Do you dream of peace?

Video: Resentment towards Syrian refugees grows
- by CNN's Mohammed Jamjoom

This story brings to life the reality for children whose lives are disrupted by wars fought by the adults around them. It reminds me of the lyrics from Judy Collins' "Song for Sarajevo":

Can't you stop the war, bring it to a close
You are tall and strong and I am just a child
Can't we live in peace, stop the flowing blood
Make a blessed world where I can be a child
When you close your eyes
Do you dream of peace?

As adults, we have a responsibility to protect children; to ensure that they have the chance to grow up safe, and to teach them how to make our world more peaceful. We need to set a good example for the children around us, but we also need to listen to them. Children have a depth of perception of right and wrong that I think fades as we experience the harshness life can throw at us.

Let's pay close attention to the children in our lives. We just may learn something about what it means to love our neighbors.

A Post-Mandela Era

South Africans Ponder a Nation Without Mandela
by Jason Beaubien

Anti-apartheid hero [Nelson Mandela] has been a unifying force in South Africa, particularly for the ruling African National Congress. There's concern, however, that xenophobia, racism and political infighting may grow once the "father of the nation" dies. ...


"When Mandela dies, watch out, xenophobia is going to come up again," [Brian Raphela] says. Migrants in the country say they too worry that xenophobia will again rear its head after Mandela dies. In 2008, attacks across South Africa left dozens of migrants dead and hundreds injured. Earlier this year, there were more assaults on immigrants. ...


It's clear that South Africa right now is facing daunting social and economic challenges. There's the growing gap between the rich and the poor, and there have been divisive calls by some black groups to exclude South Africans of Indian descent from affirmative action programs. ...


The ANC government has launched huge projects to deliver clean water and electricity to the poorest of the poor. [Ahmed] Kathrada notes that racial integration has occurred at many schools, and blacks now have significant stakes in most South African businesses. Kathrada also notes the ANC had the daunting task of guiding South Africa from white minority rule to a multiracial democracy. ...


Despite the calls for more rapid change, Kathrada says the country has done a reasonably good job of making that transition. He's confident that even after Mandela dies, the vision of Mandela and the anti-apartheid movement for a more just, democratic South Africa will endure.

Happy birthday, Nelson Mandela!

Today, on the birthday of former South African president Nelson Mandela, I have been thinking about what has changed in our world since 1994. Much has changed. But we are still having some of the same conversations about how we should treat one another. Mandela told the crowd at his inauguration ceremony that year,

"We saw our country tear itself apart in terrible conflict... The time for healing of wounds has come... Never, never again will this beautiful land experience the oppression of one by another."

South Africa has made great strides in creating equality for its citizens, yet still the country is divided into wealthy areas and poor areas, largely along racial lines. And South Africa is not the only country that has work to do regarding equality for citizens.

Nowadays, it seems like a lot of the division is intangible. My country has laws against segregation, but legislation doesn't change hearts and minds. 

Friends, I challenge each one of us to make a conscious effort every day to see each other as worthwhile. One by one, it is we who will make changes in hearts and minds; it is we who can decide to treat others justly. 

Instead of oppressing one another, we can choose to build each other up. Instead of simply turning a blind eye to injustice, we can take a risk to stand up against it.

What kind of world do we want to live in? It is up to us.  

Commit

"Examine yourself. Count the costs. Commit yourself to justice, reconciliation, and peacemaking." - Eugene Cho
(Facebook post, July 14, 2013)