MEMORIES!, PART 2

One week after Memorial Day, most of us have forgotten the holiday and have moved on to other, more important, matters. Memorial Day is only one day of the year, so we are content to not think about it again until 2017. But for the families of veteran sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, and other relatives who either fought in the wars or were civilian men, women and children impacted by "collateral damage," Memorial Day is every day. I again urge every country with a conscience to end its war engagement.

Wars must end before peace can begin. We cannot claim to want world peace, yet continue to engage in war planning and escalation strategies. If we genuinely desire world peace, then we must create peace plans. Peace plans recognize that we may not always agree, but they permit peaceful coexistence despite our differences. They allow us to disagree with one another, and yet, as children of one God, continue in familial relationship from a place of mutual respect, as well as mutual concern for the welfare of each other and for the condition of our world.