Peace Blessing

The peace of God, the peace of men,
The peace of Columba, kindly,
The peace of Mary mild, the loving,
The peace of Christ, King of tenderness,
  The peace of Christ, King of tenderness.

Be upon each window, upon each door,
Upon each hole that lets in light,
Upon the four corners of my house,
Upon the four corners of my bed,
 Upon the four corners of my bed;

Upon each thing my eye takes in,
Upon each thing my mouth takes in,
Upon my body that is of earth
And upon my soul that came from on high,
 Upon my body that is of earth
 And upon my soul that came from on high.

      Anonymous prayer translated from the Gaelic by Dr.A Carmicheal and included in the
       'Carmina Gadelica'

Thou art God

Thou art the peace of all things calm,
Thou art the place to hide from harm,
Thou art the light that shines in dark,
Thou art the heart's eternal spark,
Thou art the door that's open wide,
Thou art the guest that waits inside,
Thou art the stranger at the door,
Thou art the calling of the poor,
Thou art my Lord and with me still,
Thou art my love, keep me from ill,
Thou art my light, the truth, the way,
Thou art my Saviour this very day.
                                                          by David Adam

A New Dawn

In my scrapbook I have a cutting from 'The Mail on Sunday' newspaper dated May 17th. 1998; it is headlined 'Petrol bomber who became a poet for peace' and has a photograph (taken in 1969) of a boy rioter in Londonderry's Bogside (Northern Ireland) wearing a gas mask and holding a petrol bomb. Below there is also a photograph, some 29 years later, of the man that boy became now married with a family and seeking to play his part for peace.  Here is the poem he wrote entitled 'A New Dawn'.

Pause, reflect: pray peace at last is near,
Each unto each must make love's message clear,
A land whose hearts are full of fear and hate,
Condemns its children to a joyless state,
Every biased, bitter word consumes a nation's soul,
Intolerance and bigotry can't make a nation whole,
Never forget, but learn to forgive, the wrongs of yesterday,
In remembrance can we steer our courage a calmer, kinder way,
Ring not the bells of victory before the battle's won,
Each must surrender something dear, all for the sake of the gun,
Let us reach out to each other, people of every kind,
Across the bloody barricades and borders of the mind.
Now the hand of history proffers happiness,
Dear God, please whisper in our souls an everlasting Yes.

                                                                                        by Paddy Coyle

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day or Armistice Day) is a memorial day observed in the UK and the Commonwealth countries on the 11th. of November - at the 11th. hour of the 11th. day of the 11th. month - in accordance with the Armistice signed that morning in 1918 to end the 1st. World War (1914-1918).  Memorial services are held at War Memorials in every town and village in the country on the Sunday nearest to the 11th. of November (that was yesterday) to remember all of the members of the Armed Services killed in all of the conflicts from the 1st.World War to this day.

Photograph by John Beniston

In Flanders Fields 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow 

Between the crosses, row on row,

The larks still bravely singing, fly.

Scarce heard amidst the guns below.

We are the Dead, short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunsets glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders Fields.

Take up the quarrel with the foe;

To you from falling hands we throw 

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die,

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders Fields.

Written by Lt.Col. John McCrae (1872-1918) Canadian physician, poet and soldier.  This poem was written on May 3rd. 1915 after presiding over the funeral of a friend and fellow soldier, Alexis Helmer.

Durham Peace Mural

Across the length of the mural the River Wear moves from source to sea; it celebrates life in County Durham, past present and future.
The Mural was designed by Barrie Ormsby, fifty (50) people took a year to complete the work on twelve boards which when brought together measured 60ft. long by 10ft. high (18.28metres x 3.05metres).
It hung on a long wall near to Durham Market Place from 1987 to 2000 then it was removed to the Bearpark Artists Co-operative and subsequently divided into several pieces and auctioned for charity, it raised the sum of £500.
I remember that each time I visited Durham I would stand in front of it and find some new meaning in some small detail that I had previously missed.  It was a sad day when this disappeared from the city centre and even sadder when its fate was revealed; I strongly feel that it should have been saved for all to see and contemplate.

Photographs courtesy of Durham Peace Forum.

The Final Chant

Long live the child
Long live the mother and child
Long live the people

Long live this wounded planet
Long live the good milk of the air
Long live the spawning rivers and the mothering oceans
Long live the juice of the grass and all the determined greenery of the globe
Long live the surviving animals
Long live the earth, deeper than all our thinking

We have done enough killing

Long live the man
Long live the woman
               who use both courage and compassion
Long live their children.

The Final Chant from the poem "The Body" by Adrian Mitchell (English Poet - 1932-2008)

Litany of Peace

As we are together, praying for Peace, let us be truly with each other.
Let us be at peace within ourselves, our bodies and our minds, our emotions and spirit.
Let us return to ourselves and become wholly ourselves.
Let us be aware of the source of being common to us and to all living things.
Evoking the presence of the Great Compassion, let us open our hearts to receive compassion - for ourselves and for all living beings.
Let us pray that all living beings may realize that they are all brothers and sisters, all nourished from the same source of life.
Let us pray that we ourselves may cease to be the cause of suffering to each other.
Let us pledge ourselves to live in a way which will not deprive other beings of air, water, food, shelter, or the chance to live.
With humility, with awareness of the uniqueness of life, with compassion for the suffering around us, let us pray for the establishment of peace in our hearts and Peace on Earth.

                                              A Buddhist Litany of Peace