War and Peace

Making Friends

The most noble,
the most essential
purpose for a human being,
now more than ever,
is to make friends.

The new world -
the one of peace
and happiness,
of security,
for which all people
have awaited
since the beginning of time
must not be delayed.

The new millennium
is not a magic date
but an opportunity
to take action
to leave behind
the ragged baggage
of greed
of prejudice
of fear
of hatred
of revenge
that we have carried
for too, too long
slowing our progress
to our sacred destiny.

Do not believe
so called "leaders"
who tell you
that you have "enemies"
so that they justify
wasting the earth's treasures
on weapons of destruction,
so that they make
you fear and hate others
in the human family.

Our "enemies"
are our failures.
Our failure to respect
the right of every
man, woman, and child
to be happy
to live free of fear
free of hunger
to have dignity
and to fulfill their potential.

Our "enemies"
are the reflections
of our own shortcomings,
of our selfishness,
and self-righteousness.
We have created them
because we have feared
to understand,
to accept
their needs,
their differences.

Making friends
is letting our love
be expressed
unconditionally --
to encourage
to build
to nurture
to protect
the living spark
in everyone.

The battle standard
of the new millennium
is not the national flag,
but the soft cloth
to wipe away the tear
in our neighbor's eye.

The wealth
of the new millennium
is not the vitality
of the national economy,
but how we use our resources
to relieve suffering.
The power
of the new millennium
is not the smartness
of our weapons
but how we use our knowledge
to solve the urgent problems
of our planet.

Making friends is noble.
It is a true act
of compassion.
Making friends
is more heroic
than defeating enemies.
There is no successful war
in the new millennium,
because war itself
is a sign of past failures,
the past failures
to create true friends.

In the new millennium
success will be the joy
of living in a world
where everyone
is a friend,
where everyone
is happy
for the success
of another --
where the human family
unites
to build people and nations
through celebrations
of friendship.

© Richard Sidy,
December 9, 2001