Terry Paul Choyce
August 6th, 2006, Brunswick Street United Church
I think it is fantastic that we live in a city that has its own Peace Day. As we mentioned earlier, there is a gathering at 2 at the Dartmouth waterfront, at the Peace Pavilion, with music and speeches. I hope many of you will go to it.
Today's service is focussing on being peaceful, especially feeling peaceful on the inside. When we are feeling calm, it is hard for us to react to problems in negative ways. When we are tense and uptight, we often over-react to situations, thus making them worse. I know when I am uptight, Paul will be uptight in a short while, because my mood will reflect on him. Then his mood will reflect on the next person, and now, because I am not feeling peaceful, several people may be uptight as well. Our negative feelings are contagious unless we consciously keep ourselves mellow. And our mellow emotions are also contagious. So if I stay calm through all the struggles in my life, that will help those around me to cope better too. Like our opening prayer said, "If there is beauty in the person, there will be harmony in the house. If there is harmony in the house there will be order in the nation. If there is order in the nation, there will be Peace in the world." So if each of us can keep our cool when our lives heat up, our coolness will help calm the whole world. That is personal power at its best.
From what we know of Jesus, he was almost always peaceful. The only time I can remember when he was not, was when he overturned the tables in the Temple. Even when Judas betrayed him, Jesus said "Friend, do what you came for." (Matt. 26:50) He was calm as he was interrogated by the high priests and by Pilate and Herod. He was calm right up to his mortal end on the cross. His faith in God gave him the courage and fortitude to face all of his adversities with love and grace.
I would like to talk about a modern day man who is renowned for his peace and compassion. His name is Thich Nhat Hahn, and he is a Buddhist Monk from Vietnam. He was born in 1926, one of six children. At 16 he became a monk because of the poverty and desperation he saw in Vietnam. He thought he could be of the most service to others through his spirituality.
Thich Nhat Hahn was a brilliant scholar as well as a humanitarian. This gave him the opportunity to study at Princeton University and to teach briefly at Columbia University. When the Vietnam War started he returned to his country to help the people. He helped to create several organizations such as the School of Youth for Social Service. By the fall of Saigon that school had more than 10,000 monks, nuns, and young people in towns creating schools and health clinics. He openly advocated nonviolent solutions to the conflict, to all conflicts. As a result he was forbidden to live in Vietnam. In 1966 he came to the US to try to stop the war from this end. As a result, in 1967 Martin Luther King, Jr. nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. Hahn chaired the Buddhist delegation to the peace talks in Paris that ended the worst of the fighting in Vietnam by the Americans. After the war he worked tirelessly to help refugees and political dissenters in Vietnam, but he was still not allowed in his country.
Over the years Thich Nhat Hahn has written over 30 books about peace - about how to live mindfully, about the commonalities between Buddhism and Christianity, and about compassion. Among his books are Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flame (2001), Being Peace, and Going Home: Jesus and Buddha as Brothers." Today I am going to read to you several excerpts from his book Peace is Every Step. This is from the first page.
Hahn's advice is to do everything with mindfulness and compassion. In our society we rush from task to task, from person to person, from place to place with out being fully aware of what we are doing and how we are feeling. He invites us to slow down and live with appreciation and gratitude and patience. If we really taste our food, and feel the breeze on our face, and see the brilliance of a dandelion, we will love our lives so much more, and we will feel calm and connected to the Divine.
On page 22 he says this about Jesus and the Eucharist.
I love the concept that by having his disciples eat the bread slowly and thoughtfully, he was waking them up. Hahn goes on to say this about mindful eating on page 24.
Hahn says that what we do in our daily lives reflects onto the political world as well. He says this on pages 111 to 113.
So he is telling us to actively work to promote peace and justice in the world, and to elect politicians who have compassion and wisdom, and the ability to be mindful the way they make their decisions.
We all know that the Middle East is in chaos again. There is more fighting, bombing, and hatred. Worldwide there is cruelty and injustice, including here in Canada, including here in Halifax. But today our city is mindful of peace. Today there is a celebration to help us remember the best of who we are, and the best we can be. If we can bring that sense of peace into our homes, and into our hearts, that peace will radiate out into our communities, into our country, and around the whole world. Peace starts with you. There is can be peace in every action, in every thought, in every breath, and in every step.
©Terry Paul Choyce. Used with permission from the author.
