Where do you need peace?

Sy Miller and Jill Jackson were a husband and wife songwriting team. They dreamed of peace and how each person has a responsibility in creating it. As the story goes…

They first introduced (their) song to a group of teenagers selected from their high schools to attend a weeklong retreat in California. The young people were purposefully from different religious, racial, cultural and economic backgrounds, brought together to experiment with creating understanding and friendship through education, discussion groups, and living and working together in a camp situation. Sy Miller wrote:

“One summer evening in 1955, a group of 180 teenagers of all races and religions, meeting at a workshop high in the California Mountains locked arms, formed a circle and sang a song of peace. They felt that singing the song, with its simple basic sentiment – ‘Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me,’ helped to create a climate for world peace and understanding.”

After that moment the song spread around the world.

Here’s Gladys Knight performing “Let There be Peace on Earth” in Washington, D. C. at the National Memorial Day concert.  (Here are the lyrics if you want to read them.)

Sounds good

Peace takes us beyond the compacts and peace treaties between nations. It suggests an absence of hostility, a lack of violence, reducing unproductive behaviors that lead to interpersonal conflict. Peace sounds like life harmony.

Imagine your workplace. What if your team experiences more peace? What if there is less strife, conflict, fear, frustration, anger, and distrust – how would that impact engagement and productivity?

The business of business is people.

Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with…

Think about it

You are writing a Story. Are you writing the Story you want to tell? Consider this: where do you want peace?

Which relationship would benefit from less conflict, frustration, and resentment? Where would you like to increase goodwill?

Now, the deeper questions:

How must you change to allow peace into that relationship? What must you release?

Here’s to your peace and a Merry Christmas!

Steve

Photo credit: “Gossip” by Aaron Landry via flickr