True peace

Although peace has been the goal of mankind for thousands of years—and the desire for peace is never so great as it is at Christmas—it seems that peace continues to elude us. Today, after the end of the Cold War, bloody hostilities continue on nearly every continent, reaching global proportions once again after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 in New York City, Washington, DC, and near Pittsburgh.
As Pete Seeger's well-known folk song from the '60s asked, "Where have all the flowers gone? When will they ever learn? When will they ever learn?" True peace on every level—from international conflicts to our personal lives—has become more difficult than ever to achieve.
"And in Bethlehem today, children fear, yet still they play/ While mothers cry and fathers pray for peace to come again / And a round the weary world echoes the refrain: "Christmas in Bethlehem, when shall true love reign?"

Ted Rudow III, MA
Palo Alto
CA, USA