Peace Train

(Sidenote: I still can't figure out how to insert links into this here blog (let alone music), so do yourself a favor and look up Cat Stevens', "Peace Train" so that you can listen to it while reading. :-)

Attempted bombings in London. Burning jeeps crashing into airports in Scotland. And the anniversary of the tube explosions on a day when I will be crisscrossing London's city center.

Am I concerned? Maybe a little. But isn't that what these people who try to change the world through violence want? For us to live in fear? For us to limit our actions, and hand over the control of our lives to them?

There can be no peace by initiating violence. If you want to truly change the world, take action in a different way.
Raise voices.
Pick up a shovel.
Give before you expect to receive.

Maybe that's why "Peace Train" often makes me think of AmeriCorps. We were out there getting our hands dirty. Living by limited means. Doing work that provided for others.

Planting trees.
Cleaning rivers.
Talking with community members.

In turn we gained invaluable experience, and, perhaps more importantly, a sense of worth. A sense of hope. If everyone just took a little bit of action. An afternoon. One day in a year. Or what if for one Saturday, everyone who would normally be sitting in Michigan Stadium for four hours instead merged their time, energy, skills, and enthusiasm towards a different goal.

Fixing up house.
Feeding the hungry.
Cleaning up an abandoned lot.

Think of the possibilities.

So I will travel. I will step outside my sheltered house. I will meet people from different cultures. I will try to understand. And I will try to make change that is for the benefit of all.

On a bike in Michigan, or in the tube in London.

They are all a peace train.