Peace Quote: John F. Kennedy

“Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.”  -John F. Kennedy

Since the WARP Summit, Chairman Man Hee Lee has been travelling around the world with his message and vision of peace. These trips are not just a simple visit to a nation or a certain figure. His visit is to gather more advocates of peace. He is meeting people to alert the importance of peace. Just as President Kennedy explains, Chairman Man Hee Lee is changing the opinions of people, which were created by simple differences that ignored the greater similarities of opposing groups. He also has been slowly breaking the barriers that once divided a nation or a group. This is truly remarkable. I believe this daily, weekly, monthly process will trigger the awareness of world peace in the global community. This will eventually result world peace, with HWPL as the center and the moderator. 

Peace Quote: Dale Carnegie

If half a century of living has taught me anything at all, it has taught me that nothing can bring you peace but yourself. - Dale Carnegie

The life experience of Dale Carneige teaches us that peace begins only with person. And peace is only possible people gathering together for one cause. It is not possible, when there is resistance, because this will leave a cut in the peace work. Peace must be achieved without resistance or conflict. Peace that is achieve through force is not peace, but forced quietness. Peace is something that must be understood by each individual through awareness. This work I believe is being completed by Chairman Man Hee Lee and the international peace organization HWPL.

Peace Quote: Fred Rogers

“When I say it's you I like, I'm talking about that part of you that knows that life is far more than anything you can ever see or hear or touch. That deep part of you that allows you to stand for those things without which humankind cannot survive. Love that conquers hate, peace that rises triumphant over war, and justice that proves more powerful than greed.” Fred Rogers

We know that most wars arise from greed. Greed is wanting something more than what one have that will cause one to take away what belongs to others. This is how conflict begins. It happens with greed. Unfortunately, religions were mostly part of these conflicts. Religions must practice love. This will conquer hate, war and greed. I hope that the message of peace will reach to the people of all world, so that we may start loving one another.

Peace Quote: Mother Teresa

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


We have to always remember that we are one. Although we may look different outwardly, we are one family living in a home called the Earth. The message of Chairman Man Hee Lee reminds us today how similar we are. Wars and conflicts happen because we are not able to reach an agreement or resolve such difference with words and understanding. Chairman Man Hee Lee showed through the resolution in Mindanao that agreement is possible without war. Physical war will only cause sufferings on the both conflicting parties. I am excited to see the further steps that Chairman Lee will take in order to achieve world peace and how he would apply the quote of Mother Teresa in his messages.

Say "Peace" in different languages

The link below provides the translation of the word "peace" in the languages of the world. For some languages it may not be the direct translation of the word or the word may have a different meaning. This difference may arise from the different culture and background. It would be interesting to see the origins of these words and compare their meaning to see if they mean the same. In a broader sense, we all have our own definition of peace, but we can all agree that it is a state without war.

On the other hand, some languages may share a similar origin. Even if the words do not match exactly the same, they might share the same mother language. Sadly the nations, who may share such original word are suffering from conflicts and wars. They are not able to recognize similarity that they share and they conflict over differences. I hope that there will be a day in the future, where we are able to greet each other in the name of peace. This is truly possible in HWPL as it is gathering more organizations to join its membership. These organization are not of the same country, but of multiple countries. HWPL holds them together in the name of peace. And under the direction of Chairman Man Hee Lee, they walk in the same path towards a destination.

Link: http://www.columbia.edu/~fdc/pace/

Essay: The Paradox of Our Time

THE PARADOX OF OUR TIMES

by George Carlin

Is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers

Wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints

We spend more, but we have less.

We have bigger houses, but smaller families

More conveniences, but less time.

We have more degrees, but less sense

More knowledge, but less judgement

More experts, but more problems

More medicines, but less wellness.

We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.

We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often

We have learnt how to make a living, but not a life.

We have added years to life, but not life to years.

We've been all the way to the moon and back

But have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbour.

We have conquered outer space, but not inner space.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted our soul.

We've split the atom, but not our prejudice.

We've higher incomes, but lower morals.

We've become long on quantity but short on quality.

These are the times of tall men, and short character;

Steep profits, and shallow relationships.

These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare,

More leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.

These are the days of two incomes, but more divorces;

Of fancier houses, but broken homes.

It is a time when there is much in the show window, and nothing in the stockroom.

A time when technology can bring this letter to you,

And a time when you can choose,

Either to make a difference .... or just hit, delete.

Opinion: A glimpse of this world

The film, The Independence Day, was a blockbuster. The plot and the graphics of the film was incomparable to other action films in the past. I heard that a sequel to the film is in the progress of filming. The film was about an alien invasion and of course it followed a typical plot line of an invasion, but the film also showed the reaction of the global community against a stronger force.

People combined their effort against the aliens to keep the peace in their world. I wonder, how the relationship between each nations were before the invasion in the film? We see this from nations to individual households that we do not want to disturbed by others, but also have internal conflicts ourselves. We fight with our siblings or parents, but whenever others interfere with our family, then we unite together against whoever that person is.

Sometimes, I imagine what would the alien's perspective be, if they see the world that they are about the invade is full of conflicts.

Today as a world, we have conflicts in between nations and religions. I think we have to start recognize that this must reach to a resolution. Today the stronger force that we need to overcome is ourselves. We must overcome the differences that we have, these differences have been invading our soul little by little since the beginning.

Taking a glimpse of this world. The world that we live today is filled with conflicts that begins with inside one's heart to an international level. Every day we fight with ourselves to become better and strive for success in the world. We are challenged by the society to fit in and follow its rules. This internal conflict and social conflicts that we face extend and are joined by other conflicts of larger scale. 

For what do we live our lives? What cause do we live for? Is there something that we should stand for as human beings? If there is a cause that will benefit everyone, then does this become our obligation to stand up for that cause? Unfortunately, the basic obligation is covered by materialistic needs and for success. We need to understand that these materials and success are not possible if there isn't a world to provide it.

This issue is challenged by HWPL. The organization recognizes what the world needs. This is why Chairman Man Hee Lee has been travelling around the world 21 times to promote this basic obligation. The basic obligation is building a world of peace. When we take a glimpse of this world today, we see conflicts and disagreements. I hope in one year, when we take another glimpse, I hope we take another glimpse of the world and even in the smallest societies that create the world become a place without disagreement.

1st Annual Commemoration of September 18th WARP Summit Main Highlight

Do you remember?

This is the opening question of the highlight clip of the 1st Annual Commemoration of September 18th WARP Summit. 

Do you remember the event last year? The things that achieved since then, when we gathered in hands and promised under the Creator to build a world of harmony.

Peace Palace

Where is the Peace Palace?

One road enters from each direction:

North, South, East, and West

Climb the stairway to heaven,

and there it is!

The sun, moon, and stars are there.

(Sun - Ps 89:36, Moon - Ps 89:37, Stars - Gn 37:9-11)

It is a heavenly town,

where the sky and earth

harmoniously mingle.

There are three stairways to heaven

in the Peace Palace

The pavilion of the world is

"Il-wol-jeong (sun-moon-pavilion)."

Two sreams of clear blue water flow

in the shape of an "S" for sky.

The sun, moon, stars

and clouds in the heavens 

Weave a pictureeque tapestry

A ray of light shines

upon the Peace Palace

The pier under a tall pine tree

Awaits those on their way

Lined up in a "V" for victory.

Boats bound for heaven

gather at the dock, 

Dancing in the waves.

The angels of the Peace Palace

come out to the dock.

And welcome those arriving

with their hands held high

High in the sky, 

at an altitude of 38,000 fee.

The sun, moon, and stars hover above

As we fly to the Peace Palace.

The fish that are schooling

See the stairway to heaven

leading to the Peace Palace

The beautiful Peace Palace is within sight.

The moon is out

and shining serenity upon scene.

Behold the palace of peace!

Link:
http://www.hwpl.kr/board.php?b=multimedia&p=view&type=photo&idx=940&page=1

Your own definition of peace

A world that you dream of...

We all have our own fantasy and dream. Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of a world, where all men are treated equal. His dream became reality, after countless amount of efforts. It is true that weak or strong racism still exists in our daily life. It is natural due to the differences that we have. Though there was a time in history, when segregation was considered normal, people sought to make a better world, because they recognized the difference and unfairness. This movement did not happen in only one country, but in different countries. There were no international movement that grouped these national-based movements together. It happened, because it would lead the humanity into a better direction. Finally, a law was created to integrate and make racism illegal. The dream of Martin Luther King Jr. came true and still continues to be achieved today, as the world sees less racial segregation.

Today, we fight for many different causes. Among them is the HWPL peace movement. This is slightly broader than the dream of Dr. King. The peace movement includes overcoming racial, ideological, and religious differences. In some ways, these conflicts are considered normal because it is because of difference. We need to start working towards the dream. We all need to become like Martin Luther King Jr. in our own community or like Chairman Man Hee Lee to make this world a better place, which is place no segregation exists. We all need to accept everyone is different and it is normal to be different. If conflict arises every time due to a minor difference, then these conflicts will never end until everyone dies.

In order to stop this, we must work together. We must create law that will regulate these conflicts. In the beginning it will be hard. And even after many months and years, conflicts may still exist. However, there will be a progress. Just like the integration in United States still continues to overcome racism. These are small steps that are taken to a large and big destination. 

What is a world that you dream of? What is your definition of peace? We all have our definition of peace. We all have a place that we dream of or an occupation that we wanted. What is a peaceful world to you? If you have time to write few lines under the comment section, feel free to share your idea and definition of peace. Is it a world without war? Is it a world with something you love?

I think we would all agree that this world of peace is a place where we are able to share with the people that we love.

Event for the separated family of North and South Korea

The 1945 independence of the Korean peninsula brought joy and sadness at the same time. Some family had to separate, because of their ideological differences. After the Korean War in 1950, there were more separated family in the peninsula. If the separation caused by the division of the two governments in 1945 was by choice, the separation caused by the 1950 Korean War was a reluctant choice.

After six decades the Korean peninsula is still divided into two different government, in which separated families still exist, but now along with their future generations. It is unfortunate that after the first generation of the separated families pass away, their descendants would not be able to find their opposite half on the other side of the 38 parallel line without organizing the complicated family trees of both Korea.

This October, an event was hosted in a North Korean hotel for the separated families. There will be 90 families in this event, who will reunited with their families in three meeting with the total of six hours.

Currently, Koreans are the only people, who were not able to see reunification. There is hope with the activities of the HWPL and Chairman Man Hee Lee, who are working towards bringing peace to the Korean peninsula. I hope that the two Koreas would be able to take another step towards each other, before it is too late.

Bringing unification to Korea would be a great contribution to the work of world peace. Korea will now join other countries, who overcame the separation, to show the world that we can be one.

The 1st Annual Commemoration of September 18th WARP Summit

The 1st Annual Commemoration of the WARP Summit was hosted in Seoul, South Korea by a non-profit peace organization called HWPL. As we already know, HWPL has been making progressive impact around the world since the WARP Summit of last year. We also have been seeing more peace activities around the world even in the midst of various civil wars and conflicts.

Following the grand opening ceremony in the World Peace Gate, multiple conferences were held the next day to discuss the steps towards cessation of war and achievement of world peace. In the meeting, the participants signed a statement to urge for the implementation of an international convention on the cessation of war and achievement of world peace. Although it may be just a piece of paper with a signature that one may use for all purpose to represent himself or herself, when they are gathered together to create a pile to a bigger pile and to multiple piles, this statement with multiple signatures will become a powerful tool to express the voice of the people who live in the world. It is not only just one group of people, who want peace, but multiple and different groups from different backgrounds supporting peace. Although HWPL does not have the equal power as The United Nations or even one country, the organization has the power to gather different people and it has the power to bring and unify them under one. And their cause is not for one person's benefit, it is the benefit for all, regardless of what background they may come from, the thought they have inside and the action that they show reflect their identity. It is based on the his or her action that one person must be judged by, not by what people say.

We see the vision and the action of Mr. Man Hee Lee, Chairwoman Nam Hee Kim, and the members of the HWPL through what they have done in the past year. They made effort to bring religions together into harmony. This recent event became a checkpoint for the organization HWPL and for the rest of us on where we are right now in respect to achieving world peace. It has reconfirmed our passion and enthusiasm to resolve these problems we had for hundreds of years that we let it pass for our own personal greed.

In the generation of this new millennium, I hope that we will be able to see a change compared to the past. It has only been 15 years. Compared to the last millennium, I think we are doing better, but I think we can accomplish more. I hope the HWPL movement becomes the spark that lights up the world.

A Prayer for a World of Peace

Cecilia is an artist, who is from Norway. She is a classical crossover singer, who participated in different rendition of popular songs. After growing up in Norway, Cecilia moved to New York City to study music. The song with the same name, "The Prayer" was used as an OST for the animation, "Quest for Camelot". This song was sung by popular artists, such as Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli. In the song by Cecilia, the voice of Cecilia is accompanied by a beautiful lyrics with the background music. According the description in the YouTube video, the song became popular after it was used as an OST for a Korean soap opera.

As I read through the lyrics of the song, I noticed that it aligns with our struggle to spread the peace in the world. We must walk the path even if obstacles may stop us. In the end, the motive of our work is in love. The song, The Prayer, to me, serves as a prayer of encouragement to those who might fall behind in their journey in life.

On the path of life
Mountains rise above
We've been climbing so high
To open up the sky
Chasing a vision of the world
That's in your love

When the darkness falls
And I fear I'll lose my sight
I just breathe in the sounds
Of beauty all around
It's your grace that will
Lift me to the sun
Beyond the heights
In the light

Don't lose your way
It's just the hatred and the fight
In our hearts
Love will lead us to the sun
Beyond the heights
In the light