Another war to wage

On a cold day in Prague, one did not have to look very far to see that hope was alive and well as people cheered President Obama on for his stance on nuclear disarmament. The supremely ambitious goal of global disarmament may have once been treated with widespread cynicism, but not yesterday. Instead, there were faces that reflected that it was possible to engage in honest conversation instead of pick up a weapon of destruction. Turning our spears into plowshares, not returning evil for evil, refusing the diplomacy that demands an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth is surely what this is about-and does this not bring hope?

We have other wars to wage that require our energy, our intelligence and often our hearts. When children find they have no safe place, even in their own communities, we have another war to wage. When infants die because of a lack of cheap medicine costing less than what we spend on a cup of coffee, we have another war to wage. When men and women lose their God-given right to smile because life has been so torn apart and dreams have been so shattered, we have another war to wage. When in the twenty-first century, people are still judges on the colour of their skin, their nationality or their status; we certainly have another war to wage.

Our fight is to restore hope to the hopeless, on every street corner, in every community, across all peoples. One did not have to look very far yesterday to find glimmers of hope; not in false smiles or empty political gestures, but real contemplative dispositions that suggested that is was possible for hope to thrive again in our global village. The truth is that hope is not found only in the words of an international leader in the middle of Europe, but hope is as close to you as your heart will let it. Let it! Fight the war against ignorance, prejudice and those debilitating attitudes that make slaves and cowards of humankind. Fight the war-and let Hope live!