Peace Across the Globe, Peace in our Community, Peace Within
by Elizabeth Horton
 
In the afternoon of the “Living Peaceably Begins by Thinking Peacefully event” of the Pre Parliament of the World’s Religions, several dozen attendees gathered under the colorful tents of the Perspectives on Peace Panel. They gathered to hear the stories of an internet entrepreneur, a former attorney turned philanthropist, and the pastor of a church in a town of 18,000. Surprising to some is what these three very different men have in common.
 
A Global Family
Opening up the men’s panel was Kenn Parks of Louisville, Kentucky.  Parks began with an experience for the attendees of mingling with one another. This was a small-scale picture of what it looks like to share with friends from all over the world. 
          Parks believes that the Earth needs our help and countries can work together, just like family members, for common causes.  He demonstrates the positive use of the Internet by connecting himself with friends across the globe.  Parks states, “My desire is to connect a greater number of people in the history of civilization since the dawn of communication.”  Toward this end, Parks founded the action website Our1planet.org.  
          As a "citizen of the Earth", everyone who visits Our1Planet.org is encouraged to sign up by sharing three abilities, their passion, experience, and hobbies.  Members list three needs and are then paired with compatible resources so that new relationships can be forged.  For example, if an individual in America is in need of a place to stay in Australia for a two-week stretch, they can easily be connected with someone who has a space to host a visitor.  In return, the American visitor can assist them in fulfilling one of their needs.  Parks views this as a productive avenue for building cross-cultural relationships.
The website will launch in early 2010.  Parks holds a goal of having one million members within the eighteen months after the launch.
 
A Center that Encompasses the Heart of Community
Jack Sisk, the second speaker of the session, is the founder and President of the Living Insights Center in St. Louis, Missouri.  The center is open to all within the community as a universal religious and spiritual center.  Sisk says the center is a temple for every faith and every individual thus making it a model for creating a peaceful world.
“Collectively as a species, our consciousness acts like a prism, spreading that light to all the colors of the spectrum, each of which is a different way of experiencing and relating to God,” Sisk says.  Living Insights presents as many of the colors of the spectrum that can fit into the center’s physical space. Each religion is its own color, just as each individual shines with the light of their own color.  Sisk encourages all to come add their own unique hue. 
        Sisk also plays and sings with his array of large crystal singing bowls.  He does this with the hope that visiting the center will nourish everyone’s soul.  Spending nearly ten hours per day at Living Insights, Jack Sisk volunteers 100% of his time as the follow to a call, after a twenty-five year stretch as a corporate health lawyer.
 
Finding Peace Within
With clever jokes and a humbled presence, the Reverend Samuel Price reads from his Doctorate dissertation,  “When Christ lies in us is when there is real peace.”  This is his simple and clear message.
          Price defines himself as a simple man who believes the Bible is the manual for a good life. He reads the Bible cover-to-cover each year to invoke the spirit.
          “We are all created in the image of God and in his likeness,” Price said.  He sees this playing out universally in two ways.  One is that we all have a desire within us to worship something or someone.  “Oftentimes individuals are lost and worship themselves, yet all the same, we all desire worship.”  The second connection Price makes to each person being like the creator is the innate desire for fellowship.  “The real joy of fellowship,” he says, “is what brings peace down deep inside us.”
          As a Baptist, Rev. Price is mission-minded.  He also believes people "ought to be exploring more in depth into the way we think."  He explains that the word Sabbath simply means “rest” which is the absence of anxiety.  “The only way to relieve anxiety is to have peace in our hearts, and the only time I experienced any lasting peace is when I invited Christ into my life,” states Rev. Price.  He does not call his belief a religion; it is a relationship between himself and Jesus Christ. 
 

The speakers hailed from different backgrounds and life experiences.  Each described their own unique perspectives on the ways in which peace can exist.  Rev. Price laid out the simple guideline of following the Bible’s message as a way of forming peace within.  Sisk shared a picture of many religions, one community, and Parks is endeavoring to unite individuals on a global scale.  Each are living examples of peace-filled understanding. 
Their stories call to mind a line from the Universal Peace Covenant which says, "Peace is achieved by those who fulfill their part of a greater plan."  Through the message of their lives, we are encouraged to live our own more fully.•