25 December 2006

Think like an astronaut...

Photo by Harrison Schmitt aboard Apollo 17 en route to the Moon on 07 December 1972: shows Earth as a beautiful planet, looking peaceful
One world, one people.

Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other - that man, that woman, that child is my brother or my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still need tanks and generals?
- Mother Teresa (but see note below)
Photo by Harrison Schmitt, 07 December 1972, from Wikipedia via a re-uprighting at the old Plodding.

And "Think like an astronaut..." is idea no.64 in David Krieger's 101 ideas for creating a more peaceful world: Creating world peace takes many forms, but surely it begins with individuals.

I can't find the original source for the Mother Teresa quote, and can't be sure she said it. There's a whiff of the "make something up and attribute it to someone famous"s about it, because elsewhere (Suffering.net, quoting from a book) the same passage is written differently:
Today, if we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten we are all God's children. That man, that woman, that child is my brother, my sister. If everyone could see the image of God in his neighbor, do you think we would still have such destruction and suffering?
Still, the meaning is the same, I hope: we belong to each other, we're in this world together; if we could see and appreciate each other more clearly, we wouldn't get into so much trouble so often. One world, one people. Use it or lose it.

Merry Christmas, reader, however you choose to say it. Peace to you and yours and all of us.