Peace Altar for the New Year


     At the beginning of a new year we often make resolutions and set our intentions to better ourselves. Many of us wish for more peace in the world as each new year begins, and that is what I'm doing with the altar that I have dedicated to peace. 

    As I placed the symbols of peace on this altar I prayed that 2023 will be the year that the Era of Peace truly begins in the world of form. The Christmas card framed in green and gold displays the word "peace" in eleven languages. This and the golden globe hanging on my little tree remind us that people all over the world long for peace. Wars are waged by powerful and egotistic leaders, but most common people desire peace with their neighbors. When the will of the people, and the will of God prevail over the will of the egotists, there will be peace. 

    Doves of peace and a paper crane hang from the little tree along with the golden globe. Paper cranes have been symbols of peace since a little girl named Sadako died of leukemia ten years after the bombing of Hiroshima where she lived. Sadako believed that she would be healed if she could fold a thousand paper cranes. She made 644 cranes before she died. Afterword her classmates continued to fold cranes until there was a total of one thousand to be buried with Sadako. 

    Cranes had always symbolized long life, good health, and good fortune, but after Sadako's story spread around the world, the paper crane became known as a symbol of peace. I folded the crane on my altar as a reminder that no child should have to suffer the horrible effects of war. 

    Finally, the lion and the lamb lying together remind us of the Book of Isaiah where it actually says: "The wolf shall dwell with the lamb . . . and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together . . . ." Whether the lion lies with the lamb or the calves is not significant. The point is that Isaiah's prophecy illustrates a future in which animals do not kill each other and there is peace in all the land. 

    Every new year ushers in the possibility that this will be the year when enemies begin to recognize the humanity in one another, when children are cherished as the miracles they are, and all of nature is honored and we begin to restore the earth to its original beauty. Let us pray that 2023 brings peace to the world. 

You might enjoy Diana Cooper's message of peace:




 
    

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