This past month, I had the good fortune to travel to beautiful Bali, where the Quest for Global Healing Conference was held. It was a nicely orchestrated conference held in a magical place. The main message I got from the conference was a simple one: Get your butts up and do something about the world if you don’t like what you see. You CAN make a difference, and you don’t have to be a superhero, a millionaire, or a genius to do it.

We all have an obligation to ourselves and humanity and the world to take action towards peace. For some, this could mean doing major tasks that affect huge amounts of people. For others, simply changing their mind’s focus and redirecting their energy could be just as important. Just like we learned in the film, What the Bleep Do We Know!?, our focus has such a real impact in our lives. We know this and we understand it - but do we really put it into practice everyday?

The conference was an inspiration because here was a group of people dedicated to doing what it takes to create peace. As part of the conference two Nobel Peace Laureates, Betty Williams and Archbishop Desmond Tutu were invited to give a talk for the conference participants. Two very beautiful human beings, they had a lot of motivating messages to share during a panel discussion where they were able to tell a little about themselves and then answer questions. Their stories were quite fascinating.

In 1976 Betty Williams was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against violence in Northern Ireland. The event most responsible for getting Williams involved in peace activism was a tragedy that happened right in front of her very eyes. On August 10, 1976, a young man was driving by and opened fire on Irish soldiers and in the process was shot to death. His car drove on and killed four young children and seriously wounded the mother of three of the children. It was that event that drew thousands, including Betty Williams, out of silence and into action. Williams co-founded The Movement of the Peace People, an organization which is involved in the betterment of life in Northern Ireland.

Thirty years later, Betty Williams is still going strong in her convictions and her actions towards peace. As the last line of the Declaration of the Peace People states, “ We dedicate ourselves to working with our neighbors, near and far, day in and day out, to building that peaceful society in which the tragedies we have known are a bad memory and a continuing warning." (http://gos.sbc.edu/w/bwilliams.html)  Next > 1 2 3 4