Lucka (Advent) Peace Calendar 2005

1. Lucka (Advent) Peace Calendar 2005 All quotations & photos used with the permission of the calendar’s creator and photographer, Margaretha Essen-Hedin of Sweden

2. Lucka 1 • As we cultivate peace and happiness in ourselves, we also nourish peace and happiness in those we love. • Thich Nhat Hanh

3. Lucka 2 • Do not maintain anger or hatred. As soon as anger and hatred arise, practice the meditation on compassion in order to deeply understand the persons who have caused anger and hatred. Learn to look at other beings with the eyes of compassion. • Thich Nhat Hanh

4. Lucka 3 • Every day we do things, we are things that have to do with peace. If we are aware of our life...our way of looking at things, we will know how to make peace right in the moment we are alive. • Thich Nhat Hanh

5. Lucka 4 • Do not accumulate wealth while millions are hungry. Do not take as the aim of your life fame, profit, wealth, or sensual pleasure. Live simply and share time, energy, and material resources with those who are in need. • Thich Nhat Hanh

6. Lucka 5 • Do not kill. Do not let others kill. Find whatever means possible to protect life and to prevent war. • Thich Nhat Hanh

7. Lucka 6 • Do not utter words that can create discord and cause the community to break. Make every effort to reconcile and resolve all conflicts, however small. • Thich Nhat Hanh

8. Lucka 7 • Every war already carries within it the war which will answer it. Every war is answered by a new war, until everything, everything is smashed. That is why I am wholeheartedly for a radical end to this madness...Pacifism simply is not a matter of calm looking on; it is work, hard work. • Kathe Kollwitz

9. Lucka 8 • Where do all the women who have watched so carefully over the lives of their beloved ones get the heroism to send them to face the cannon? I am afraid that this soaring of the spirit will be followed by the blackest despair and dejection. The task is to bear it not only during these few weeks, but for a long time - in dreary November as well, and also when spring comes again, in March, the month of young men whowanted to live and are dead. • Kathe Kollwitz

10. Lucka 9 • One day, a new idea will arise and there will be an end to all wars. I die convinced of this. It will need much hard work,but it will be achieved. • Kathe Kollwitz

11. Lucka 10 • Not peace at any price, but love at all costs. At all costs...Though my enemy slay me, I will die rather than hate him. • Vera Brittain

12. Lucka 11 • Love...it is the only weapon we need. • It is full of understanding... it never makes quick harsh judgments. • Vera Brittain

13. Lucka 12 • The art of killing is the essence of war, and no Christian can uphold war unless he is prepared to kill his brother. If a man believes in the fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man, war is murder...[Pacifism] has nothing to do with quietism in the sense of immoral apathy or cowardice. • Vera Brittain

14. Lucka 13 • If one has...pride and egoism, there is no nonviolence. Nonviolence is impossible without humility. • Mahatma Gandhi

15. Lucka 14 • The very first step in nonviolence is that we cultivate in our daily life, as between ourselves, truthfulness,humility, tolerance, loving kindness. • Mahatma Gandhi

16. Lucka 15 • A small body of determined spirits fired by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history. • Mahatma Gandhi

17. Lucka 16 • It is a blasphemy to say that nonviolence can only be practised by individuals and never by nations which are composed of individuals. • Mahatma Gandhi

18. Lucka 17 • In my opinion nonviolence is not passivity in any shape or form. Nonviolence, as I understand it, is the most active force in the world... • Mahatma Gandhi

19. Lucka 18 • Nonviolence to be a creed has to be all-pervasive. I cannot be nonviolent about one activity of mine and violent about others. • Mahatma Gandhi

20. Lucka 19 • There is a magic formula for resolving conflicts. It is this: Have as your objective the resolving of the conflict, not the gaining of advantage. There is a magic formula for avoiding conflicts. It is this: Be concerned that you do not offend, not that you are not offended. • Peace Pilgrim

21. Lucka 20 • I am a deeply religious person, but I belong to no denomination. I follow the spirit of God's law, not the letter of the law. One can become so attached to the outward symbols and structure of religion that one forgets its original intent - to bring one closer to God.We can only gain access to the Kingdom of God by realizing it dwells within us as well as in all humanity. Know that we are all cells in the ocean of infinity, each contributing to the others' welfare. • Peace Pilgrim

22. Lucka 21 • Remember that no one can hurt you except yourself. If someone does a mean thing to you, that person is hurt. You are not really hurt unless you become embittered, or unless you become angry and perhaps do a mean thing in return. • Peace Pilgrim

23. Lucka 22 • You have much more power when you are working for the right thing than when you are working against the wrong thing. And, of course, if the right thing is established, wrong things will fade away of their own accord. Grass-roots peace work is vitally important. All who work for peace belong to a special peace fellowship - whether we work together or apart. • Peace Pilgrim

24. Lucka 23 • There is a criterion by which you can judge whether the thoughts you are thinking and the things you are doing are right for you. The criterion is: Have they brought you inner peace? If they have not, there is something wrong with them - so keep on seeking! If what you do has brought you inner peace, stay with what you believe is right. • Peace Pilgrim

25. Lucka 24 • In order to help usher in the golden age we must see the good in people. We must know it is there, no matter how deeply it may be buried. Yes, apathy is there and selfishness is there - but good is there also. It is not through judgment that the good can be reached, but through love and faith. • Peace Pilgrim