A Passion For Peace

The 2006 Write a Piece for Peace Challenge has begun!

In direct response to the London bombings in July, and in recognition of the great ongoing need for peace within our hearts and throughout the world, I am issuing this challenge to all who long for peace, let your voice be heard. Write a piece for peace, be it a poem, article, short story, song, or letter and share it with others in some way before December 31, 2006.

403 people commited to writing a piece for peace from July to December, 2005!

WHO

Writers, ministers, musicians, moms, and anyone else who feels the need for peace. If you feel scared or angry, frustrated or helpless, don't shut down, speak up! Take one positive action step to promote a greater experience of peace in the world.

WHAT

Write one piece:

• a poem
• an article
• a short story
• a song
• a one-act play
• a meditation
• a prayer
• a letter to the editor
• a letter of concern to political and/or spiritual leaders
• a letter of forgiveness
• a sign that can go in a window or on a wall
• a few words that can be made into a button or a bumper sticker

Write about some aspect of peace or peacemaking that you're passionate about, from inner peace:

• love   
• understanding
• compassion
• respect
• hope
• responsibility
• forgiveness

to world peace:

• nuclear disarmament
• understanding the roots of fundamentalism
• diffusing terrorism by addressing and healing its causes
• finding alternative solutions to war
• eliminating poverty
• strengthening women's rights
• upholding human rights
  
• slowing or reversing pollution
• replanting our forests

* share your feelings and concerns
* challenge the status quo
* ask questions
* educate
* pose solutions
* imagine a peaceful world
* suggest action steps to get us there

WHERE

Sharing your writing about peace with others is as important as the writing itself. Some ways to get your writing out into the world:

• submit it to a magazine, anthology, or newsletter
• post it on your blog, web site, or e-zine
• submit it to other people's blogs, web sites, or e-zines
• give a poetry reading
• perform your play at schools and churches
• sing your song at open mike nights
• pass copies of your writing out at the local mall
• hang a copy on your front door
• post it on college campus bulletin boards
• print your message on bookmarks
• be creative, and get it out there...

WHEN

Write your piece and start circulating it (as best you can) before December 31, 2006.

WHY

• to move from apathy to action
• to take a stand
• to let your voice be heard
• to promote peace
• to participate in the process

This is my piece for peace.

What's yours?

Come to http://www.aPassionForPeace.com and

• share your commitment to write for peace in our survey (I'll post the number of responses every month)
• leave a comment about the "Write for Peace" challenge on this post
• find out about peace organizations and upcoming peace events
• be inspired by what others are doing to make this a more peaceful world

email: julie@apassionforpeace.com

Challenging All Writers to "Write for Peace"

Yesterday's London bombings remind us that we need to remain vigilant as peacemakers. That the need is as great now, as ever, to cultivate peace within our own hearts, and to share that peace with our family, friends, community, and beyond.

As writers, we are able to articulate the longing for peace that so many feel. Yet through the hard-won wisdom of our own experience, we're able to do more than just share an expression of our collective grief, we're able to offer insight, compassion, a spiritual perspective, and practical ideas--to help spread the seeds of peace throughout the world with our writing.  So I am throwing down the gauntlet and proposing a challenge.

I challenge each and every writer who longs for a more peaceful world to write an article on some aspect of cultivating peace (from inner peace to world peace), before this year is through. Then to get that article out into the world, whether through submitting it to a magazine or anthology, creating an ebook, putting it on your web site, hanging it on your front door, or passing it out at your local mall on a busy Saturday afternoon.

Your article can be spiritual or practical. You can dig deep or keep it light. All I ask is that you make a commitment to share your own passion for peace, by writing an article on some aspect of peacemaking, before December 31, 2005.

Julie Isaac
http://www.writingspiritresources.com