Message for International Day of Peace

Message for International Day of Peace—September 21, 2025

UCM—Organized by Rev. Rita Capezzi

 

We begin our service outside today, weather permitting.

 

*Re-dedication of the UCM Peace Pole

As we gather here at the Peace Pole, we hope and pray: “May Peace Prevail Upon the Earth.” So says the Pole in the 12 most common languages in Mississauga at the time the Pole was acquired. In English, in French, in Spanish, in Arabic, in Russian, in Chinese, in sign language, in the Ojibwe language of the Anishinaabe. And in other languages, and I acknowledge that I don’t know all the languages printed here.

The UCM Peace Pole is part of an international project. The group “‘May Peace Prevail On Earth International’ [was] founded in Japan over fifty years ago.  Over the decades, Peace Poles [. . .] have been planted by supporters the world over in every region and continent on earth.” The group describes itself this way: “We are the original founders and headquarters of the global

Peace Pole Project movement with the mission of spreading the universal message of peace throughout the world.  We are a grass roots movement committed to the awakening of consciousness by planting the message of peace in the hearts and minds of our global family.” There is a sibling peace pole over at University of Toronto Mississauga with these same words. They installed their Peace Pole in May 2008 as part of their Spring Reunion ceremonies.

“Peace poles are now the most recognized monument dedicated to peace on earth. They represent the highest aspirations of peace and goodwill inherent in the human heart transcending race, religion and creed. Peace Poles serve as vehicles to carry [a message of peace] out to every corner on earth. They are planted to uplift, empower and elevate the human consciousness to embrace the oneness of our global family.” A worthy effort of which to be a part.

It’s not clear exactly when the Peace Pole was envisioned and then installed. Maybe also in 2008? And it was perhaps a congregant named Helen Tucker, a strong disarmament peace leader and anti-nuclear advocate who helped found Canadian Voice of Women for Peace, who began to imagine the project into being. Carole Berry and Joan Elgar ordered the Pole itself. And there is this photograph, of Doug Alton and Ed Bieri planting the Pole, after much deliberation about the amount of concrete they’d need to be sure the Pole stayed upright. Looks like they calculated well.

Regardless of its origins, the UCM Peace Pole is a symbol of our union with others across the world seeking and making peace. Thus, we desire to work not in isolation but as part of a larger collective. Let’s now mark our re-dedication of the Peace Pole and our re-commitment to working for peace by singing together the song printed in your Order of Service. Abigail will lead us singing into the Great Hall.

 

*Processional #155 “Circle Round for Freedom”

Circle ‘round for freedom, circle ‘round for peace,
for all of us imprisoned, circle for release,
circle for the planet, circle for each soul,
for the children of our children, keep the circle whole.

 

History of International Day of Peace

“We commemorate today International Peace Day. Also called World Peace Day, it is observed each year on September 21, by countries all across the world. Peace Day was established, in 1981 by a unanimous United Nations resolution, as a shared date for renewed commitment to peace above all differences and for contributing to building a culture of peace.

“In a time of turbulence, tumult, and uncertainty, it is critical for everyone to take concrete action to mobilize for peace. From peacekeepers on the front lines of conflict, to community members, to students in classrooms around the world, everyone has a role to play. We must speak up against violence, hate, discrimination, and inequality; practice respect; and embrace the diversity of our world.

“There are many ways to act right now. Spark conversations about the urgent need for understanding, non-violence, and disarmament. Volunteer in your community, listen to voices different from your own, challenge discriminatory language in your workplace, report bullying both online and off-line, and take the time to verify facts before you post on social media.

“You can also speak up with your choices, opting to purchase items from socially-conscious brands, or donating to organizations that promote sustainability and human rights. The United Nations also works in each of these areas, leading global efforts to advance human rights, fight climate change, and prevent and respond to conflict.”

In a time of war and destruction, our re-dedication today is sign of our commitment to our Unitarian Universalist values, specifically to the 6^th: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.

 

From https://internationaldayofpeace.org/ “

 

Reading

Excerpt from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in his Nobel Peace Prize speech, December 10, 1964. Please recognize that though the language is gendered, as was the norm at that earlier time, the sentiments apply to all people of all genders :

“I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the “isness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “oughtness” that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

“I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. [. . .] I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men. I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down men other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive good will proclaim the rule of the land. [. . .] I still believe that we shall overcome!

“Today I come to Oslo as a trustee, inspired and with renewed dedication to humanity. I accept this prize on behalf of all men who love peace and brotherhood. I say I come as a trustee, for in the depths of my heart I am aware that this prize is much more than an honor to me personally.

Every time I take a flight, I am always mindful of the many people who make a successful journey possible – the known pilots and the unknown ground crew.

“So you honor the dedicated pilots of our struggle who have sat at the controls as the freedom movement soared into orbit. [. . .] You honor the ground crew without whose labor and sacrifices the jet flights to freedom could never have left the earth. Most of these people will never make the headline and their names will not appear in Who’s Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvellous age in which we live – men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization – because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness’ sake.

“Peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold. I think Alfred Nobel would know what I mean when I say that I accept this award in the spirit of a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners – all those to whom beauty is truth and truth beauty – and in whose eyes the beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”

 

Homily

Last Friday afternoon, I stood on a corner outside the Buffalo ABC-affiliate with about a hundred friends, old and new, loudly protesting the suspension of comedian Jimmy Kimmel. We were mostly but not all white and older, mostly but not all women, with a variety of signs from the witty to the rude. There was a youngish guy from Vets for Peace in an electric wheelchair blasting some of the most vulgar songs I have ever heard, and very on-the-nose concerning the current government overreach and the super thin skin of the wanna-be-dictator serving in the White House.

Now I don’t watch Jimmy Kimmel. But I was on that corner on Friday, waving a sign decrying censorship, at what passes for rush hour traffic in Buffalo, proclaiming loudly my Constitutional First Amendment right to free speech. Surely this was an issue to unite the two sides of my devasted country? We got a few honks and thumbs up from the drivers, though most stared straight ahead, maybe in disagreement, maybe just trying to get home. At one point, a car slowed and a middle-aged white man flipped us the bird, and oh our shout went up! We all began to laugh so hard. “Man, that’s free speech! We are on the same side!” He just kept driving, but it lightened our spirits. I smiled at other drivers as I shouted “Free Speech,” and I felt like I got some more engaged responses. There was no reason I could not speak truth to power and have fun doing it.

The 17^th-Century philosopher Spinoza claimed that “Peace is not an absence of war. It is a virtue, a state of mind, a disposition for benevolence, confidence, justice.” “Peace” is one of those big words. Oh, we have small meanings for peace for sure. Often, when we use the word “peace,” we mean something like “calm” or “tranquility,” something that suggests unruffled spirits and serene minds. Something like what those calm apps are supposed to produce when you listen to them. Now, there is nothing wrong with calm and tranquility, nothing wrong with serenity. We all need that. But “peace” is one of those big words. How do we get to the largeness of it?

In his speech to the Noble Committee in 1964, King makes very clear just how big a word “peace” is, much more than the absence of violent conflict, though that is certainly, not nothing. For King, to be the recipient of the Noble Peace Prize is to take on a deeper level of responsibility, to know the fulsomeness of peace, “more precious than diamonds or silver or gold,” that he becomes “a curator of some precious heirloom which he holds in trust for its true owners.”  A single person takes on the responsibility of representing a community, full of the famous, and more importantly, the little known, that’s how big a word “peace” is.

In accepting the prize, in taking on this responsibility, King finds it impossible to despair of a history that leads to a lessening of human beingness, simply but “tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war.” He refuses the possibility “that the bright daybreak of peace and [siblinghood] can never become a reality.”

Because “peace” is a big word! “Peace means justice, peace means solving the inequalities of hunger and homelessness and illness and neglect. It means everyone is part and everyone matters.” “When the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvellous age in which we live,” it will be our willingness to “suffer for righteousness’ sake” that will mark the sort of people we are, that will uphold the values we hold dear.

King believes “that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word,” that “right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.,” “that wounded justice [. . .] can be lifted from this dust of shame.” King believes that “we shall overcome” “what self-centered [humans] have torn down [humans] other-centered can build up.”

In a time of war and destruction, our re-dedication of the Peace Pole and our affirmation of leaders today are both signs of our commitment to our Unitarian Universalist values, specifically to the 6^th: The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all. These gestures remind us that neither drone strikes on sovereign nations nor bullying behavior, acting at cross purposes, on the small scale are ways to affirm and promote our Unitarian Universalist values.

This goal is a big goal, and it can seem overwhelming. How do we do something so grand? Especially when we are so small, with all that our daily lives require of us, including attending to grief and mourning, including keeping ourselves mentally and physically healthy, including managing the sadness of family conflicts. Standing on that corner Friday at rush hour, I was not feeling particularly peaceful, in the small sense. I was not calm or tranquil, for many reasons. But I knew I was working for that big word, for peace in the large sense, for liberty, for justice, for freedom. And I knew, I know, my presence and my state of mind, my disposition, was moving me toward peace.

There is not one way to do the work of peace. There are many ways. And we need not feel alone, as individuals or as part of UCM. “We commemorate today International Peace Day, as a shared date for renewed commitment to peace above all differences and for contributing to building a culture of peace, to mobilize for peace.” We are one of many groups re-committing to peace. “From peacekeepers on the front lines of conflict, to community members, to students in classrooms around the world, everyone has a role to play.” This work belongs to all of us. “We must speak up against violence, hate, discrimination, and inequality; practice respect; and embrace the diversity of our world.” It is time to proclaim your values whenever and wherever you can. And “proclaiming” also can mean speaking “up with your choices, opting to purchase items from socially-conscious brands, or donating to organizations that promote sustainability and human rights.” It can mean telling media corporations that you will not watch their shows or buy their products if they perpetuate censorship and a restriction of rights.

We call on community to help us through. We do not work alone to confront a world filled with hatred, purposeful division and destruction, war and violence. We work together to replace indifference with justice, selfishness with equity, greed with generosity. We work together to replace isolation with interdependence, homogeneity with pluralism, stagnation with transformation.

We work together to bring love, another big word, to our communities, local and global. Whoever we are, we come together, to circle round for freedom, to take one more step for peace, for thriving life for us all.

And, together, we call on the spirit of Life and Love, the God of our understanding, the power of the animating Universe. We call on our ancestors and the wisdom of ages. We call upon the “More” that we struggle to name and define but which we know is there, uplifting and sustaining us, preparing us to live out our values, to work “joined in a common purpose of hope and fulfillment.” Oh, All that is within us and among us and beyond us, “help us to reach out to our better selves, that we may love more and hate less, care more and reject less, that bound together by understanding we may sustain each other through trial and tribulation.” May it ever be so, and Amen.