By Henrita Frost, SSND
Recently, my heart aches, as I behold pictures of the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong – un, looking through his binoculars and seeming to enjoy North Korea’s latest launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile as it rises from the earth and pierces the atmosphere. The thoughts terrorize me as I think of the possibility that someday a missile could explode bringing destruction and death to an earth community and its people.
Memories have come of my visit, in the early 1990s, to members of my congregation in Guam and Japan. Included was a stop on the Island of Saipan. As we were having lunch, our host, called our attention to an Island in the distance. It was Tinian Island, the Island on which the Atom Bomb was assembled prior to its voyage to Hiroshima. A few days later we were in Hiroshima, I remember being overcome by the experience of destruction and death.
Today, with about a 72 year history of nuclear weapons, I wonder, on behalf of the Earth Community, “what can We/I do”? The experience of seeing the missile rise and pierce the atmosphere creates within me a desire for something peaceful that could symbolize peace and compassion.
I find this hope in the Peace Pole at the Christine Center a positive symbol, for there are over 200,000 Peace Poles in our Global Community. Finally, I feel growing a Litany of Peace – join me in creating it and penetrating the atmosphere with it. May Peace Prevail on Earth. May Love Prevail on Earth. May Compassion Prevail on Earth. . . .
