Imagining Peace: The Renewal of Hope, the Wisdom of John F. Kennedy and the Message of John Lennon

Note: With the exception of this Friday's Halloween post, (see my P.S. at the bottom of this post) all of my other posts, between now and election day, (November 4th) are going to be political in nature. Why? Well, as my oldest, college going, vote registering daughter told one of her peers who declared her disinterest in politics by stating, "I don't do politics." ...
... "You may not do politics" replied my daughter, "but politics does you!"

... I don't know about you, but I like to have a say in what is being done to me!

And now for todays post...
47 years ago our nation elected John F. Kennedy as its 35th president, giving hope for a brighter future to millions of Americans. Sadly this dream was never realized due to an act of irrational violence and hatred. Now for many, with this election, we once again have that hope of a brighter and better tomorrow, for all humans everywhere. I pray that this time the hope can live, grow, prosper and spread, so that we may all live in peace one day.

John Lennon, whose life also was tragically cut short by another act of irrational violence and hatred, expressed the vision of a peaceful world more beautifully then anyone else I can think of...



The following words were spoken by Kennedy, and they are as relevant today as when he first spoke them, more then 45 years ago.

- No one has been barred on account of his race from fighting or dying for America, there are no white or colored signs on the foxholes or graveyards of battle.

- When written in Chinese, the word "crisis" is composed of two characters. One represents danger and the other represents opportunity.

- The basic problems facing the world today are not susceptible to a military solution.

- We cannot expect that all nations will adopt like systems, for conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth

- If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

- Our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.

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

- We have the power to make this the best generation of mankind in the history of the world or to make it the last.

- Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.

- Mankind must put an end to war, or war will put an end to mankind.

PS. For those of you who do not enjoy the heaviness of this weeks posts, I have decided that in the spirit of childhood innocence and fun I will be posting something lighthearted and halloween-ish on Friday.