International Peace Day? You are kidding! Right?

Did you know that there is a International Peace Day? Yep, September 19th is designated International Peace Day. It is either a forgotten day or a great joke on the world. One thing there is not today - international peace. Recently some publication reported forty-one wars being waged somewhere on this planet.
War and Peace are more than a great novel. They dominate our lives from the domestic violence in families and there resultant deaths to a world wide fear of terrorist. War is our oldest weakness. Peace is our oldest dream.
Story: An elderly cannibal sage and a missionary were comparing their philosophies. The cannibal reminisced about tribal wars he had fought, and how he had eaten his foes. The missionary said, "We fight wars for higher reasons - for truth, for defense of democracy, for freedom." "You must eat many, many people," said the cannibal. "Oh, no," said the missionary, "we don't eat human beings." "Then," said the cannibal sage,"you have no reason to kill each other."
No civilization yet created has been able to abolish war. In the last hundred years we have been in five significant conflicts. In the same period we have helped to establish two peace making bodies, the League of Nations and the United Nations to abolish war. This era also witnessed the greatest build up and development of armaments in world history. Humanity knows how to make war better than how to make peace. In the old days people went off to war. Today science and television can bring it right to you.
Story: Two pacifist were arguing about who was more idealistic. "I love peace so much," said one, "that I am willing to fight for it." "And I love peace so much," said the other, "that I am willing not to fight for it."
Peace is like an elusive butterfly. Beautiful to hunt and difficult to capture. Yet every group has begun with the ultimate goal of obtaining a peace. "To beat their swords into plowshares." Yet peace seems to be something humanity continues to fight over.
Franklin Roosevelt said, "Peace, like charity, begins at home." How right he was! Look at the religious wars in Ireland, Bosnia, India and other places. Then look at the religious wars at home. Roman Catholics against Protestants, Orthodox against Fundamentalist, "Saved" against "Unsaved" and so on and so forth.
Recently the front page of our paper had murder, suicide, domestic violence and murder trials all on the front page in one day! And we are arrogant enough to send missionaries to bring peace in the name of the Lord. If we could bottle the hate that many "Religious Coalitions" are generating, we would have enough to wage wars for the next hundred years.
Can’t we make every day International Peace Day? Can't we reach across our local boundaries and make peace in our own land. "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God."