This season give your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To every child, a good example.
To all, charity.
To yourself, respect.
~ Oren Arnold
Remember, the greatest gift is not found in a store nor under a tree but in the hearts of true friends.

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Thanks to Lynda Herman for sharing this lovely poem at our meeting!

What Do You Want For Christmas?
By Maureen Killoran

Headphones to grant me some private space…
tickets to some far-off exotic place…

What do you want for Christmas?

Clothing to dress me to paint the town red…silk
sheets to wrap me when I go to bed…

What do you want for Christmas?

Harry Potter’s a good one…the kids will go wild…
and I love him too, ‘cause I’m really a child…

What do you want for Christmas?

There’s camera equipment, that’s sure to appeal…
there’s software galore at really good deals…

What do you want for Christmas?

I look in my closets, I look at my house, there’s
nothing I need,…no, not even a mouse…

What do you want for Christmas?

Would it mater, I wonder, if there under the tree,
was a wee tiny package all wrapped up for me, and
when opened, ‘twas empty, no present I’d see…just
a feeling of peace and…serenity.

What do you want for Christmas?

And maybe compassion, wrapped up with a bow, a
gentle enfolding so really I’d know what could and
what couldn’t, what is and what ain’t. Just some
understanding. (I won’t be a saint.)

What do you want for Christmas?

It’s asking too much, now, to ask for world peace, but
on my list it’s up there, that wars may soon cease.
and justice, for children, that all may be fed, and
wanted, and cuddled and tucked into bed.

What do you want for Christmas?

The economy needs us, or so we’ve been told…
spending our dollars in purchases bold..but still,
in the silence of this holy night, I know what I want
most is not sold with bright lights. What I deeply
need is to set aside fear, to let myself reach out in
this coming year…to know with my heart the
whole world as my kin…that Love may be born,
and Peace may begin.

What do you want for Christmas?

Rev. Dr. Maureen Killoran is now serving in Vero Beach, FL as
an Interim Minister in the Unitarian Universalist tradition.

What you react to in others you strengthen in yourself;
What you do to others, you do to yourself
Echkart Tolle

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free

Echkart Tolle

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Don't Miss the Last Meeting of the Year!!

Imagine being able to control stress, boost your immune system, improve your memory, and increase your happiness! Come to the last Citizens for Peace meeting of 2010 on Tuesday, Dec. 14th and learn about Heart Math and "Be Peace"! The focus is on living from the heart. The meeting begins at 7 pm.
See you there!
Peace,
Colleen

You do not become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you, and allowing that goodness to emerge.

Eckhart Tolle

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

"Organizing for Peace" Video

Colleen Mills, President of the Citizens for Peace in Livonia, Michigan, shares her strategies and visions for organizing for peace with respect to the campaign for a United States cabinet-level Department of Peace in the video "Organizing for Peace".

When you can no longer feel the life that you are, the more likely you are to fill up your life with things
Eckhart Tolle


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

SEEDS OF PEACE

Peace made the front page of the Observer today, Thanksgiving Day!
The Churchill High School students wrote messages of peace on colorful paper & planted their "seeds of peace" with bulbs around their beautiful peace pole!
Here is a link to the article:
http://www.hometownlife.com/article/20101125/NEWS10/11250595/Churchill-students-plant-seeds-of-peace.
I'm very thankful to all of the seeds of peace our group has planted for the last seven years! As we watch our seed grow, we can all be grateful for our commitment
to peace.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Colleen

No problem can be solved from the same level of consciousness that created it.
Albert Einstein

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

It is not just a person's physical constitution, their intelligence, their education, or even their social conditioning that enables them to withstand hardship. Much more significant is their inner development. And while some may be able to survive through sheer willpower, the ones who suffer the least are those who have a high degree of patience and courage in the face of adversity.
The Dalai Lama

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

What a fun 7th Anniversary Party!
Thanks to Linda for organizing the wonderful event. Here are the quotes with Native American Wisdom we shared in our four groups. We could select one a day to think about & share with others.
Thanks to Nancy for the presentation on the Medicine Wheel. It was a terrific visual with so much information included. I learned a lot!
Thanks to Caroline for her thoughtful reading!
Thanks to Lynda for leading us in the relaxing yoga flow with the Native American music. How perfect to conclude a great celebration!
Thanks to the planning committee: Dottie,Tada, Gloria and Becky for the planning, shopping, decorations, etc.
Thanks to everyone who brought delicious food to share!
Thanks to everyone joining the Citizens for Peace as we work to educate ourselves on ways to create more peace in the world, starting with each one of us!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

Thanks & Peace,
Colleen

Citizens for Peace 7th Anniversary Party!

We will celebrate our 7th year of working together to create a culture of peace at our meeting on Tuesday, November 9th at 6:30 pm. The theme is "Peace & Gratitude".
It is a potluck party, so we will have dinner before we enjoy the surprises the party committee has planned for us. See you Tuesday!
Peace, Colleen

Love is what we are born with. We don’t learn love; it is already etched in our heart.

However we do learn fear. Fear is the obstacle that blinds us to the love in our heart.
So to experience our love in its fullest authentic capacity, we must unlearn our fear.

Our spiritual journey, the meaning of our life, is the unlearning of our fears and prejudices, to reacquaint our self to the ever present beauty of the love in our heart.

Paraphrased Marianne Williamson

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

We may judge a nation by the way it treats its children

Gandhi

Peace to You and Yours with Love
jerry

Holding onto anger is like is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned

Buddha

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Fear is to love as darkness is to light. In the presence of one the other disappears.
We don’t learn love. It is already etched in our heart. We do however unlearn fear.

Marianne Williamson
A COURSE IN MIRACLES

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar."

— Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Volunteers Do Make a Difference

Volunteers give their time and share their expertise, education, and talent. What motivates them to provide such a service? Come to a presentation by one couple, Ann and Rick Abdoo, who volunteered for twelve years at a Boys and Girls Club located on the Pine Ridge, South Dakota Indian Reservation. Hear their story, see the pictures of their journey, and learn about the Lakota culture.

Attend the Citizens for Peace meeting on Tuesday, October 12th 7 pm at Unity of Livonia. The meeting is open to the public. For more information, call Colleen Mills at 734-425-0079.

Don’t just sit there, do something
Anxiousness, agitation, tightness, constriction, harried, impatience, tension, nervousness, panicky, restlessness, uneasiness, uptight



Don’t just do something, sit there
Serenity, tranquility, calmness, stillness, peacefulness, relaxation

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Tweets | Peace Week

Tweets Peace Week: "Do you know what astonished me most in the world? The inability of force to create anything. In the long run the sword is always beaten by the spirit. -Napoleon #peace"

Meeting Minutes for August 2010

For those who would like to know what happened at the August 2010 meeting click Here

Citizens for Peace Meeting Highlights Book Collection
Readings of selections from the Livonia Civic Center Library Peace Collection will highlight the Citizens for Peace meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 14.
The meeting begins at 7 p.m. at Unity of Livonia, located on the north side of Five Mile road between Middlebelt and Inkster. The public is invited.
The Peace Collection, comprised of several hundred books on peace and nonviolence, was funded by the Citizens for Peace. The library has established a “Peace Center” in the middle of the upstairs adult books section. The books are identified by a blue dove on the spine. Peace books suitable for children are located in the children's section on the main floor.
The Livonia collection is believed to be one of few if not the only public library collection featuring books with the theme of peace and nonviolence, according to Citizens for Peace President Colleen Mills.
The brief oral readings will be by members of Citizens for Peace and include both adult and children's books. For more information, contact Mills at (734) 425-0079.

My Declaration of Self-Esteem
by Virginia Satir

I AM ME
In all the world; there is no one else exactly like me.
There are people who have some parts like me, but no one adds up exactly like me.Everything that comes out of me is authentically me because I alone chose it.

I own everything about me.My body, my mind, my feelings, my mouth, my voice, all my actions, whether they be to others or to myself

I own my fantasies, my dreams, my hopes, my fears.
I own all my triumphs and successes, all my failures and mistakes.
Because I own all of me, I can become intimately acquainted with me.
By so doing I can love me and be friendly with me in all my parts.
I can then make it possible for all of me to work in my interest.

I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me, and other aspects that I do not know.
But as long as I am friendly and loving to myself, I can courageously and hopefully look for solutions to the puzzles, and for ways to find out more about me.
However I look and sound, whatever I say and do, and whatever I think and feel at a given moment in time, is authentically me.

If later some parts of how I looked, sounded, thought, and felt, turn out to be unfitting, I
can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest, and invent something new for thatwhich I discarded.
I can see, hear, feel, think, say, and do, I have the tools to survive, to be close to others, to be productive, to make sense and order out of the world of people, and things outside of me.

I own me, and therefore I can engineer me.

I AM ME !

I AM OKAY!

Peace to You and Yours eith Love
Jerry

"Inner peace can be reached only when we practice forgiveness. Forgiveness is letting go of the past, and is therefore the means for correcting our misperceptions."

Gerald Jampolsky

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

ATTITUDE
by
Charles Swindoll

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play the one string we have, and that is our attitude... I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.
And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes”


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

If someone criticizes me, I am not any less because of that. It is not criticism of me, but critical thinking from him. He is expressing his thoughts and feelings, not my being.

Hugh Prather

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

ONE PEACE 2010 Celebrates the UN International Day of Peace

The third annual ONE PEACE event celebrating the United

Nations International Day of Peace, will present two visually stunning films at the Livonia Civic Center Library on Tuesday, September 21st from 6 - 9 p.m.

The program will begin with, “The Awakening Universe,” a short film by award-winning writer and filmmaker Neal Rogin, and Drew Dellinger. This beautiful film takes the viewer on the ultimate journey —from the birth of the universe, through the arising of galaxies, the formation of the earth, the emergence of life, and finally to the development of human consciousness. Using awe-inspiring images and a sweeping original score, this amazing film shows how science, spirit and ancient wisdom are all converging, revealing an entirely new context for human life.

The next film, “Visions of a Universal Humanity,” is the second movie in the award-winning Humanity Ascending Documentary Series produced by the Foundation for Conscious Evolution. In this riveting film, futurist Barbara Marx Hubbard brings together some of the finest minds of our time, including world renowned physicist Freeman Dyson, biologist Bruce Lipton, scholar Jean Houston and others who present cutting edge perspectives on humankind's potential to create a positive future for the earth. The film was inspired by a personal experience Hubbard had many years ago. “I felt every basic social system shift simultaneously as innovations and
breakthroughs seemlessly connected,” she said. “We are all members of one living planetary body—our story is the birth of a new humanity.”

The evening will be hosted by ONE PEACE, a local non-profit group dedicated to bringing people together to help spread peace throughout the world. This event is a rare opportunity for participants to experience beauty, inspiration, hope, awe, intellectual stimulation and mind-expanding possibilities.

Open to the public. $5.00 Donation Appreciated. Come early and browse the tables. Films will be available for sale. This is the third year the Citizens for Peace is sponsoring the ONE PEACE event. Please join us.

Contact: Colleen Mills
Phone: (734) 425-0079
Website: www.OnePeace.us

Take my hand
We will walk
We will only walk
We will enjoy are walk
without thinking of arriving anywhere
Walk peacefully
Walk happily
Our walk is a peace walk
Our walk is a happyiness walk

Then we learn
that there is no peace walk;
that peace is the walk;
that there is no happiness walk;
that happiness is the walk.
We walk for ourselves.
We walk for everyone
always hand in hand.

Walk and touch peace every moment.
Walk and touch happiness every moment.
Each step brings a fresh breeze.
Each step makes a flower bloom under our feet.
Kiss the Earth with your feet.
Print on Earth your love and happiness.

Earth will be safe

when we feel in us enough safety.

Thich Nhat Hanh

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

"When another person makes you suffer, it is because he suffers deeply within himself, and his suffering is spilling over. He does not need punishment; he needs help. That's the message he is sending."

Thich Nhat Hanh


Peasce to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

2nd Annual Vegetarian Potluck Tuesday, August 10th!!

Join us for our Second Annual Vegetarian Potluck on Tuesday, August 10th at 6:30 pm.
There will be lots of healthy, delicious vegetarian food to enjoy as we think about the impact of the consumption of meat in the US. Bring a dish to share or make a donation.
We will view the talk Ocean Robbins gave at last year's Peace Alliance Conference in DC. Ocean founded YES (Youth for Environmental Sanity) when he was only 16!
See you Tuesday!

Stopping Nukes, Stopping Wars

Phyllis Bennis will be the keynote speaker at the annual Hiroshima/Nagasaki event on Thursday, August 5th at 7:30 pm at the Zion Lutheran Church, 143 Albany, Ferndale
(3 blocks south of W. Nine Mile, west side of Woodward). We are cosponsoring this event. The indoor program will be followed by a Peace Walk in downtown Ferndale.

The most precious gift we can offer others is our presence. When mindfulness embraces those we love, they will bloom like flowers.

Thich Nhat Hanh


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Compassion is like a sense of caring, of concern for others’ difficulties and pain. Not only family and friends, but all other people, even enemies. If we think only of ourselves and forget about other people, our minds occupy a very small area and even tiny problems appear very big. When you develop concern for others, your mind automatically widens; your own problems, even big ones, will not be so significant.

Dalai Lama

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

FILM: COUNTDOWN TO ZERO

It is predicted that this must see movie will have a similar impact on the nuclear threat as The Inconvenient Truth did for the environment. The film features an array of international experts and statesmen and ends with a powerful message: no country should have nuclear weapons! Showing at the Royal Oak Main Art theater with discussion following the 4:30 p.m. shows on Friday & Saturday July 30 & 31.
To register for the event and get FREE tickets, go to the
website of the Interfaith Council for Peace and Justice: www.icpj.net/countdown

Acceptance of suffering does not mean we should not do everything in our power to solve a problem whenever it can be solved. However, acceptance of the suffering that we are already undergoing helps us not to make it worse with the additional burden of mental and emotional suffering. For example, there is not much we can do about old age. Far better to accept our condition than to fret about it.

The Dalai Lama


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Peace does not mean no more conflict among humanity. Conflict is bound to happen, so in order to keep peace in spite of conflict, the only realistic method is the spirit of dialogue, respecting the other side and understanding their viewpoint. We need to try and solve problems in a spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood, in a spirit of reconciliation and compromise.

Dalai Lama

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

First Step’s Domestic Violence Work Topic of Citizens for Peace July Meeting

Learn about the work First Step is doing in our community to help end domestic violence on Tuesday, July 13th at the Citizens for Peace meeting. Carmen Dominguz, a social worker at the Redford and Plymouth offices of First Step, will discuss the prevention domestic violence.

First Step believes that prevention is a key component to ending violence in our communities and manages innovative violence prevention and intervention programs. Since 1978 First Step has been working in 35 communities of Wayne County to assist families dealing with domestic violence. In 2007 – 2008, First Step staff and volunteers touched the lives of over 15,493 people. Prevention of domestic violence through education, advocacy and appropriate intervention is their ultimate goal.

Support the efforts of First Step by coming to the meeting and finding out how to help reduce domestic violence in our community. The meeting begins at 7 pm at Unity of Livonia, located at 28660 5 Mile Rd.

Within you there is a stillness
and a sanctuary
to which you can retreat at anytime
and beyourself.
~Herman Hesse~

Teachers who inspire
realize there will always be rocks in the road ahead of us.
They will be stumbling blocks
or stepping stones'
it all depends on how we use them.

~Unknown~

Peace to You an Yours with Love
Jerry

The secret of attraction is to love yourself. Attractive people judge neither themselves nor others. They are open to gestures of love. They think about love, and express their love in every action. They know that love is not just a mere sentiment, but the ultimate truth of the heart of the universe.

Deepak Chopra


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other.
~Mother Teresa~

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

The U.S. Department of Peace: A Brief History and Bright Future
by Antony Adolf



George washingtonJohn F. Kennedy, that great orator if not practitioner of peace, once said: "Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures."

But what most Americans don't realize is that this gradualness as manifested in the initiative to create such "new structures," a federal U.S. Department of Peace to coordinate and fund peace work nationally, has been part of the American Dream since the country was founded.

I was recently invited to speak on peace activism, peace professionalism and peace journalism (no, the three aren't mutually exclusive) at the Midwest U.S. Department of Peace Conference in Detroit. The experienced vitality of the attendees who came in from six states and dozens of cities re-energized me, and I returned home reminded that there are a lot of people who work proudly and effectively for peace despite still being in the shadows of most media. To be among them, sharing stories and ideas, was a privilege I am unlikely to forget, and with a bright future ahead, neither will the history of which we are a part.

Not only are there a lot of Americans working for peace right now, there has been ever since there has been Americans. Peace isn't just a fad that came and went with hippies in the 60s; it is part of the very fabric of this country, if also one we often forget or are made to. In a powerful presentation by the charismatic President of Citizens for Peace, Colleen Mills, our host along with sponsor The Peace Alliance, a perhaps surprising brief history of the U.S. Department of Peace initiative was given.

1783: George Washington called for a proper “Peace Establishment”.
1792: Benjamin Banneker and Dr. Benjamin Rush call for an “Office of Peace” with peace education in all schools.
1936: Dr. Frederick Kettner publishes essay “The Need for a Secretary of Peace”.
1943 -1968: Eighty-eight Congressional bills are introduced calling for a Department of Peace in the House or Senate.
1961: President John F. Kennedy launches the Peace Corps.
1969: Senator Vance Hartke (IL), and Rep. Seymour Halpern (NY), introduce a Bill for a Department of Peace with a Peace Academy.
1984: The U.S. Institute of Peace created (its beautiful new building is currently under construction).
1993: President Bill Clinton launches Americorps.
2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (OH), and Sen. Mark Dayton (MN) introduce Bills calling for a Department of Peace.
2010: The U.S. Department of Peace is named in Change.org's "Ideas for Change in America."

Of particular note is that peace has always been a bipartisan issue insofar as both Republicans and Democrats have been involved in the U.S. Department of Peace initiative throughout its long and distinguished history. The initiative is also global, and with successes in a few countries already. Will Americans lead or follow when it comes to peace in the 21st century?

As campaigning for the November elections picks up steam, we can each do our part to make some of it push the gears of the U.S. Department of Peace forward. We're in good company, there's lots of us if you look, and it's part of our and peace history, too.


Antony Adolf is the author of Peace: A World History

Photo of Mares and Chuck's grandchildren after putting together the Peace Puzzle we received at the Midwest Conference.

Date of doing the puzzle-May 18th, 2010

Brennan, Colin, Audrey with Grandpa

Peace
Do you think peace requires an end to war
Or tigers eating only vegetables?
Does peace require an absence from your boss, your
spouse, yourself?
Do you think peace will come some other place than
here?
Some other time than now?
In some other heart than yours?
Peace is this moment without judgement.
That is all.
This moment in the heart-space where everything
that is, is welcome.
Peace is this moment without thinking that it should
be some other way
That you should feel some other thing
That your life should unfold according to your plans.
Peace is this moment without judgement.
This moment in the heart-space where everything
that is, is welcome.
- Dorothy Hunt

Peace to You and Yours
Jerry

If we can change ourselves, we can change the world.
We are not the victims of the world we see.
We are the victims of the way we see the world.

Dennis Kucinich

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Citizens for Peace Meeting June 8th

Join us for our monthly meeting as we write postcards to our Congressman requesting support of the Youth Promise Act. If you have not signed the petition yet, please do at http://www.youthpromiseaction.org/. We will also hear a report from the National Student Peace Alliance Conference from Meredith, an officer of the Student Peace Alliance at Schoolcraft. This important bill is ready to pass in the House. We need more Senators to support it. It could pass this year! We need your help to make it happen!
See you at Unity of Livonia (Five Mile between Middlebelt & Inkster) at 7 pm!

“Practice watering seeds of joy and peace and not just seeds of anger and violence, and the elements of war in all of us will be transformed,” says Thich Nhat Hanh. You water seeds of anger and violence by deciding to stay angry and act violently. You water seeds of joy and peace by deciding to be peaceful, no matter what is happening to you. Peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. It means to be in the midst of those things and still be calm in your heart, and then respond in a nonviolent way

Thich Nhat Hanh.

Peace to You and Yours withLove
Jerry

Hometownlife Newspapers Reports the 2010 Midwest Peace Conference

Thank you Hometownlife Newspapers for the very informative feature article in today's (May23, 2010) newspapers on the 2010 Midwest Peace Conference. The supporting photos depict the dedicated supporters of a Department of Peace and Nonviolence.

“Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heal that has crushed it."

Mark Twain


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Midwest Peace Conference Was a Huge Success!

Livonia was the destination of choice as Peace emissaries from five Midwestern states and throughout Michigan attended the Midwest Regional Department of Peace Conference hosted by The Citizens for Peace. The May 14 – 16 weekend event, held at Madonna University, attracted more than 100 advocates of Peace and non-violence from all walks of life.
With the conference theme being “Making Peace a Priority: Vision; Experience; Practice,” conference organizer Colleen Mills created a weekend program that exuded passion and humor with several presentations evoking tears from more than one member of the enthusiastic audience. “We wanted a balanced program with hands on activities and useful ideas that they can return home with” said retired Detroit teacher Colleen Mills, President of the Citizens for Peace.
Highlight of the conference was auxiliary Bishop Thomas Gumbleton’s thought provoking and comprehensive analysis of the consequences of war and the history of peaceful overtures in the U.S.
A surprise guest was Congressman John Conyers, head of the House Judiciary Committee, who came unannounced Sunday, and heard Bishop Gumbleton. Colleen Mills reminded the Congressman of the Citizens for Peace request that he work to get a “Peace and Non-violence” category added to the Library of Congress. He brought the house down when he promised to have Bishop Gumbleton meet with President Obama.
Focus of the opening Friday night activities was the need for legislation to prevent youth violence – The Youth Promise Act. Polly Anna Burnette-Egan, president of the Schoolcraft College Peace Alliance, recognized as the most active group in the nation, reported on the National Student Peace Alliance Conference in Austin, Texas. Hers as well as that of two other club officers’ transportation was funded by Citizens for Peace.
Colleen Mills opened Saturday’s program with the overview of the Department of Peace legislation. Other activities and topics ranged from “Students Empowering Students” by Northville’s Kevin Szawala to “Sharing - Idea Exchange” led by attorney Dennis Mazurek of Redford, who was responsible for initiating the first City Council endorsements for the Department of Peace, now numbering more that 38 nationwide.
A special video from Congressman Dennis Kucinich, author of the Department of Peace Bill, was viewed.
Restorative Practices, a technique of using peer influence in “Conferencing Circles” with adult facilitators, as a means of combating bullying behavior, was graphically demonstrated by Livonia resident Rosemary Doyle and a group of volunteers who played the roles of involved sixth graders and school personnel.
Chicago based journalist and Tribune Media Service Editor Robert Koehler led the group in putting their passion for peace into words. Another Chicagoan, Antony Adolf, author of the book “Peace: A World History”, discussed how we can prepare for a “Department of Peace.” Illinois State Coordinator of the Department of Peace Campaign, Karen Johnson, explained the Peace Alliance’s Strategic Plan.
Popular meditation teacher, Kathy Henning of Livonia, closed the main part of the day with a meditative experience.
The presentation of the Upper Penninsula’s Sue Belanger was by definition a unique “hands on” activity. She supplied all those attending with a 108 piece “Global Peace(s)” Puzzle, a depiction of earth from outer space. Then, working in teams of 6-8 members, the audience completed the puzzle as Sue narrated techniques for peaceful teamwork.
Westland participant Jeanette Scott described the conference as “awesome!” A Missouri PHD who attended with two of her students vowed to put into practice immediately her newly learned peace methods. One student said “This was a transformative experience for me. My life will never be the same!”
Another Livonia resident observed people from Kansas, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri and all over Michigan will be talking about the wonderful hospitality shown here, as well as peace.

Mourning and suffering -- with both experiences there is a loss or absence of something valued or precious. In suffering there is the absence and a rejection of the absence. Such rejection always involves a story or thought about the loss. In mourning, there is the absence held with the preciousness of that which is held dear. There is deep sadness, but it is held with an awareness of the presence of fullness of what is precious.

Robert Gonzales

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Congratulations 2010 Essay Contest Winners !

High School Division

First Place Winner: Amany Killawi

Second Place Winner: Zeinab Bazzi

Third Place Winner: Doaa Al-Howaishy

All three winners attend Star International Academy

College Division

First Place Winner: Polly Anna Burnette-Egan, Schoolcraft College

Second Place Winner: Christa Mann, Davenport University

Third Place Winner: Rebekah Terry, Davenport University

Cash Awards

First Place Winners: $250

Second Place Winners: $100

Third Place Winners: $ 50

Citizens for Peace Meeting Highlights the Work of Riane Eisler

The keynote presentation Riane Eisler gave at the National Department of Peace Conference last year will be viewed at the Tuesday, May 11th Citizens for Peace meeting at Unity of Livonia at 7 pm. The theme was “From Domination to Partnership: Building Foundations for Peace”.
As a young girl, Riane and her family narrowly escaped Nazi Germany. Her exposure to extreme violence led her on a quest to change the violence motivated by domination. Dr. Eisler is a social scientist, attorney, and author whose work on cultural transformation has inspired both scholars and social activists. She has been a leader in the movement for peace, sustainability, and economic equity, and her pioneering work in human rights has expanded the focus of international organizations to include the rights of women and children.

Dr. Eisler is internationally known for her bestseller The Chalice and The Blade: Our History, Our Future and her newest book, The Real Wealth of Nations: Creating a Caring Economics – hailed by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as “a template for the better world we have been so urgently seeking.”
In her talk, Dr. Eisler says “we must shift from the focus on family values to valuing families.” She believes the real wealth of a nation is caring for its people and nature. The emphasis on creating “caring economics” will be clarified in her talk.
The meeting is open to the public. It is an opportunity to learn from a brilliant woman who has dedicated her life to research and promotion of a better world. For more information call Colleen Mills at 734-425-0079.

There are no mistakes
There are no coincidences
All events are blessings given to us to learn from

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Midwest Regional Department of Peace Conference Agenda
Our conference begins Friday night at 7 pm.
We hope everyone can come early to register and enjoy our continental breakfast on Saturday & Sunday so we can begin our conference on time. Also, note that there will be an Open Mike all three days so we can share our favorite quotes, inspirational thoughts and creative ideas!
Friday, May 14
6:00 pm Registration
7:00 Welcome – Description of Conference - Colleen Mills
7:10 Getting to Know You – Meet & Greet
7:35 Film – “Garden of Life”, Message from Azim Khamisa
8:00 Report from the Student Peace Alliance Conference - Polly Anna Burnette Egan
8:20 Change.org. - Author Antony Adolf
8:40 Open Mike

Saturday, May 15
8:00 am Registration & Continental Breakfast
9:00 Welcome & Poem (Common Sense)- Colleen Mills
9:15 The Power of Peace- Colleen Mills
10:00 Peace: A World History - Antony Adolf
10:30 Break
10:45 Restorative Practice Circle - Rosemary Doyle
11:45 Sharing - Ideas Exchange – Dennis Mazurek
12:00 Lunch – Working on Sharing Ideas
12:45 Sharing of Ideas - Reporter from each table.
1:15 Students Empowering Students - Kevin Szawala
2:00 Writing your heart's desire for peace - Robert Koehler
2:45 Break
3:00 How to use the Peace Puzzles - Susan Belanger
3:10 Peace Alliance Strategic Plan - Karen Johnson
4:20 Present Moment Meditation - Kathy Henning
4:45 Closing Remarks
5:00 Dinner on your own
7:00 “The Gift of Peace” Play
8:00 Open Mike

Sunday, May 16
8:00 am Registration & Breakfast
9:00 Welcome – Colleen Mills
9:15 Bishop Gumbleton’s Words of Peace
10:15 Taking it Home - Practicing Peace
11:15 Global Peace(s)– Sue Belanger
12:15 Open Mike
12:30 Final Thoughts

The People Speak
This is a link to the information I sent to The People Speak website. You can listen to the sixteen minutes that I got to talk with the host Basima. It was fun being on the radio! Click Here

Peace,
Colleen

If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man's life, sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

The People Speak!

I have been invited to talk on the radio show The People Speak Tuesday, April 6th. This show will be archived. Go to the website: www.thepeoplespeakradio.net/.
to listen. It is very exciting to hear about public media with a focus on the issues that are important for us. I contacted the radio host, Basima Farhat, after reading the wonderful article Linda Chomin wrote about her in the Observer. The title of the article was "Livonia woman extends hand in peace"! She sure did! She invited me to talk on her show. Thank you Basima!
Peace, Colleen

Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it

Rumi

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

CITIZENS FOR PEACE ESSAY CONTEST AWARDS CEREMONY!

Everyone is invited to the Peace Essay Contest Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, April 13th at Unity of Livonia, 28660 Five Mile Road, Livonia, 48154. Our winners are Polly Anna Burnette-Egan from Schoolcraft College, and Christa Mann and Rebekah Terry from Davenport University in Livonia; and Amany Killawi, Zeinab Bazzi, and Doaa Al-Howaishy from Star International Academy in Dearborn Heights.

We will all enjoy hearing the winning essays read by the authors. Kevin "Mr. Peace" Szawala will be our guest speaker. John Wilson will sing his song "Bridges". We will have a reception with our favorite cookies. Let's celebrate "The Season for Nonviolence" together!

Forgiveness will not be possible until compassion is born in your heart

Thich Nhat Hanh


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.
Maya Angelou

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Love


We are members of one great body, planted by nature in a mutual love and fitted for social life. We must consider that we were born for the good of the whole.

Seneca

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Panel Discussion on Active Nonviolence
We will have a panel presentation on the work of Gene Sharp, the authority on active nonviolence.
Join us for a powerful discussion on how we can commit to nonviolence as individuals and as a group. The meeting begins at 7 pm at Unity of Livonia. Bring a friend!

Diversity is a good thing
Prior to understanding evolutionary emergence our differences were looked as problems to be solved.
But from an evolutionary standpoint we can begin to see that our differences are the solutions to our problems.
It is almost like an ecosystem, the greater the bio diversity, the healthier the ecosystem can be.
The same is true in consciousness.
When we value our differences we can see there is a collective intelligence that is possible.
When we honor our differences we can find a conceptual common ground so that we can cooperate across ethnic and religious differences in service for a just, healthier and thriving future for the entire planet.

Reverend Michael Dowd

Peace to You andYours with Love
Jerry

A Weekend to Remember!!!
Midwest Regional Department of Peace Conference
Making Peace a Priority: Vision; Experience; Practice

Madonna University - May 14 - 16, 2010!

Conference Highlights:
Vision of Peace: The Peace Alliance Strategic Plan with Lynn McMullen
Peacebuilding Circles (Restorative Practices) with Rosemary Doyle & Jerry Mehler
Puzzles with a Purpose with Sue Belanger
Communicating Your Heart's Desire for Peace with Robert Koehler
Present Moment Meditation with Kathy Henning
Students Empowering Students with Kevin "Mr. Peace" Szawala
Report from the National SPA Conference with Polly Anna Burnette-Egan
Message of Peace with Bishop Thomas Gumbleton

The conference begins on Friday, May 14, at 7 pm. with a "Getting to Know You" reception.
We will view and discuss Azim Khamisa's short film "Garden of Life".
Saturday will start with a continental breakfast at 9 am. A buffet lunch will be included. The main conference will end at 5 pm. We will meet again at 7 pm for the "Reader's Theater" production of the original play "The Gift of Peace".
Sunday we are honored to have Bishop Thomas Gumbleton share his Message of Peace.

You can download the registration form in the Current Events section on the right.
The first 150 to register will receive a free Global Peace(s) Puzzle
Call Colleen for more information - 734-425-0079.
Also, go to www.dopeace.ning.com. to see the invitation to the conference on the national activism website.

Love Me


´Love me when I least deserve it, because that's when I really need it.”

A Swedish Proverb


Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Forgiveness entails the authentic acceptance of our own worthiness as human beings, the understanding that mistakes are opportunities for growth, awareness and the cultivation of compassion, and the realization that the extension of love to ourselves and others is the glue that holds the universe together. Forgiveness… is not a set of behaviors, but an attitude.

Joan Borysenko

Peace to You and Yours
Jerry

Peace: How Sweet it is!
Our February 9th meeting has the theme "Love & Peace"! For the third year, Kathy Henning will lead us in a meditation to connect with our inner peace. Reverend Dennis will talk about bringing that inner peace into the world to create more love & peace in our lives. We will have our business meeting following our two presentations. Happy Valentine's Day!
Peace, Colleen

The world is changing and the physical barriers are down now. It’s time for the emotional barriers to go down. And what better place to start than school?

Laura San Giacomo

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

Our greatest wounds are caused by separation, isolation, and loneliness. But there is not a lack of love on our planet; there is simply a lack of courage to show it.

author unknown

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.
In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
-this version is credited to Mother Teresa

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry

2010 Citizens For Peace Meeting Topic Calendar

Click Here

Activities and Accomplishments

There are many dedicated members working for the creation of a cabinet level Department of Peace as well as for the creation of a culture of peace. Through a variety of activities, we are able to offer opportunities that appeal to those with many different interests, talents, and know-how.

Click here to read "Citizens For Peace Activities and Accomplishments 2009".

Love

Love is what we are born with. Fear is what we learn. The spiritual journey is the unlearning of fear and prejudices and the acceptance of love back in our hearts. Love is the essential reality and our purpose on earth. To be consciously aware of it, to experience love in ourselves and others, is the meaning of life. Meaning does not lie in things. Meaning lies in us.”

Marianne Williamson

Peace to You and Yours with Love
Jerry