Peace Pole in Minneapolis, MN-USA

Picture: Tim Gabriel, Stephon Shannon, and Nathan Gabriel

It was Friday, June 19 and our day started with an impromptu gathering of
neighbors between a new garden and our Peace Pole.  Several of us neighbors
were admiring the garden when Jim joined us and shared a story about
peace-making at the National Republican Convention last fall. Sharing apple
slices with an angry protestor brought peace at the convention, according to
Jim. I chimed in with a story about peace-making in Kenya. Peace bubbles,
supplied by Melvin Giles, brought calm to a tense situation on a bus in
Kenya.
The day ended with these three young men, Tim, Stephon and Nathan, gathered
around the Peace Pole in our front yard. Planting flowers, around the base
of the Peace Pole, has become an annual tradition and a part of our home.
The Peace Pole is so much a part of our home that Tim included it in a
school assignment where he was required to describe our house. I don’t know
why he chose to include the Peace Pole in the description while excluding
many other features of our house. Perhaps, in Tim’s mind, the Peace Pole
makes our house a home.
Friday, June 19 was also the Community Peace Celebration that Melvin Giles, Peace Representative of The World Peace Prayer Society, organizes in the Twin Cities.  We did not attend the celebration, but it seems as though the peace celebration came to us as I reflect on the day with our neighbors, our children, the garden, and the Peace Pole
Leo Gabriel

May Peace Prevail On Earth