Blogs - Chief of Pray Blog

Peace is My Religion

It appeared on my Facebook wall, courtesy of Susie Schectman. She posted a video that not only got my toe tapping, but summed up the entirety of my life’s values. Having worked as a publisher this past year, I’m accustomed to editing the words of others. I review hundreds of heartfelt prayers of great beauty and deep meaning. I have a say in how the work of talented authors, is seen by millions of women. Ziggy Marley would be no exception.

Love is my Religion, by Ziggy Marley, would be changed to read as: Peace is my Religion. That’s how I would use my red pencil to edit this epiphany-generating hit song and video. I’m Jewish, it’s true, but peace is my religion. I practice personal peace, peace for my family, neighbors, community, country, and the world. It all starts with a woman. We have the power to influence those around us. Peace, joy, and contentment is viral and spreads in every generation.

Here are the six simple words Ziggy got me with: I don't condemn, I don't convert. How’s that for a mantra?! What would our world look like if every person in a position of leadership, lived by a political policy of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding based on this slogan? It’s difficult to imagine. Richard Landau, an expert on multi-faith dialogue, tells us that for talks between people of differing views to be effective, we need to suspend our belief. Even more difficult, we need to suspend our disbelief. Forget for a minute that it’s never been done. There have always been corrupt and misguided leaders in history, but let’s just say, this time, is different. From Greenland to Bali, every single person occupying every single inch of the Earth’s surface, got Ziggy-fied. The President of Iran is preaching world peace today and the sweet little blue-haired lady with her Watchtower pamphlets, let’s you walk on by.  I don't condemn, I don't convert.

Sounds like heaven on Earth to me. Sounds nothing like the biblical predictions of war and bloodshed preceding a messianic age. Just one popular Reggae singer, got through to one person, who got through to another person. And like Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme, we all believed and we went all-in.

I am the conduit to peace.