Blogblast for Peace: November 2008

"Mims, I need a huge favor."

So started a comedy of errors between me and Mimi Lenox a few days ago, when I asked her to email me all the Peace Globes in her gallery. After several failed attempts, we finally succeeded. With the help of Mimi and an awesome free program called AndreaMosaic, my Peace Globe for November 6, 2008 was born.


But much of the credit for my Peace Globe goes to each and every blogger who has participated in Dona Nobis Pacem at one time or another since the movement started two years ago. For each and every Peace Globe from November 2006 to November 3, 2008 is in there somewhere - a few of them even appear several times.

(If you want a closer look, click here. But be warned: it's one heck of a big file and it'll take quite some time before it loads fully. Then you can zoom in and look at each tile when it's done.)

Isn't it amazing how people from all over the world contribute to the big picture we call peace in many different little ways? And we do this in spite of our differences. It doesn't really matter if our politics are different; it doesn't matter if I prefer salty food and you like spicy; it makes no real difference if you like being on top and he/she prefers otherwise; it's fine if he believes in the Holy Trinity and she believes in Allah and I believe in the Flying Spaghetti Monster; it doesn't even matter if I like beer and you don't (though I'm thankful several of my online and offline friends enjoy some form of alcohol on occasion - I'd be so lonely otherwise). Thank heavens for diversity, life would be so boring if we were all alike.

Paradoxically, though, we are also all the same.

We laugh, we cry, we bleed, we heal, we get mad, we sing, we dance, we think, we dream, we live, we die, we love. It's what we humans have been doing for millennia, and it's what we'll keep on doing in the years to come.

Will there ever be an end to conflict? I don't think so; the differences in our natures and beliefs are fertile grounds for conflict. But maybe one day we can resolve conflict without having to resort to inflicting violence on fellow humans and Mother Nature - and get along peacefully despite our differences.