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| Peace Service by YRUU Students |
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The sermon for September 21, 2008 was done by the YRUU (Young Religious Unitarian Universalists) high school group from Prairie. The theme was on peace, and each student wrote and delivered their own section. We are pleased to have their work here in written form. Will Singel Inner Peace
I light this candle for Inner-Peace
One of the first steps to realizing a dream of world peace is to find inner peace. But what exactly is inner peace? I'd like to take a moment for everyone here to imagine the time of your life where you have felt the most at peace with yourself and the world around you.
For most people, the moment that has held the most inner peace is during an important event such as the birth of a child or graduation from high school or college. Some individuals, however, have achieved a more permanent state of inner peace. These people are often considered enlightened and are sometimes involved in religious history. Some examples of those who have found lasting inner peace are the Buddha, Henry David Thoreau, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The current Dalai Lama emphasizes the importance of inner peace, saying:
"The question of real, lasting world peace concerns human beings, so basic human feelings are also at its roots. Through inner peace, genuine world peace can be achieved. In this the importance of individual responsibility is quite clear; an atmosphere of peace must first be created within ourselves, then gradually expanded to include our families, our communities, and ultimately the whole planet."
Inner peace is something that a person must find for him or her self and until it is found, a person cannot truly be peaceful with respect to others.
Ellen Singel The Golden Rule
I light this candle for the Golden Rule
Another part of peace is the Golden Rule. This is also referred to as treating others how you would like to be treated. It connects to human rights, ethics, and many other believes.
Human rights in our country are very important. They mean that every human is created equal. In order to all be equal, we all have to treat each other as equals. Being nice to each other means that others will be nice to us.
If we all care about each other, then we are all cared about by someone.
The YRUU spent our summer talking about ethics. Being kind to the people around you is part of ethics. Doing the right thing means helping people and being kind. This adds to inner peace and outer peace.
One real world example is that if one person pays the toll for the person behind him or her, then the other person may have a better day and help another person.
Now in a more grand scale example, one country may help another in a war, so later the other country may help the first with economy troubles.
This all also ties into different beliefs of religions such as karma. “Do nice things, and nice things will happen to you” is similar to treat others as you would like to be treated. In Christianity, Luke 6:31 said, “Just as you want others to do for you, do the same for them.” In Confucianism, Confucius said in The Analects, “Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”
And, in Islam, the Prophet Muhammad said, “Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.”
One other translation I have of these is to be kind so that no one seeks revenge on you.
George Bernard Shaw criticized the golden rule when he said, “Do not do unto others as you would expect they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.” This means that even if you don’t expect anything good for yourself, you should still not be allowed to be rude and disrespectful towards others. One problem with this so called “Platinum Rule” is that you can’t tell what others expect as well as you can tell what you expect.
So the Golden Rule is still simplest. If you want people to be nice to you, be nice to them too. This will add to our inner peace, and our outer peace. Everyone would be happy inside, and people would be kind towards each other.
Samantha Albert -Raising awareness about inequality
I light this candle to raise awareness about inequality
Inequality is a major issue when dealing with the concept of peace. Practically every country in the world experiences inequality, usually in the form of social disparity and not being exposed to equal opportunity. Even countries, when being compared to each other, can be considered “unequal” merely because they lack power or money. There are so many things that we can do as a citizen in living in a country that has the power and the money to help others. In 2007 the Earth’s Rights Institute stepped forward and helped poverty stricken countries by donating over $5 million dollars in goods that were designated for educational, medical, and sustainable development purposes. Now, we may not all have the money to donate $5 million dollars worth of stuff, BUT we can definitely fight inequality and promote peace by donating items that you don’t need, volunteering with organizations that help fight inequality, or even raising awareness by yourself.
Julia Schneyer -Making sure people have basic needs
I light this candle for our work to provide everyone with their basic needs
In countries that have poor areas, often churches will come in and say: “we’ll give you food and shelter!”. The people that receive this aid from the church, are thankful , but sometimes feel obligated to join that church. The poor of the country feel the church has “saved their lives” which is more than their own country was able to do for them.. This has happened all over the world. In the United States and Africa with Christianity, in South America and parts of Europe with Roman Catholicism, and in Asia with Buddhist and Hindu religions. In all countries around the world this inequality is possible. Often religious groups hold more power than the country itself. Lack of life’s basic needs: food, clean water, and shelter can lead to violence in these countries as people will do whatever they can to survive. My hope is that churches will help people without taking power from it’s government while truly promoting peace.
Taylor Groves- National Peace Academy
I light this candle for a National Peace Academy
Our world is becoming consumed with war and violence, this trait of our youth is unhealthy to the future of our world. The world can not survive with war and violence. Our people need to be taken good care of. If our people are forgotten and not taken care of it will lead to war. That is why, in 2009, the first-ever National Peace Academy will be formally launched in the United States. The Peace Academy would:
Advance Peace education and peace building efforts that already exist
Study what peace really means, develop new programs to study and create trainings for ordinary people and those whose job it is to practice peace and peace building
Work with peace academies like the one that will be created in the US throughout the world.
And create departments focused on peace in government, the military and groups of ordinary citizens ( like our church ).
The Peace Academy can create real long-lasting peace by creating free health care to keep our citizen's heart beating. They would work for equality for men women and children, so we can all get equal opportunities in life and live them to their fullest. We hope to learn to accept all that come our way, whether immigrants or gay and lesbian, we should be able to let all feel welcome in our lives day to day. To me, the Peace Academy seems like one of the top things our country needs in this time. I worry, however, that it is not totally possible. There will be the rebels who disagree with the way of peace and believe in war. But it is up to us to fight against them, with words and actions, to show them that peace can create a better world for everyone. If we train people to fight in wars as part of the military, why don't we train people to help with peace? |