Peace is the Inner Nature of Humankind; Think you are a being of peace and peace will become your personality; when you find it within yourself, you will find it everywhere

By Sister Chirya —

A hole is being filled that exists in the heart of our education system, where the skills and abilities of self-management should be providing School Enrichment Programs for students. These programs ensure a well-rounded education, and help students of all levels discover a greater sense of self. They understand who they are as a person and begin to realize their potential, and why they have been unmotivated or bored in class. Their self-confidence, classroom performance, grades, and study skills improved.  By not learning to govern ourselves we forget we give power to the object of our resistance.  When we are not taught how to manage our thoughts, feelings, attitudes and behavior, we find it hard to manage relationships, roles, and responsibilities.  

Self-management means to have the ability to empower the self and to have the desire to improve and change oneself. For example, on International Day of Peace, Sept. 21, 2023, an Enrichment Team of Hilary Rosek, Jim Tokos, and Bri Burghard, from Maine-Endwell Central School District, organized a Children’s Peace Fair. These educators brought together fifth grade students with a united and enthusiastic desire to promote peace and cooperation. 

A magician set the tone with ‘Magic Words and Tricks’ to bring about understanding and conflict resolution. Students could rotate freely to visit  several ‘peace activity tables’. These included Bells of Peace, Yard Games, Yoga, Mindfulness, Make a Peace Banner, Origami, Peace doves, Tropical birds, Drum Circle, Peace Rocks painting, Mindful Mandalas, Building Bridges of Peace, Games of peace and chalk drawings, Storytelling, Trees and Tales, Save the Bees, and more.  A Ginkgo Tree was planted as a symbol of peace and hope, and a quiet Peace Walk was held around the solar field.

The following poem for this Peace Day program, served as a guide to read, to remind and refresh the students daily to create peaceful thoughts and perform right actions.

Wishing

Do you wish the world were better? Let me tell you what to do.

Set a watch upon your actions; Keep them always straight and true.

Rid your mind of selfish motives; Let your thoughts be clean and high.

You can make a little Eden of the sphere you occupy.

Then remember, day by day, just to sow the seeds of kindness as you pass along the way.

– by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sept. 21, observed as International Day of Peace, is an annual UNO initiative to remind us to continue cultivating a Culture of Peace.  A culture of peace is a set of values, attitudes, traditions and modes of behavior and ways of life based on respect for life and for creating an end to violence through the promotion and practice of non-violence through education, dialogue and cooperation. Explore what you can do for peace. Reflecting and discussing the virtue of peace along with its extended family of love, joy, bliss, purity, power and wisdom helps re-emerge the powerful pure energy of these virtues within the self and others, and life becomes free of fear and full of enjoyment. 

Contact Diane Tillman at diane@livingvalues.net for excellent books and free online resources for teaching value enrichment education.

(Yvonne Risely, of Owego, can be reached via email to bkchirya@gmail.com or chirya.risely@peacevillageretreat.org. Sister Chirya is a student and teacher with the Brahma Kumaris World Spiritual University for over 40 years. She is published in several national and international publications to include the Daily Guardian in Delhi.)