Here are some cool peace-related things I've found or people have sent me during this time period:
I found this moving and profound piece at http://www.margieadam.com/info/archive.htm
If you're not familiar with Margie Adam, she's a wonderful
singer/songwriter/pianist who's also an avid feminist and peace
activist. I had the pleasure of profiling her some years ago for
Fountain Magazine, and she was as lovely in person as she is in her
music. I've been a fan of Margie's for years.
Wage Peace
by Judyth Hill
September 11, 2001
Wage Peace with your breath.
Breathe in firemen and rubble.
Breathe out whole buildings and flocks of red-wing blackbirds.
Breathe in terrorists
Breathe out sleeping children and fresh mown fields.
Breathe in confusion and breathe out maple trees.
Breathe in the fallen and breathe out life long relationships intact.
Wage peace with our listening: hearing sirens, pray loud.
Remember your tools: flower seeds, clothing pins, clean rivers.
Make soup.
Play music; learn the word "thank you" in 3 languages.
Learn to knit: make a hat.
Think of chaos as dancing raspberries.
Imagine grief
as the outbreak of beauty or gesture of fish.
Swim for the other side.
Wage peace.
Never has the word seemed so fresh and precious.
Have a cup of tea and rejoice.
Act as if armistice has already arrived.
Celebrate today.
Judyth Hill is a stand-up poet and teacher of poetry, living in amazing beauty, where the Rockies meet the Plains, in Northern New Mexico. Her six published books of poetry include Presence of Angels, Men Need Space, and her collection of poems of her land, Black Hollyhock, First Light, from La Alameda Press.
© 2002 by Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Reproduction encouraged. Please acknowledge source and provide Foundation contact information in all copies. www.wagingpeace.org
Here's a fabulous poem by Irish poet Michael Coady that John Smith used to end his new CD, Kickin' This Stone.
Though there are torturers in the world
There are also musicians;
Though, at this moment, men,
Are screaming in prisons,
Jazzmen are raising storms
Of sensuous celebration
And orchestras releasing
Glories of the spirit.
Though the image of God
Is everywhere defiled,
A man in West Clare
Is playing the concertina,
The Sistine Choir is levitating
Under the dome of St. Peter's
And a drunk man on the road
Is singing, for no reason.
I received this incredible and encouraging message recently from my good friends Stephan and Bonnie Mikes. You may remember that I played on the song "Soft Heart" on Stephan's CD The Good, The Bad and The Karmic.
November 10, 2003 Dear Peace and Music Loving Friends, Thanks for the information on the Harmonic Concordance
Event. It was indeed a special night, and i have a
personal anecdote to share which may hint at just how
special it was. During the time of the lunar eclipse my husband,
Stephan Mikés, a sitar player, was performing for
the "Elite 315" Task Force of the US Army who led the
first assault on Baghdad and 'liberated' Saddam's palace;
the father, mother, and brother of David Bloom, the TV
reporter who was killed in the assault; the Washington
Post reporter who accompanied them; and notable others in
positions of governmental authority, numbering around two
hundred. When he was booked to play for this event, we were
somewhat ambivalent about it. Stephan and i are dedicated
to Peace and have created music to touch people in the
deepest parts of themSelves where Divine Peace dwells;
how can we give this to dedicated Warriors? But we
decided that our music is like the sun. It shines on ALL
equally. Surprisingly -- until you consider the timing -- the
people in attendance were exceptionally moved by the
music. Stephan gave away many CDs (he wouldn't accept
their money) as he was also moved by their overwhelming
and unexpected response. At the end of the evening's festivities Stephan played
a rousing rendition of "The Good, the Bad and the Karmic"
which drew resounding applause and left everyone
speechless. One of those most moved was the keynote speaker, Major
General Barrett, who is in charge of all army training.
In the speech he gave to the soldiers and their families,
he spoke at length of the importance of "opening the
chambers of the Heart in Love" . . . He and Stephan spoke
at length, and he told Stephan about his eleven-year-old
son, a 'guitar genius' who is fascinated by sitar and
seeking a teacher . . . If those considered the greatest of our warriors have
an open place within them which can be reached by love
and inspired by music based in peace, then perhaps there
really is hope for humanity and our precious planet
Earth. humbly, stephanmikes@mac.com to hear the music --
bonnie mikés
Pretty cool, eh? 
Stay tuned, I'll be posting more stories of peace and peacemakers from time to time!
"My heart is moved by all I cannot save:
So much has been destroyed -
I cast my lot with those who, age after age,
Perversely, with no extraordinary power,
Reconstitute the world."
Adrienne Rich
"To create peace, you have to be peaceful. The only way to stop war is to start from within yourself. You must do personal disarmament. The only way to get and stay peaceful is to concentrate on what brings you peace and resist the downward spiral of negative emotions that blames others for your lack of peace. Remember, that to which you give your attention expands. Although there is no denying that we're in a perilous and frightening position right now, that doesn't mean we are powerless to change it. But the only way to do so is by changing your thoughts and emotions from those of anger, hatred, and fear to those associated with compassion and peace." - Christiane Northrup, M.D.
"I think that people want peace so much that one of these days governments had better get out of the way and let them have it." - Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34th President of the United States
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