture of Peace (www.unesco.org)

The One Day of Peace Coalition agrees with these sentiments and so we are devoting a large part of our effort to providing opportunities for our young people to express their ideas, hopes and visions about peace. We are working with schools, community centers, youth groups and spiritual communities to create a teaching framework that focuses on the messages of One Day of Peace & Sharing. To excite the youngsters’ imagination and provide a tangible incentive, they are asked to submit to us essays, poems and artwork on one (or more) of the central themes of peace, sharing and compassion for publication.

We are creating a book from a selection of the children’s work, and will do a new one each year. The proceeds from sales of these books will be applied to funding further educational/ charitable activities in support of this educational mission. We expect art exhibits to be mounted around the city and state, showcasing the submissions we are not able to print. Every entry is precious, and we will do our best to see that they are displayed somewhere in their community. We want each child to know that what it has to contribute is important. (For a complete school packet and more information on how to submit entries, see our website at www.onedayofpeace.net.)

We will support these efforts through a media campaign and the sale of the children’s Peace Visions book. We will also be producing a One Day of Peace button, which we hope will be widely adopted. We will encourage youngsters to take an active role in the planning of their own peace and sharing initiatives and community celebrations.

The Coalition is planning a Celebration of Peace for January 1, 2002 at the Chiles Center on the University of Portland’s campus. Along with this central celebration, we are encouraging communities all over Oregon and southwest Washington to plan smaller neighborhood celebrations of peace and sharing. Governor Kitzhaber has been asked to proclaim Oregon’s commitment to the holiday.

The One Day of Peace Coalition is a grassroots campaign of volunteers who came together to promote the adoption of January 1^st as a world holiday of peace and sharing. It has been adopted as a project of the Oregon Peace Institute. We welcome participation and support from all interested parties. Donations are greatly appreciated. Please make checks out to Oregon Peace Institute and send to: One Day, 7907 N. Albina, Portland, OR 97217 or visit our website, www.onedayofpeace.net and donate online. You can contact the Coalition at 503-293-3186 or by email to info@onedayofpeace.net.