Feb 13, 2007

Peace and Harmony

The news is constantly blaring stories from the war and violence that occurs with in our own backyard. It makes the idea of a utopian society seem like an unattainable goal. It’s not like us mere citizens who sit in front of the television watching the images showcased before us can do anything to change it for the better.

There was a story I heard once. An old man was walking along the beach one morning after the high tide, as he walked he saw an enormous amount of star fish on the sand that had been washed up. He didn’t think much of it so he continued walking, a few paces up he spied a little boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean. He called out “Hey! What are you doing foolish child you are never going to save all of these starfish!”

The little boy looked at the starfish that he held in his hand and then back at the old man. He smiled and responded “But I can save this one!”

We too can’t save every “starfish” that we come across but we can save one. Hiawatha was just one man. Whether we believe that he had divine intervention or not he diligently worked towards a better future. Though his own children were the victims of violence he worked so that someone else’s child wouldn’t have to die and another parent wouldn’t have to mourn.

The story of Hiawatha is not just a story of how a man united a people together, it’s about a man who didn’t give up in seeking peace and didn’t resort to revenge or violence to get it. When Hiawatha faced the man who was responsible for his daughters’ deaths I am sure that there was a part of Hiawatha that would have loved to have killed him. According to legend Hiawatha was a skilled warrior, so gaining vengeance for their deaths would not have been difficult. However, Hiawatha didn’t take the route of vengeance or retaliation. He spoke to his enemy, he spoke of peace and of love. An eye for an eye will leave a country blind. When we seek retaliation for something that had wounded us our victim will then seek to get vengeance for their hurt. This cycle can continue until there is truly nothing left.

Peace and harmony is not a choice that we simply make one day and then forget about, it is a choice that we need to make every moment of every day. By showing peace and compassion to our brothers or sisters we can help them. By not going down a road of violence and malice we can maybe one day have our utopian society, one starfish at a time.